USEFUL WRITING DISTRACTIONS - NUMBER TWO - CHOOSING THE RIGHT MUSIC
This beautiful thing was my best Christmas present. It really is that small, it fits in my hand perfectly, and has wasted many hours of my time already. The version of the Nano I have takes 500 songs - I thought that would be masses but already I'm up to nearly 400, so I've been organising them into playlists.
My favourite list is the one of songs about writing and/or books. So far I have a measley six - but I'm sure there are many more to collect:
Every day I write the book - Elvis Costello
Mr Writer - Stereophonics
Paperback Writer - The Beatles
The Book I haven't read - Lambchop
Sonnet - The Verve
Lady Writer - Dire Straits.
Any other suggestions?
Finding music I can write to is always hard. When I was writing Something Beginning With, I had such a clear narratorial voice in my head, but because editing was some months after the initial writing burst, I found it hard to get back to that particular rhythm. I struggled and struggled, until by chance I started playing the music I'd been listening to fairly obsessively during the time I'd been writing the book, and voila - I was immediately back there in Verity's head. The music? Bryan Ferry singing old ballads. Don't ask.
There's a beautiful site I found which combines Japanese music and storytelling, and that's Elizabeth Falconer's work. Definitely worth visiting. I particularly love the concept of storytelling being about generosity, trust, sharing and determination, and the koto has such an extraordinary, evocative sound. I don't know Elizabeth, but she has her own blog that I've been reading and finding inspiration from. It's almost illegal, this feeling you get of knowing people through their random jottings on the internet. Like stalking.
And my writing prompt for today comes from one of the reviews on the site above and it is 'a feather-light touch'.
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