J.K. Coi

Music To Soothe The Savage Beast

I write in silence.

Sometimes I can have the television on in the background, but that’s rare, and only if it is something that I am utterly uninterested in watching. Even then, I’m usually distracted by flashy lights and Swiffer commercials.

I love music, and I’ve tried to write to music. I even went so far as to put together a wicked playlist of songs that I thought would speak to my muse, the inner bad ass Immortal warrior-a lot of Kanye and MIMS, and my fave, Fifty. But it turns out that I got distracted by the rap music as well. Too much singing, and not enough typing. And that of course, proved that I have no bad ass warrior in me. Because you truly don’t want the visual of me movin’ to the beat.

So then I thought maybe I should try something a little less booming, and a little more calming, something that would blend into the background and simply act as a way to relieve the stress and tension, and allow me to focus on the writing. I picked out some Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven; classical compositions that both moved me, and yet seemed soft and soothing. It didn’t really work either.

You see, I move to the beat of the music—doesn’t matter what kind (except maybe country; with country I just want to cry). Music penetrates to my soul and I’m lost in it. And that’s nice, I appreciate the gift that I’ve been given (especially since I don’t actually have the gift of making music of any kind—at least not that you would want to hear), but it doesn’t help me when what I need is to be lost in my story and my characters.

And so, I write in silence, listening only to the voices inside my head.

*creepy, huh?*

What is it you do to keep the ideas flowing? Are you helped or hindered by a rockin’ playlist?