I don’t always listen to music while I write, but I often get inspiration from it. I’ll be sitting in my car listening to the radio or a CD, and either the music or the lyrics or both will give me an idea that I’ll start to work on in my mind, and by the time I sit down at my computer, it’s ready to flow straight from my fingers. Once I figured out that my chapter for this book was going to be dark, I put together a CD of songs I had that fit the mood. I listened to the CD at least once a day, and it gave me all the ideas I needed to fill out my chapter. I called the CD “Cool Darkness.”
Here’s a sample of some of the songs that gave me my inspiration:
- Veteran of the Psychic Wars – Blue Oyster Cult
- All Along the Watchtower – Bear McCreary/written by Bob Dylan (from the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack)
- Disciples of the Watch – Testament
- On the Dark Side – John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band (from Eddie and the Cruisers)
- Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes
- Close My Eyes Forever – Lita Ford
- Holy Diver – Ronnie James Dio
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC
- Joey – Concrete Blonde (acoustic version)
- The World I Know – Collective Soul
- Put Your Lights On – Santana with Everlast
- Daughter (Live Version) – Pearl Jam
- Paint it Black – The Rolling Stones
It’s a pretty eclectic mix, but they have a certain darkness about them that served me well when trying to come up with ideas for my story. If you’ve never done it, try it sometime.
~cvalin
