How Music Affects Process

Music is used in stores to prolong the shopping experience. In movies, music (or the lack) is utilized to enhance the scene. Advertising agencies have invested time and money into music for jingles that keep products in your head, or a television series in the forefront of your mind.

Music is also one of the key aspects of my writing process.

Music Encourages Focus

The first step for my writing process is to turn on my music.

I do not require utter silence in order to write. In fact, silence is distracting, which might be due to my history as a one-in-four sibling growing up on a 30-acre homestead in Oregon. There was always some type of noise to compete with. This forced me to learn to “tune out” in order to get anything done. Now, I look to music and other types of white noise to keep me on task. To give me something to ignore. Seriously.

Music Enhances Mood

On my computer I have more than seven days worth of music in genres ranging from alternative to industrial to techno. This broad range of styles helps me create a writing soundtrack, as it were, for a specific scene, character, era, or particular intensity I want to impart to my readers. For my newest release, Searching for Sara, I utilized my playlist of classical music in order to submerse myself in music of the period (the novel is set in the mid 1890s). But I enhanced that selection with more modern symphonic undertones to help me with those scenes of dark intensity and grief. Having that foundation encouraged my mind to seek out those power words to convey the agony of the hero.

Music Promotes Inspiration

Did you ever hear a piece of music or watch a movie that tugged at your heart and soul so profoundly you were left to sit in utter silence? The Christian groups Skillet and Building 429 are two such artists who inspire me to create characters or scenes. Their melodies and lyrics move me to seek an outlet for those poignant emotions. In fact, I generally listen to Christian alternative or rock while working on my Young Adult fiction series, Changing Scenes, in order to harness the chaos and intense emotions I remember experiencing as a teen.

Seek Inspiration

I cannot stress enough the importance of finding those doors and windows to your writing passion. If you are intrigued and loving (or hating) of your characters, your readers will pick up on that intensity and turn pages. Music helps me “channel” the necessary mood. But what about you? What have you found that encourages inspiration?

ABOUT NONA KING

Nona King is an independent writing professional for Angel Breath Books. She has dedicated herself to writing true-to-life characters, be they villain or hero, so her readers can experience life and its many passions. All her stories focus on faith, honor, and the importance of communication and trust in our relationships with others.

You can find more books by Nona King at these locations:

• Blog: www.AngelBreathBooks.net
• Amazon Author: amazon.com/author/nonaking
• Barnes & Noble Author: barnesandnoble.com/c/nona-king
• Goodreads Author: goodreads.com/nonaking
• Smashwords Author: smashwords.com/profile/view/nonaking

*Posted on K.M. Weiland’s site ‘Helping Writers Become Authors’ on Dec. 21, 2012.