We recently had a power outage up here in the woods that lasted roughly seven days, mostly due to downed trees. Creative ways to boil water, store food (packed it in snow outside), and keep ourselves busy and productive ensued. Real quick: Trivial Pursuit (some kind of ‘genius’ edition) has the most ridiculous questions imaginable; my knowledge of geography turns out to be subpar at best. Suffice it to say, we agreed that the one thing we really missed during that period with no power was hearing music. When that magical moment of power restoration hit, man did we celebrate, throwing headphones on and smiling and rocking out the rest of the day–then the TV inevitably came to life.
I can write without music, no problem, but it’s kinda like taking a really long road trip in silence, windows up. About seven years ago I recognized how my brain works a bit like that guy Pavlov’s dog did (dog’s dead, by the way): ring a bell and get a treat. The bell’s a song; the treat’s a voice, or the angle for a voice to pry it’s way in, that is. So every project has a playlist now, consisting of maybe twenty songs, something like that, running 3-4 minutes a piece. Doing the math, that’s roughly 60-80 minutes. Now, I can’t write productively for that duration of time, or I can but it’ll all end up in the chipper when the door’s open for editing. 15-20 minute bursts is about where I sit now, just about enough time for a single song to repeat 3-4 times, get up and interact with the world, then hit the page again. It’s more about a time count than a word count, I guess’s what I’m saying.
My mom used to take me to the movies all the time, it was just a thing we did together, and right after the credits began to roll (no cut scenes post credits back then) we’d hit Music Plus and pick up the soundtrack to whatever we watched, if it was good. Association of story with music solidified. Really, it’s a time machine that works if you listen hard enough. Here’s the playlist I used to write SLAP (s’what we’ve been calling Scream Like a Prayer since the get). I realize not everyone uses apple music. If you do, here’s the link. If not, well, here’s the analog version (I don’t do Spotify). Each song’s a chapter title, with a few omitted on the chopping block. *That cover’s an old polaroid of me screaming in my grandma’s bathroom.
https://music.apple.com/us/library/playlist/p.06aW30pi0xGer65
And “Send Me an Angel” by Real Life, I’m pretty sure I first heard it watching Rad. It’s this prom dance scene done with freestyle BMX bikes.
