From the beginning, this life’s been winning…if you feel it, I know it can’t be wrong… -Virginia Coalition, “Sing Along”
I think most any creative person out there will gladly admit that music is one of their biggest muses. In fact, they’d probably be ready to ramble off a rather long list of artists and songs in particular that inspire them. Music is not only one of our greatest emotional outlets, it is also, at least in my case, one of the best ways to understand an emotion or a feeling. Music, coupled with heartfelt lyrics, describes to our hearts and souls what the artist is feeling or going through. And by listening to their music, we as writers can then in turn take inspiration and do what we do best: create fulfilling, lifelike characters, with emotions deep and rich with detail and believability.
For me, music is one of the greatest ways to get in the mode for writing a particular scene or even for developing a character. Oftentimes, I’ll even create playlists on my iPhone with songs that pertain, in my eyes, to a certain character I’m writing about, and I’ll listen to the playlist before hitting the keyboard in order to get my mind around the emotions and mood of the character.
We all have our music fixes, and pretty much everyone has heard Stephanie Meyer talk about how the band Muse was her greatest “muse.” For me, the list of artists and songs is extensively long as far as what inspires me, but some of the top ones are: Ellie Goulding, Sarah McLachlan, Fleetwood Mac, Florence and the Machine, Adele, Lee DeWyze, Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz, and Chris Cornell.
Without their music, I don’t know if I would be as emotionally inspired to write. Without their powerful lyrics, combined with intensely emotional music, my characters would likely be much drier, much less fulfilled and rounded out emotionally.
So, all I gotta say is thank god for music! Oh, and astrology, but I’ll save that for another post 😉
You reach out across the divide…I reach out from the other side…
She Writes With Love 
Fleetwood Mac and Chris Cornell… I thought I was the only one with those two on my list. Whew!
You know, most of the time when I’m writing, I listen to soundtracks. I find that if I listen to something with lyrics, I focus on their words, not mine. Does that happen to you?
Oh yes definitely! I actually need perfect silence while I write, but if I’m just outlining or brainstorming ideas then I like to listen to music, and always music with lyrics. I have this set playlist it seems that I’m constantly drawn to to get me in the mindset for writing and creating. And Fleetwood Mac (Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, oh so amazing!) and Chris Cornell have some of the most inspiring lyrics and mood music of any other artist(s) I’ve heard before! Glad you like them too 🙂