But what do you do when you’ve run out of room? When you fail to be creative because you’re exhausted or your brain is overrun with other thoughts or you’ve got that cold that just won’t quit? It’s not quite writer’s block, in the traditional sense of the word, but it’s more a lack of inspiration due to the unavoidable. Life.

This is when I find that sucking inspiration from the already inspired really helps. For instance, music. I’ve read in a lot of places that authors often use playlists while writing their books.  This helps them concentrate on a scene, or keep a specific mood, or even set a particular pace (like action or leisurely). But did you know that you can use music to draw particular images for your book? Let me tell you how.

For starters, put together a playlist based on the ‘feel’ of the book. Is there certain kind of music that better fits your world? Are you writing dark and gritty or light and funny? Is it sexy or innocent? Historical or futuristic? These will all ‘sound’ different. Think of a movie soundtrack or score. That sets the feel of the world you’re about to immerse yourself in. That’s the first and possibly most important part of your playlist.

Then you can start to personalize the songs. Is there a song that just screams your character? Or a song that seems to be written specifically for the tortured love affair between hero and heroine? Add those to the playlist in the order you feel they might appear in your book. For instance, the romantic, longing song will go before the dark, pounding, black moment song on your playlist. You’re telling the story through music.

Finally, you will step away from your story, strap your MP3 player to your hip, and blast the music. The best time is while you’re doing things that require minimal mental effort. Like washing dishes. Or scrubbing bathtubs. Or folding laundry. Just space out, think of your characters as you see them in your head, and play out the story as its written or will be written on the page, but do it in your head. Let the words become pictures and let the pictures become movies. Eventually, you’ll start to see your world, to smell it, to feel it as the music sets the scene. You’ll watch as the characters move, speak, fall in love and break hearts. The music will create the images you were lacking, because you’ve pulled the magic and inspiration that the song originally contained and you’ve harnessed it for yourself.

Neat, huh?

I must warn you though, if you use songs you’re very familiar with, songs you know all the lyrics to, or songs that mean something specific to you (anniversary, couple song, etc), it’ll lose its poignancy. Its already been assigned to an emotion, an image, a memory, and it will not create the new images as easily. So go looking for new music! You can never have enough of that anyway, right? Try places like last.fm. Be bold and click on those, if you like this author then try this, links that sometimes appear on the iTunes pages. In the long run, when your book is playing like a feature film in your head, you’ll be really glad you did.

If you look carefully at the shelf below mine, you’ll see Gena Showalter’s books and Nalini Singh’s!!! Imagine that! I’m in fantastic company, wouldn’t you say? There is no feeling like seeing your book on a store shelf. It’s totally surreal. *squee*

Also, my awesome hubby bought us tickets to the Paramore/No Doubt concert yesterday. What a show!!! I tend to use a lot of Paramore music on my fantasy series. Their song Conspiracy was practically written for the series, it fits so perfectly. Check it out:

No Doubt was fantastic too. High energy, great performers, and she sounded amazing. I’ll admit I was jealous that she looks so good after having children, but you know what, it just means I gotta work harder to get myself in shape. Period. Bah.

The concert did inspire me to get back to my fantasy sequel which has been on hold while the muse played with the YA fantasy. But that one is now at 6500 words, so that one is on a steady pace as well. I really like where it’s headed and the tone that it has. Very different from any of my other stories.

All in all, I’m thrilled about the happenings in my life. Only cloud: my Peanut has his first cold. Mommy took him to the docs and they told me to just keep an eye on his fever, but he seems to be getting better already. His nose is really runny but with lots of crying and fighting, I give him some saline drops and he feels much better. So stubborn. *shakes head* We got him a new bouncer/exercise machine thing from Baby Einsten and he loves it! He tries to talk to the the little plastic froggy which makes me laugh. Ha ha.

Little Sister graduates from high school today so I gotta go get ready. Congrats, sweetie! So proud of you.

Oh man, do I love that station. So much fantastic music.

A few songs played that I hummed along to, but then a very familiar drum line began and I immediately got giddy. Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews started to play and that smooth buttery voice came on over the speakers and well… I was a goner. That song represents so much for me.

It played on the Pilot episode of one of my favorite shows, Roswell, back in 1999. The song was so magical, it opened up a whole world of music for me and until this day it’s just a hopelessly romantic song. I can’t help but see Max and Liz (the main characters) at the top of that hill, awkward and awestruck, wanting to jump head first into love. And then, the flash of light and fire behind them before it (and they) fizzle out and walk away. So perfectly placed. Check it out:

I’ve always said that when I write, I’m a very visual person. I can’t help but hope that I can create moments like this. Moments that stick with the reader, that create such a vivid picture that hours or even days later, the reader is still struck by that particular scene. By how it made them feel. It’s why music is such an essential part to what I do. Soundtracks are so important to create mood. I’m so going to pop this eppy into the DVD player.

