Hi, fellow writers! I’m delighted that I get the chance to talk about one of my favorite things: music for writing.
Why We Need Music Playlists
Music is awesome. It’s evocative. But you know this already; after all, there’s a reason movies and inspirational/religious services use it so carefully.
Music can help you become a better writer. You don’t have to listen while you write; I know many of you need silence to spin words. However, I believe it’s important to have a soundtrack for your stories, your books, your worlds. It makes them feel richer; it helps you, the writer, to create the mood effectively.
Music sets the scene for your stories. When you have the perfect music going for your story, you’re creating atmosphere for you and your future readers.
Now, everyone has different tastes when it comes to music for writing. Some folks enjoy popular tunes with lyrics that fit their scenes. Some prefer classical, or jazz, or awesome indie tunes.
Me? I love two kinds: movie music without words, and really intense music from varying genres. Check it out: here are just a few songs from my playlist for my WIP, Notte.
The first three are very much like movie music—vast, epic things, instrumental and passionate. The last three are much more intimate, taking the view from world-wide and epic to individual moments, felt deep in the soul.
I have playlists for each and every mood. For some specific characters. For some specific books.
And personally, I prefer to stream those saved playlists. Here’s why.
Why We Like Streaming Music
There’s nothing wrong with good old MP3s or iTunes. However, streaming services give us enormous variety: we can listen to music we’ve never heard, switch in the middle of songs that aren’t working, explore new artists based on artists we already love, and do it all without costing us .99 for every new tune.
I dig streaming music. I especially love streaming music we can download (legally), enabling customizable playlists on the go. Ah, but there’s a problem: ads.
Ads suck.
My last straw came two years ago. I was writing, deep in a scene involving character death. I’d been building to this scene for the past seven months, and my music playlist was perfect: intense. Soaring. Grieving. It held anger and closure and just the right notes—
Then suddenly, this smashed through my imagination like the Kool-aid guy through a wall.
Hannaford is a perfectly lovely grocery store, for the record, but that ad was NOTHING like what I’d been listening to. It threw me completely out of the scene I was writing.
I saw the same thing happen to my writing partner yesterday. She has a specific playlist for the middle-grade book she’s writing—and in the middle of an intense scene with the witch who transformed her prince into a weasel, an ad for Panda Express came on. No offense to the yummy panda, but this wrecked the moment for her. She actually threw her headphones on the table and had to go for a walk to get her head back in the game.
Ads are not the end of the world, but they really do suck. And that’s why today’s giveaway is the bee’s knees.
Music for Writers Giveaway!
We’re giving away one year of Spotify Premium to one lucky writer.
You heard that right. Spotify, the Swedish-owned leader in the world of streaming music—and we’re giving away subscriptions just for you.
And that’s not all. You got a sneak peek of my writing playlists above. For the giveaway, though, we’re going all-out.
We’re sharing three of our favorite writing playlists with everyone who enters.
Joe, Alice, and I have spent months curating these playlists so they fit exactly the moods we need. Whether we’re in the middle of an epic battle or our characters are enjoying some quiet introspection, we always have the right music to immerse ourselves in the scene.
Your stories are different from ours, of course. But these playlists will inspire you, too, in your current work-in-progress or as you start something new.
Best of all, they’ll give you a jumping-off point for creating your own writing playlists. Which, of course, you’ll get to enjoy for a full year with Spotify Premium.
Excited yet? Enter the giveaway here! Or, get all the details below.
How to Enter the Giveaway
Want to enter the giveaway? Here’s how to maximize your chances of winning:
- Click here to go to the giveaway page.
- At the bottom of the page, answer the (easy!) question, which is really just there to make sure you’re a human. (You are a human, right?)
- Then, enter your email address to enter.
- Check your email and click the link in the confirmation email to confirm your entry.
- After you enter, share the contest page with your friends. For each friend who enters, you get 3 more chances to win.
You have seven days to get as many entries as you can. The giveaway will officially close on Tuesday, April 11, at 11:59 PDT.
Then, we’ll choose the winners on Wednesday, April 12, and notify them by email. If you’re ready to enter, click here.
Do you listen to music as you write? What’s your favorite music for writing? Let us know in the comments!
PRACTICE
Today, let music inspire your writing. Play my mini writer’s playlist above and see where it takes you. Write a new story for fifteen minutes. When you’re done, share your writing in the comments, and be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!
The post Why Music Is a Writer’s Secret Weapon (+ Win a Year of Music for Writing) appeared first on The Write Practice.
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