If there’s one single thing I’ve learned over the course of the past several years participating in NaNoWriMo, it’s that a writing playlist is absolutely essential. I write best to a soundtrack, and over the past couple of years that we’ve been brainstorming, my writing partner and I have come up with soundtracks for each book in the series we’re working on.
This month, though, we’re working on A Night Full of Red, and
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:
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.
Feliza Casano 