It got me thinking about music to write to. I’m a HUGE advocate of story soundtracks. I put together entire playlists devoted to one book. Each book has its own mood, its own themes, so naturally, each would have its own set of songs to match that. I thought, for kicks, I’d share some of the goodies on my playlist for my current WIP.

What do you listen to when you’re telling an intergalactic love story set in the far off future between two stubborn, passionate people? Rock music. Duh. And a few instrumentals.

WIP Soundtrack:

• Lux Aeterna (Full Orchestral Remix) by Clint Mansell
• O Verona (Reprise) from Romeo and Juliet v.2 Soundtrack
• Evening on the Ground (Lillith’s Song) by Iron & Wine
• Easily by Muse
• Cadence of Her Last Breath by Nightwish
• Connect the Dots by The Spill Canvas
• Nara by E.S. Posthumus
• Escape by Philip Glass
• Time is Running Out by Muse
• Anakin’s Dream from Revenge of the Sith Soundtrack

These are just a few examples. Maybe I’ll make a little video with them in the near future.

In the meantime, enjoy this little video from Muse (one of my favorite new bands) for Time is Running Out. I thought it was appropriate, (seeing how heavily politics influenced my little futuristic story) that this video would take place in a war conference room. The round table actually reminded me of several scenes in my book. Minus the dancing. Though I wonder if I could make that work… ha ha. Kidding.

So, I’ve become pulled into the awesome world of fanmixes. What is a fanmix, you say? Ahhh, well, let me share the incredible magic of this form of fanatical expression.

A fanmix is like a mixtape, devoted to your favorite fandom. It can be about anything. A major character, a couple, an unconventional couple (not someone who ever hooked up in said movie, tv show, or book), a friendship, or even a particular episode or book from a series.

I, being the music junkie that I am, find this whole concept to be deliciously addictive.

Livejournal has a great community for fanmixes. And I’ve seen a mix for just about everything you can imagine. Which of course, got me searching through my music archive for songs I could put together in some sort of fanmix. The mixes usually tell some sort of story. A progression of the story told, or some new story, from the mixer’s point of view.

I chose two of my characters in my fantasy series. They’re best friends, but he’s very much in love with her, and she’s very much in love with someone else. Ahhh… isn’t that what makes so much wonderfully angsty music?

So I think, what I might just do, is make a little CD cover (in the tradition of all great fanmixes) and post it here in a few days, with the song title, artist name, and even a little lyric that tells you WHY it reminds me of this couple. It’ll be tons of fun. And maybe you all can make one and it’ll become a neat little meme.

Is it conceited that I’m making a fanmix of my own characters? Maybe. Do I care? Ha! Come on guys, you should know me better than this at this point in our relationship.

So, because I have a lot to do today, in the form of writing one particularly difficult scene, I thought I’d give you guys a DWQ, an art piece, and a video! Woohoo! So you can indulge all of your senses! Except taste. Unless you lick your screen. Which would just be… strange. Not that I’m judging. If you’re into that, good for you. *snort*

Ok, so here we go:

There is a great deal of difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read. ~G.K. Chesterton

I am usually the latter. However, every once in a while, in the midst of research, I find myself consuming a book, as though I hunger for the next word. It’s a very different experience to read out of eagerness, than to read for relaxation. At times, you may be both. You begin reading to unwind only to find that you cannot sleep until you’ve read every page. Those are probably the best nights.

Today’s art piece is particularly striking. It’s called Vivarium by Eireen @ deviantart. I like the whole ‘Eve’ look it has. It’s dark, daring, and sexy. I really love it.

And a fun, stylish video for you guys to rock to (it’s one of my very favorites, particularly that woman’s insane high heels):

This whole thing just got me thinking about so many great songs and how the use of great lyrics really can make all the difference in how you view them. A lot of people listen to music for the emotions they cause, for the beat, for the perfect melding of harmony, melody and word. I know I do. But I like songs that can create word pictures, almost like a book, and make me imagine a story being told. And in just a few minutes? You gotta admit, that’s pretty impressive. ]]> http://www.twistedfairytale.net/feeling-better/modern-medicine-and-the-magic-of-music-lyrics/feed/ 1