So, John Krissilas turned me onto this Blog Hop--Thursday's Child-- that is all about sharing things that inspire you in your writing. Then I found out that it originated with Rhiann Wynn-Nolet at A Nest of Words and Kristina Perez. I can't paste their linky list work here for some reason, but you can pop over to either site real quick to sign up if you want. It would be awesome to get to visit everyone's site's and see what inspires them!!
But, before I do my Thursday's Child Post, I wanted to let you guys know about a promotion to win a Kindle Fire. All you have to do is sign up on the WILDEST MOMENTS BLOGFEST and talk about your wildest moments. Just for sharing, you're automatically entered in the drawing for a free Kindle Fire!!. The blogfest is being hosted by KRYSTAL WADE, author of Wilde's Fire, Wilde's Army and Wilde's Meadow. (I'm reading the first one, Wilde's Fire, and really enjoying it so far)Krystal is also an editor over at Curiosity Quills. I won a query critique from her in a contest. She critiqued my query, told me to make the changes and send it back and that she'd critique it again and keep working with me until we got it perfect. I thought that was SO sweet--definitely above and beyond the call of duty. So, that's my little plug--if you have a minute to visit her site and sign up on the linky list, that'd be awesome.
As for my post today, I'm going to have to steal John's idea. Music inspires my writing. Sometimes a little, but sometimes a LOT. Skipping Time (my first book) was totally changed of music. I literally rewrote the entire book because I heard a song that connected with me/the character so deeply that I knew I had to fit it in. And the changes I made because of that song made the book WAY better.
I actually really love writing to music, but it HAS to be the right song. If it's not, I kind of find it distracting. I wrote all of Skipping Time to a playlist that I painstakingly put together over the months. With Against the Falling Moons, I wrote ninety-five percent of the book in silence. (Well...that is--if talking kids, video games, two-year old chatter and UFC fights in the background is considered "silence") haha
So, I've done it both ways now. Getting ready to start on a new book (Plotted it all out today. Yay!)
I've already decided this one has to be written to a playlist. It just makes it way more fun.
I was over on John's site and he had some great instrumentals up, which inspired me to want to try that. For me it's always been about the lyrics of the song, but when I listened to the stuff he had, I could see where a good soundtrack in the background could really make the scene/my writing come alive, so I'm excited about giving it a shot.
Anyway, that's it for me.
How about you guys? Does music inspire your writing? What are some songs you like? And are you more about the music or the lyrics--or do both have to fit?
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ReplyDeleteOops, typo (too early for typing apparently). So glad you came along this week-hope you make it a habit! In answer to your question, Kristina Perez and I came up with the Thursday's Children concept. I'd been doing Inspirational Thursdays for a few weeks and she thought it would be a great bloghop idea.You can get the linky code on my blog, it's part of my post. I find music inspirational too, but since I'm planning a whole Thursday's Children post around that subject sometime soonish, I won't say more now.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in hearing your take on music as inspiration. Looking forward to that post!
DeleteI'm sure I will (make it a habit I mean) I think it's a really neat idea. I'll have to visit Kristina's site as well. I'm looking forward to your post on it. :)
DeleteI just got a Kindle Fire, I love it! I am sometimes inspired by music, but it has to be the right music. I tend to be more inspired by music that doesn't have lyrics, which is a little strange, really! I've tagged you in a meme on my blog :)
ReplyDeleteThat looks like such a fun Meme! Thanks. :) I have an iPhone that I do all my reading on, so I've kind of stayed away from the whole Kindle thing, but if I got one for free, I'd absolutely be excited. haha
DeleteI almost always write to music. Sometimes with words, but much of the time I need something instrumental so I don't get distracted by what I'm hearing--if that makes sense. So I listen to a lot of soundtracks and scores. :-)
ReplyDeleteyeah, that totally makes sense. It actually sounds like a cool idea. I'm definitely gonna be downloading some scores of my own today. :)
DeleteFor me, it doesn't matter if the song is instrumental or has a vocal track, but it absolutely has to fit the book otherwise, I might as well be writing to the sounds of dogs barking and babies crying!
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY. If it's not the right song, it doesn't even matter. But the right song can make all the difference in the world!
DeleteI like music, too and like Chris said it was to fit the book. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2012/11/hitting-brick-wall-in-national-novel.html
Hey Mia, great post on your blog today!! Lots of awesome tips. :)Thanks for putting it up.
DeletePS: I have the Linky code AND the Thursday's Children badge up now (I'd completely forgotten it!!)
ReplyDeleteGo grab it and add it in!
http://www.johnkrissilas.com/2012/11/thursdays-children-how-music-fuels-my.html
Cool! Thanks. :)
DeleteSo here's my real comment :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Laura and E.J. about the scores, soundtracks, and instrumentals thing. It's a VERY different source of inspiration than lyrics, when the words and meaning of the song is probably more important than the musicality.
With instrumentals, it's all about what happens in your imagination when you listen to a track. What images does it conjure up? What feelings do you get? That's what needs to flow into your characters and scenes.
I'm excited to see how you find it, and whether it helps with setting your mood for your new book. Isn't that news, too? That you're planning a new book??
Yeah--that's definitely news too. :) Once I get a little further in, I plan on doing a blog about the new book. For right now, its still all plotting and excitement, very little actual writing. So, once the real work starts, I'll feel more like I can talk about it.
DeleteAnd yeah--you worded it much better than I did, but that's exactly what made me want to try the instrumental music. I could instantly feel the mood it would conjure and I think it would actually be really cool to work with that without the distraction of lyrics. Looking forward to it!
Great post. Music is totally one of my driving forces, too. I always make playlists for each of my works and even my characters. Thanks so much for joining us on Thursday's Children! Kristina x
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Kristina! Very glad to be here. :) And I like the idea of creating a playlist not just for the book, but for the different characters.
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