music

NaNoWriMo 2013: Writing Playlist

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We’re ending the first full week of NaNoWriMo, so to get things moving, I wanted to share the playlist I’m using to motivate myself this year. Every time I do NaNoWriMo (or Script Frenzy or Camp NaNo), I make a playlist I can listen to that inspires the work either in terms of setting, character, or what have you.

This year, I tried to stick with songs from the late 90’s up to 2006, since my project takes place between August 2005 and May 2006. A couple later songs snuck in, but most of the songs fit those criteria.

  1. A New Beginning – Good Charlotte
  2. Bring It (Snakes on a Plane) – Cobra Starship
  3. Where Is The Love – The Black Eyed Peas
  4. I Knew You Were Trouble – Taylor Swift
  5. The Great Escape – Boys Like Girls
  6. Mobile – Avril Lavigne
  7. Holiday – Green Day
  8. Secret Valentine – We The Kings
  9. Nobody’s Fool – Avril Lavigne
  10. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage – Panic! at the Disco
  11. Pressure – Paramore
  12. Pump It – The Black Eyed Peas
  13. Take Me Out (live) – Franz Ferdinand
  14. Born For This – Paramore
  15. You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid – The Offspring
  16. Sweetness – Jimmy Eat World

My word count progress the morning of Saturday, November 9 is 5,430. What’s your current NaNoWriMo word count? What music is driving you this year?

[Script Frenzy] ‘Half-Sized’ Soundtrack

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When I write, I like to listen to music.  I made at least two different playlists when I wrote The TECH Project, and the one I’m using while writing and editing The Final Experiment is still flexible.  I even made one as I wrote Victorious for NaNoWriMo 2011 – but it ended up only four songs long.

This year, I planned Script Frenzy out a bit more than I have in previous years, and that includes the playlist.

I’ve got a nice playlist started that’s composed of what I’d consider “throwbacks”: songs I remember from my junior high and high school years that capture the tone of what I want Half-Sized Tiger to be.

Some of the songs aren’t from those years – most remarkably the one ADELE song on the list – but they’ve all got the tone I’m trying to achieve in Half-Sized Tiger.  I also included some links to YouTube videos – official videos by the artists, fan videos using footage from Toradora!, and non-official fan videos as well.

And so, without further ado:

  1. Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – Backstreet Boys
  2. Dance with the Devil – Breaking Benjamin
  3. Set Fire to the Rain – ADELE
  4. How to Save A Life – The Fray
  5. Up Against a Wall – Boys Like Girls
  6. Fall Back Into My Life – Amber Pacific
  7. I Want it That Way – Backstreet Boys
  8. Dance Inside – The All-American Rejects
  9. Unwanted – Avril Lavigne
  10. Sweetness – Jimmy Eat World
  11. Mr. Brightside – The Killers
  12. Until The End – Breaking Benjamin
  13. Hanging By a Moment – Lifehouse
  14. My Immortal (Radio Edit) – Evanescence
  15. Incomplete – Backstreet Boys
  16. I’ll Be There For You – Jon Bon Jovi
  17. Fall For You – Secondhand Serenade
  18. Teenage Dream – Boyce Avenue

That’s quite the mix, isn’t it?  I don’t think anyone besides be would stick a Backstreet Boys song in front of a Breaking Benjamin song, but that’s what it is.  This list is subject to order changes as I change or tweak the order of events in the screenplay, but this is more or less the inspiration I’m drawing from this month.

Do you prefer listening to music when you write?  Do you have a Script Frenzy playlist?  If so, blog about it and post the link in the comments.  If you listen to a particular album, let me know – I’m always on the lookout for new music, and I’d love to hear what inspires you.