Writer's Playlist

#Mood.

Writing requires a certain #mood, a certain ambiance that isn't always present. The urge to write a plot twist in chapter twenty seven may strike you suddenly while you're sitting in a physics class, or on your last six minutes of your work break, but without the proper #mood? The moment you bust out your pen and notepad, the ideas don't flow as readily as you'd anticipated. The #mood may be missing. Creating a proper #mood has several components, including the place and time. I've learned that writing in my room is a no-go; the bed is just too close by, too comfy--so doing any kind of work in my room typically results in a two hour nap, and I've found that spending a couple of hours at a quiet library is where my thoughts flow best. If it's too late, I'll be too tired and much more inclined to scroll mindlessly through social media feeds; but if it's too early, I haven't had enough time or coffee to formulate proper ideas, never mind turn them into coherent and cohesive sentences, paragraphs, or chapters.

Besides the time of day and the place, the most important aspect to writing for me is the music. The scenes for chapters dance around in my mind like snippets of a movie, and what's a movie without a soundtrack? The type of music I listen to may very well vary depending on the topic of the book, story, post or article. A couple of years ago, I was writing about a group of assassins who spent most of their time scouting out their targets in bars and clubs, so some chill rap or hip hop was perfect to motivate my writing. Other times, I write best when listening to classical, instrumental or smooth jazz. Sometimes, there's only one specific song I'll write to on repeat--most recently, it was the song The Warmth by Koda while working on one of my novels I hope to publish traditionally within the next year and a half or so. Overall, the music I listen to most for writing is usually not heard on the radio, has very musical or lyrical components to it, and provokes a focused, ambient #mood. A lot of my novels include some sort of serious subject matter that may be reflected in some of these songs; for instance, the song Empty by Pvris is literally about someone feeling void of all purpose. The combination of the emotion in the singer's tone and the instruments used create the perfect #mood and mindset for writing a novel where the character has lost loved ones and is struggling to find purpose to push on in life. Check out some songs from my writing playlists below! Listed first are songs with lyrics, followed by a selection of instrumental music: