Writing and music
I don't often listen to music. It distracts me from what's going on inside my head. When I'm at home, it's quiet unless I'm cooking. Then, depending on what I'm cooking, I put on anything from jazz to heavy rock. I usually have the radio on when I'm driving short distances. Longer distances, I listen to books.
My radio station gets changed when I get bored or annoyed with the noise. I often drive to classical music because it doesn't require my concentration to understand it. I can just let the emotion of it wash over me and stay focused on my driving. Every now and then, though, something comes on the radio I don't want to listen to so I change the station. I have several stations tuned so I can pick the one I feel like listening to with one button. I need the one-push button change for the really annoying ads I refuse to listen to.
A few weeks ago I was driving and a song came on the radio. I'd heard it before, fairly often, but this particular afternoon it stuck with me. When I arrived at my destination, I stayed in the car and listened to the whole song, then I went onto iTunes and bought it. Over the next four days I played the song probably four or five hours a day, over and over. Most of the time I used headphones but sometimes, I played it on speakers because it has a different impact when the sound bounces off walls.
I didn't listen to anything else the whole time I was listening to that song. No television, no other music. Just that one song. Over and over.
By the fourth day, I was grinning. On the fifth day, I sat down at my computer and began writing. Days six and seven, I played the song again. Over and over. By the end of day eight I'd written a 7000 word short story and was bouncing around the house because I thought the story was one of the best ones I've written. The whole thing seemed to come so easily, primarily because of the music and the way it inspired me.
Over the next few days, I edited the story and then I submitted.
Today I received an email letting me know it's been accepted by a publisher for publication. *happy dancing*
I want to repeat that process but it isn't easy. I don't listen to music as a matter of course. I don't like noise around me all the time. Any music I hear is accidental. Trying to search for something that inspires me is incredibly time consuming and usually fruitless.
Here's the song: http://youtu.be/Ahha3Cqe_fk
Katy Perry's The One That Got Away.
My story is nothing like the video clip. I didn't watch the clip until today so I couldn't take anything from it. I managed to get a happy ending from it. Could you?
My radio station gets changed when I get bored or annoyed with the noise. I often drive to classical music because it doesn't require my concentration to understand it. I can just let the emotion of it wash over me and stay focused on my driving. Every now and then, though, something comes on the radio I don't want to listen to so I change the station. I have several stations tuned so I can pick the one I feel like listening to with one button. I need the one-push button change for the really annoying ads I refuse to listen to.
A few weeks ago I was driving and a song came on the radio. I'd heard it before, fairly often, but this particular afternoon it stuck with me. When I arrived at my destination, I stayed in the car and listened to the whole song, then I went onto iTunes and bought it. Over the next four days I played the song probably four or five hours a day, over and over. Most of the time I used headphones but sometimes, I played it on speakers because it has a different impact when the sound bounces off walls.
I didn't listen to anything else the whole time I was listening to that song. No television, no other music. Just that one song. Over and over.
By the fourth day, I was grinning. On the fifth day, I sat down at my computer and began writing. Days six and seven, I played the song again. Over and over. By the end of day eight I'd written a 7000 word short story and was bouncing around the house because I thought the story was one of the best ones I've written. The whole thing seemed to come so easily, primarily because of the music and the way it inspired me.
Over the next few days, I edited the story and then I submitted.
Today I received an email letting me know it's been accepted by a publisher for publication. *happy dancing*
I want to repeat that process but it isn't easy. I don't listen to music as a matter of course. I don't like noise around me all the time. Any music I hear is accidental. Trying to search for something that inspires me is incredibly time consuming and usually fruitless.
Here's the song: http://youtu.be/Ahha3Cqe_fk
Katy Perry's The One That Got Away.
My story is nothing like the video clip. I didn't watch the clip until today so I couldn't take anything from it. I managed to get a happy ending from it. Could you?
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