Something that helped me while I was writing my book was looking for songs that fit the story.
Whether it be a song for just one character, for one emotional beat in the relationship, or if it reminded me of the relationship as a whole.
I made a playlist and listened to that shit on repeat. It kept me grounded in their emotional world even when I was doing mundane things like driving to the store. It inspired me and helped with creative breakthroughs when I was stuck at times.
Music tells a story, it touches our souls. Just the vibe of a song can make you go, "YES! THAT'S THE CHARACTER!"
If a song fit a scene I wanted to write, I would listen to it before I started writing that scene. Those were the times I was able to jump right in the easiest.
My writing process is obsessive and all-consuming. It may not be for everyone.
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The terror of the blank page. (I say as I type this into a blank page.)
Getting started can be intimidating, and brings up a lot of fears, like that one of a blank page.
The truth is, that behind every confident writer who says ‘just start!’ there’s a bag of tricks to overcoming inertia and making that start happen. They often become habits and rituals that take the place of that over-hyped ‘self discipline’ that teachers always like to talk about.
I am deeply bad at self discipline. And after a lifetime of being told to just self discipline my way out of executive dysfunction I instantly develop a terminal case of ‘stickittotheman-itis’ (thanks Jack Black) whenever I hear that dreaded term. Even in situations like this where my own goals are ‘the man.’
So let’s not go there.
Instead I want you to focus on just two things. Love and time.
I’m going to assume that you—as a writer—enjoy writing. (And yes! You are a writer!)
Gaining pleasure from writing often gets buried under a lot of other emotional baggage, but to be willing to commit a not insignificant amount of leisure time to writing, you must on some level enjoy it. Why else would you doing this?
That’s not to say it’s fun all the time. But, similar to any other hobby, there’s got to be a significant amount of pleasure and satisfaction from the activity to make it feel worthwhile.
And yeah, I said hobby. Sure, you might have a goal of getting paid, but this isn’t your job, you’re (most likely) not making money from it. At this point it’s for fun. So focus on that. Have fun with writing.
Think about why you love it, or if that’s too abstract, go back to what got you started writing in the first place. Is it seeing worlds develop on the page? Is it creating characters with nuance and feelings and opinions? Is it the sheer joy of plot twists and telling a story your way?
Sit with it, and think about the specifics. Why do you love writing?
It might feel silly, but this isn’t about semantics. It’s about getting into the head space of writing being something you want to do. I want your daily writing time to be something you Look Forward To.
When you have a hobby you’re excited to pursue, you make time to do it.
That’s the second step. What part of your day can you find time to pursue your writing hobby? You’ve probably already done the math (and more about that on another post) but to be real about writing enough to complete a whole novel in a year, you will need about thirty minutes, most days a week.
To avoid that being at the cost of neglecting the important, real and good things in your life (like work, relaxation, time with friends and family, sleep!) you will probably end up with taking time from relaxation time.
And that’s going to be, more than likely, time spent online.
Because doom scrolling and social media is probably eating the time you could be writing.
And now we’re back to those mean people and apps that try to stop you spending so much time on your phone, and you’re feeling guilty and that evil taskmaster self-discipline is lurking.
Don’t make it about forcing yourself to be less online, make it about making more time for your fun hobby.
Do you wake up with story ideas? Can you try heading to bed a bit earlier so that you’ll have time in the morning to write some of that down? Do you like going to sleep thinking about story? Can you stop other activities a bit earlier in the evening so you’ve got time to write before going to sleep? Do you spend your commute or breaks boredom scrolling when you could be writing?
To finish a novel you need time to write.
You’re not looking for a massive block of time. Just thirty minutes. Or even two fifteens if that’s more functional. If you’re struggling to find a time, keep a log of your daily activities for a few days. And then when you find a likely looking time-slot, try spending the next few days writing 100 words or so at that time (don’t worry about making it more right now!) and see how it feels. Rinse and repeat until you’ve got something that feels like it works. Most people find having a regular time each day works best, but if you enjoy the variety of mixing it up, try that too.
You’re looking for time yes, but in the most enjoyable and lowest friction way possible. You’re not aiming for suffering here! It’s just a bit of time in your day to have fun with your imaginary friends.
And that’s it! Your mission for the next week or two! Focus on what you love about writing and then find time to do it. And feel free to let me know what you come up with!
LISTEN TO THE TYPE OF MUSIC FOR THE SCENE YOU’RE WRITING. IT HELPS!!
Ex: one of my books is medieval fantasy. So, I listen to Narnia music, golden brown, pandora x September ocean atmosphere, luminary, harpy hare, army dreamers, etc when I’m just having a basic scene with world building.
For sad/desperate/heartbreaking scenes, anything sad. I listen to songs that just make me cry to add depth. some I listen to depending on the TYPE of sad are a lot of Radiohead, lovely by Billie eilish, dandelions is good for more soft sad. Mitski is amazing for these, like first love/ late spring, losing dogs, AMAZING. Two birds on a wire, Goodbye by seungmin also. Dynasty.
Breaking rules, rebel, crazy character, bada$$ character scenes: typically rock, heavy metal, or even fast pop like mother mother songs I use like hayloft, even ‘dumb dumb’ works for me, a lot of mindless self indulge songs. Fnaf songs work too if your a weird kid like me. Die in a fire is a great one. You should see me in a crown is good, punk tactics
Crazy but like villian crazy: protection charm is a good one, cradles, insane, miss wanna die, play with fire, riot,
Happy romance, I use musicals.: like rewrite the stars, tightrope, you get it.
Traumatized breakouts ones I use a LOT of Melanie Martinez ones (don’t come at me about her, I don’t support her, just like the music). But things like tag your it are good depending on the trauma.
Eerie scenes you NEED ONES THAT SEND LIKE SHIVERS TO YOU: RUN RUN!, run rabbit, who is she, boots are ones I love
Scenes where a character is upset/angry/confused/frustrated/ desperate. Anything about romance or anything: one last kiss, too sweet, things like that but it depends.
Just absolutely bada$$, slay, fem or masc but mostly fem, sexy scenes like seduction, flirting, concerts: I use more hyped ones like Licky, sexy back, slumber party, boys beware, a lot of 6arelyhuman songs, taste (skz), 1-8-0-0, bite me, show me who you are, feel it, older, drunk dazed, darling can I be your favorite, escape, red lights,
For childish scenes, specifically almost painfully innocent it makes you cry type scenes I listen to like: you love me, villain and violent (idk what it’s called), glue,
These are very specific and random, just scenes and songs I like. You don’t have use any of them, it’s just kinda a tip and random ones I use! Theres many other songs for many other scenes.
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I was not tagged by @amorbidcorvid per se but I saw her post doing this one and thought "what a good idea" so here it is (also her fic sounds fantastic).
Last Lines
Rules: post the most recent line of your WIP and tag someone for every word in that line
This from all the days of your life, having skipped straight past 1500 words of angst directly to Nolan being a bitch.
(Nolan just scoffed and asked who was planning to deliver incarceration therapy to Rasputin.)
Do I have fourteen friends who write? Let's find out!
