12 April 2006

Writing + Tunes

In her author answers yesterday, Rachel Caine mentioned that she writes better if she's got great tunes coming through her headphones. Cleverly, in the back of her Weather Warden books, she actually lists many of the songs and artists that she listened to while writing. Compile them, and the book has its own quasi-soundtrack.

This made Word Nerd think. Word Nerd rarely, rarely writes in absolute silence. She's usually got some kind of music going.

Some stories demand classical music. The moody-er the story, the moody-er the music. Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky. Peppy-er stories get Mozart. Gershwin. The CD tends to end up in the player for most of the work on a section. Case in point: Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "American in Paris" got a lot of play time as Word Nerd worked on a section of a story getting it ready for critique.

For the new project, Word Nerd has been listening to lots of jazz. Last night, Word Nerd was writing to Frank Sinatra. It was the right sound for getting the mood in the piece.

What tunes help you as a writer or are you a fan of the sounds of silence?

No comments: