music in writing.

I love music. I love it as an inspiration, as a distraction, as an accompaniment. I always find that when an author posts their inspiration music along with their work, the mood of the piece is massively improved. If I’m reading a love story, I like finding the song (or songs) listed as inspiration and sitting to read with the music in the background. It creates a subtle type of ambience that adds dimension to the reading experience; the song stays with you in your mind, and so does the story. Maybe you hear the song later, on the radio, and your mind strays back to the characters. You think about them as people; what are they doing know? How do they feel? It keeps the story alive long after you’ve finished reading the latest chapter of your favourite story.

There’s also the impact of the music on your writing. Listening to dark, dramatic music often translates into your writing as you take inspiration from the tune and listening to lighter, airy music lifts the mood of your piece and is often romantic or peaceful.

So, to honour my massive love of music as an accompaniment, I’m posting my writing playlists below. I use these for the story ‘A Better Man’.
I have, mainly, three playlists for writing; one simply entitled ‘Writing Playlist’, that holds a mix of songs I find suit my characters well and those that don’t require much thinking to listen to. I then have two separate playlists entitled ‘Aurore’ and ‘Severus’, which are, obviously, filled with the songs I find best represent the characters or impact my writing the way I want.

General Writing:

Flightless Bird – Iron and Wine

Is There A Ghost – Band of Horses

Eyes On Fire – Blue Foundation

Satellite Heart – Anya Marina

I Belong In Your Arms – Chairlift

Shooting Star – Air Traffic

Possibility – Lykke Li

I Belong To You – Muse

Run Right Back – The Black Keys


Aurore:

New York – Snow Patrol
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIlNguMTPXI)

Underneath Your Clothes – Shakira
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrhII_AOK_M)

Next To Me – Emeli Sande

Dark Paradise – Lana Del Rey

When We Were Young – Sucre

White Lies - Paolo Nutini

Set The Fire To The Third Bar – Snow Patrol


Severus:

Hinder – Better Than Me
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEXBmw2jBcA)

No One’s Gonna Love You – Band of Horses

The Other Side – Bruno Mars

Colourblind – Counting Crows

It’s Beginning To Get To Me – Snow Patrol

Worried Man – Paolo Nutini


The ones with youtube links are ones that I highly, highly recommend you have on in the background while reading 'A Better Man'.

Happy reading and have a lovely Sunday. :) x