Comments on Pens Fatales: If Music Be The Food Of Love

i used to be in the silence camp and then one very...

2009-07-20T10:17:25.227-07:00

i used to be in the silence camp and then one very long plane ride home to help my parents move, i wrote longhand and to drown out the plane noise and discourage my neighbor from talking to me, i plugged in the headphones and found a soundtrack (VH-1's Save the Music). i had a complete creative breakthrough on that plane. i came home, bought that CD and i still can crank out words when listening to it. as a result i started finding songs that evoked the emotion i was trying to convey and now i soundtrack manuscripts :)

I think this songwriter business might be easier t...

2009-07-17T13:21:31.611-07:00

I think this songwriter business might be easier than being an author...

I got an idea for a sad love song from watching Ghost Hunters, and working on it between students for a couple days, I had the music written. The words required exactly one forty five minute drive to think up and one twenty minute waiting room visit to refine. That's it. Song done! Not recorded mind you, but it's written.

Three minute pop song? Piece of cake. 100,000 word novel? Not on your life. Hats off to those who can do that. Seriously, that''s amazing.

I never realized how unusual it was to make soundt...

2009-07-16T11:00:51.015-07:00

I never realized how unusual it was to make soundtracks to stories until I had my critique group over for a brainstorming retreat. I asked them to bring a playlist that helped set the mood for the story. I mistakenly thought it was no big deal. They would already have a playlist ready to go, right? Um...not quite. No one understood what I was I was talking about. I felt bad cause some of them spent hours pondering which songs were right.

screaming angry emo music. or whiny country ballad...

2009-07-16T10:44:38.299-07:00

screaming angry emo music. or whiny country ballads. nothing in between.

I'm with you, Adrienne. My characters created ...

2009-07-16T08:57:25.304-07:00

I'm with you, Adrienne. My characters created themselves a full soundtrack to their story.

I feel your pain. My husband is an illustrator, an...

2009-07-16T08:38:16.288-07:00

I feel your pain. My husband is an illustrator, and he can draw six lines and make me feel something that takes a short story to match!

Always prefer silence to write in, but I live in SF and haven't heard the sound of silence in six years at least. Familiar music helps me most -- bluegrass, Billy Joel (I know, I know), or the Black Crowes more often than not. Once I get cookin' I don't even hear the music. I just don't hear the noisy life all around me.

Contrarily, I can write all day in a crowded, bustling coffee shop. It's those individual sounds that shred my concentration. Not sure why.

Fondest dream is to buy a shack by the ocean, in the forest, or even out in the desert, just so I can have a little peace and quiet.

I like to put on Gregorian chants when I'm gol...

2009-07-16T08:24:50.380-07:00

I like to put on Gregorian chants when I'm gold gilding something. Seems silly when I say it out loud, but it's amazing how quickly it gets me "into" what I'm doing.
I've never tried playing music while writing, though. It would probably take me an hour or two to decide on what to listen to, and by then the moment for writing would have passed!