A comment to the previous part of the Music Inspirations made me realize that I didn’t make a clear distinction between “writing music” and “music inspiration”. The first one often consists of a writer’s favorite songs or maybe background music with no lyrics if they prefer (such as classics or movie soundtracks) that helps to focus on writing or isolate from the surrounding world. The second one can be anything that the writer heard, a new hit on the radio by some popular singer or a long-forgotten lullaby or anything else, including songs outside of a writer’s musical comfort zone.

When I look at my music inspirations I realize how different this list is from what I usually listen to and from what I listen to when I write. Of course, some of the songs make it to my permanent playlist, be it the writing or the general one, while others stay forever attached to just one idea, and I don’t really listen to them once I wrote the story they inspired. If there is a rule to my musical inspiration, I have to find it yet. All I can say for sure, they happen and they come unexpectedly: just like the one that made it to the list below. (more…)

Some writers can’t work unless there is silence around them, others easily jot down sentences in a crowded cafe, but to many of us music is an important part of the creative process.

To me music is important as it not only inspires me, but also helps me create. I don’t need it in order to be writing (some friends of mine can testify that they saw me writing during a loud party), but I like to use it to create a barrier between the story and the world around me. Sometimes I find a song that reflects the story or the mood of what I am writing, and then I am happy to listen to it in a loop as long as I write, and sometimes it’s just a random playlist in the background.

Some time ago my Facebook friend and fellow writer – Anna “Cranberry” Nieznaj invited me to join a game for writers: for 30 days we would be posting links to the music that inspired some of our works with a short description or an excerpt. The game was fully in Polish and only available for friends, but since another person asked me about the role of music in my writing, I thought it is due time to convert that game into a blog post (or three). (more…)