I've been revisiting a very good book,
Seven Steps on the Writer's Path, this week. If you haven't read it before, it goes through the stages of the creative process with tricks to get moving again if you get hung up on any of them. In my experience every project does go through those stages, and very often if I get stuck, it's on step 5, letting go.
There are various things that I've found help me let go. One is my book playlist. The right music helps put me in the right mindset for the story. Studies have shown music can alter brain waves. Music helps bypass the thinking, critical brain, the side that gets in the way when the emotional, intuitive, symbolic side that does all the real heavy-lifting when it comes to creativity needs to get on with the job.
Thinking about what I want is another way to let go. Why do I want to tell this story? What do I want it to be? What do I want next in my writing life? When you want something enough, it's easier to let go of where you are or what you're hanging onto and reach for it.
My current playlist:
- Billy Idol, White Wedding
- Social Distortion, When She Begins
- Naruto, Rising Dragon
- Naruto, Hero's Comeback
- Social Distortion, Ball and Chain
- Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly
- Powerman 5000, Action
- Social Distortion, When the Angels Sing
- Mazzy Star, Fade Into You
- The Clash, Rock the Casbah
Good sources for music online: Rhapsody, low-cast monthly membership for unlimited listening, or Lala, listen to any song once free, buy it for .89 cents.
The problem I have with
The problem I have with playlists is 17 years of classicial violin training. I would love to be able to use music as a shortcut to get into the story world, but my brain perceives it as language, so I get tangled up in melody lines, and chord progressions/resolutions, and counterpoint possibilities, and...well. Le sigh.
Thanks for the book recommend; I had never heard of this one and it's now on its way to my house.
And in the rubbing-salt-in-the-snow-wounds department, the predicted high for today in Boise is 56F, with visible sun and blue sky. I have daffodils getting ready to bloom in my back yard, bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah.
Val, I match you for years on
Val, I match you for years on flute. Plus piano and other percussion and voice. It doesn't interfere with writing for me, though, thank God. Let me know what you think of the book!
You can laugh now, but when it's 105 there, who'll be laughing? *eg*