“Write drunk, edit sober.” We’ve all heard the advice. Hemingway never actually said that, but it sticks in writers’ heads anyway.
For me, a more apt approach for me would be “Write loud, edit quiet.” It needs to be dead silent while I’m editing, but I like it when it noisy when I’m drafting. The louder, the better. Turn on all the noisy appliances. Open the windows and listen to the traffic outside. Pump up the music.
The noise forces me to focus, to concentrate on what’s going on inside of my head rather than whatever chaos is going on outside of it. The noise literally puts me in a trance so the world can fall away and I can write.
I know a lot of folks can’t write with music (especially music with lyrics) on, but it’s my jam. Literally. One of the tricks I use is associating a playlist with a book or series by listening to it exclusively while I write. That way, I can push shuffle on the playlist and I’m instantly back in the same headspace as when I last wrote.
Years ago, I wrote an epic urban fantasy to NIN’s The Fragile, and the opening notes of “Somewhat Damaged” puts me viscerally back into that world. Six beats in, and I’m fighting monsters. Or Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” comes on and I’m Odessa Dean, bopping around the streets of Brooklyn in KILLER CONTENT and NO MEMES OF ESCAPE, waiting tables and solving murders.
Then, I started VINYL RESTING PLACE.
In the Record Shop Mysteries, Juni Jessup and her older sisters own Sip & Spin Records—a family record store/coffee bar. The Jessup sisters spend their days talking and playing music while serving up fun, music-themed beverages. Juni loves to wear vintage concert T-shits. There’s always a different artist playing on the turntable. And then there’s the adorable drink special names! Whenever Java B. Goode is mentioned, guess what song gets stuck in my head?
Sidenote: If you’re a hockey fan, you might already know that every time John Carlson of the Washington Capitals scores at home, “Johnny B. Goode” plays over the loud speakers, so it’s a song I love to hear!
While I was working on a VINYL RESTING PLACE playlist to post, I counted and there are 12 punny song-based drink names, 4 songs that all have special meanings or offer clues to solve a mystery, 9 different concert T-shirts, and 13 artists played in or talked about in the record shop. And just like “Johnny B. Goode,” every single musical reference becomes a new earworm.
I can’t listen to P!nk while I’m singing Nirvana lyrics. I can’t listen to Taylor Swift while humming Jimi Hendrix. And don’t even get me started on the Baby Shark song—talk about an earworm with staying power!
In short, I can’t listen to music while I’m writing Coffee Shop Mysteries. But at the same time, I’m constantly listening to music that’s playing in my head. And if I get stuck, I surf YouTube looking for the perfect song that fits a specific mood.
So if you happen to walk in on me while I’m supposed to be drafting, but instead I’m sitting back with my headphones on and my eyes closed, don’t worry about me. I’m not taking a break. I’m writing.
Like this post? Check out some related articles about soundtracks and playlists:
- Vinyl Resting Place-inspired Playlist
- A Fatal Groove-inspired playlist
- Rhythm and Clues-inspired playlist
- “The Soundtrack to the Record Shop Mysteries” in Criminal Element
