Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Right now I'm gonna pass the mic...

Today, I get someone else to do the hard work for me again.  I asked L.A. Tripp to write this because he digs music and I am super interested in the way music and writing inter-relate.  As a musician, I have always found it interesting that writing is one of the things I can't do while listening to music.  Well, I can.  But I don't.  But many people I know do. Anyway, enough about me.  Read on.  Meanwhile, I'm gonna sip this coffee and try to get all these supermodels to leave me the hell alone...


Music, Mind over matter, and Me...

I've been asked several times how music affects me and my stories. Well, let me explain.

Music is a natural part of me. I grew up with it. I listened to it with my parents. I listen to it while I drive. I listen to it when I go out and dance to it. It only makes sense that I'd use it while I write, as well.

Here's my process.

I sit at my desk, settle in with my computer for a cozy little work session. But, before I get too cozy, I pull up my music on my phone, pop the earplugs in that we call headphones, and select some music. What happens when the notes start traveling from the phone, through the wire, into the earplugs, and resting in my ears? Well . . . they don't rest. Each note buries themselves into every fiber of me. I feel the beat, the symbols, the guitars, the voice. It reverberates through me. That symbol could tell me a character needs to get killed off. That bass line may tell me a tragedy is on it's way. The soulful voice may steer me toward a love connection forming. As these notes filter through my body, my fingers travel across the keys and write what is plotting in my head.

The end result is the story that you laugh, cry, and cringe at.

Hope you enjoy my works, and keep in mind the journey going on in me while you journey through the story.

L.A Tripp is a writer and an all around nice guy.  Check out his work and support a writer that truly supports the arts and his fellow scribes.   CLICK HERE

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for stepping up, brother.

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  2. Thanks for having me! It's an honor. Though you did make me dig very, very . . . VERY deep for this post ;)

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  3. Great article! I usually listen to instrumental music when I write, mostly Mannheim Steamroller. :)

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  4. Yeah, I love both writing and music but don't often mix them... maybe something ambient or even very slow drone stuff might work on occasion.

    Listening to the new Boris on a free stream right now, check it, guys: http://www.spin.com/articles/stream-boris-awesome-wtf-worthy-new-album-new-album

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  5. I usually punch myself in the nuts and write til the groaning stops.

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  6. I generally write to the clatter of noise within my own head! Where everything else around me is in silence. But, I do use music to inspire, to create an ambience. Even recently going as far as thinking of writing a short story / novella to one particular song..... Sanity is no friend of mine :)

    Great blog Mader! Great post Toney.

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  7. I write to the sound of sporadic gunfire.

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