Music to my ears

What is my favorite music?  Metal, of course.

But there are so many kinds of Metal.  Heavy metal, Hair Metal, Death Metal, Thrash, Industrial, Speed . . . .

It doesn't matter.  I pretty much like them all.  But I also enjoy many other genres (except Country! Down with that crap!).  I find that my trends in music taste also fluctuate with my writing.  When I was writing my young adult adventure set in the American Old West, I often listened to old blues and American folk  music from the turn of the century mixed with a little Mark Knopfler.  Now, that is far from Metal.

As long as I have been writing, I have been using music as a form of outlining.  Many creative writing courses and papers have been written on the benefits of outlining the story, but I have never been one to write out your typical outline.  But what I love doing is making a "soundtrack" for my stories, as though it would be the background music for certain scenes or montages in a movie.  So all this time I was really an outliner. I just didn't realize it.

I have been working on a trilogy over the last year or so.  It's a modern urban horror/fantasy involving demons, angels, and us simple humans caught in the middle of an eternal battle.  For me, that music involves Industrial metal (Nine Inch Nails and Five Finger Death Punch helps a lot) as well as some simple piano ballads (this is where Piano Tribute Players really works).  And for any other writers out there, check out Epic Soundtracks.  There are so many albums to work with.  The best way to describe this stuff is to say it is movie music without a movie.  This music is so wonderful to write with that I don't know what I did without it.  It really helps to mold an action scene, especially.

When I think I might be going through a dry spell in my writing or a block, I listen to music.  Thank heavens for the iPod!  When I need more inspiration for my action scenes:  Epic Soundtracks.  Maybe add a little romance:  London Grammer, Birthday Massacre or Florence and the Machine.  Something light hearted:  I'm loving OK Go, Bastille, Imagine Dragons.

So if you hear me listening to something with a little more of a Celtic flair, just know that I will be working on a modern fantasy with a King Arthur twist.  No, my music tastes have not changed.  I'm just writing something new!

Until next time,

Bang your head!  Metal Health will drive you mad!