#writing playlist
my fic titles playlist
okay so most (if not all) of my fic titles come from song lyrics because what am i if not an edgy tumblr writer. the song doesn’t always even necessarily relate to the fic but the line i use for the title does so anyway, here is a compiled playlist.
me listening to this playlist all the way through:
[image courtesy of @/relatablepicturesoflisasimpson]
any way you want it – journey
demolition lovers – my chemical romance
not that kinda girl – my chemical romance
home wrecker – marina and the diamonds
tongue tied – grouplove
pumped up kicks – foster the people
attention reader – pencey prep
no children – the mountain goats
teen idle – marina and the diamonds
praise you – hannah grace
be my daddy – lana del rey
transparent soul – willow
hey ya – eden
of all the gin joints in all the world – fall out boy
running up that hill – kate bush
experiment iv – kate bush
in the heat of the moment – noel gallagher’s high flying birds
babooshka – kate bush
easy – lionel richie
living on a prayer – bon jovi
highway star – deep purple
ghost of you – ella henderson
back to black – amy winehouse
the hole – beetlejuice: the musical (demos)
blinding lights – the weeknd
tragician – frank iero and the cellabration
i slept with someone in fall out boy and all I got was this song written about me – fall out boy
road to nowhere – talking heads
joyriding – frank iero and the cellabration
little talks – of monsters and men
four leaf clover – the kooks
lifeboat – heathers: the musical
roll with it – oasis
all you ever wanted – rag ‘n’ bone man
to be treated rite – terry reid
people are strange – the doors
our house – madness
dosed – red hot chili peppers
if – red hot chili peppers
Do you use music to inspire your writing? Have you ever thought about trying different genres to see whether that affects your story? Today, writerA.S. Axeman shares how exploring YouTube videos helped inspire their novel:
For NaNoWriMo 2021, I chose synthwave and ambient genres as my writing music. While most of us write to music, some of us may have a rough time writing with singing in the background. I’m also an 80s kid so when I think of action or hard science fiction, synth music is in my head.
The fantasy and space opera movies of the 80s were voiced by a massive orchestras and produced great music to write to. Growing up I used to listen to the Blade Runner soundtrack and all John Carpenter music just as much as the John Williams scores. As I have aged, most of the time I write with big movie scores playing in the background due to the sheer volume of them available. This year, though, I ignored the sweeping epic scores and shifted solely to synthwave. YouTube is full of synthwave and its sub genres chillwave, darkwave, horrorwave, and retrowave. Springboarding off those, I also added ambient videos with great visuals to my general play list.
The first few days were easy writing, but around 10k words I was really stretching my imagination. I was stalling with my initial idea and I had to give my characters a kick in the pants. I was flipping through synthwave tiles to find just the right one when I saw a silhouetted traveler looking at the expansive skyline of a futuristic city. I though “put Axe and his crew right where that guy is standing”. Suddenly I different problem set for my amnesia-plagued team to deal with.
I typed a few paragraphs then looked at the image again for another dose of inspiration. 700 words later and halfway through that video, I was hunting for another video that seemed like it could connect. I found it among the hundred or so titles of just one content creator.
When I paid attention to the screen images for each synthwave or ambient video, I began stitching together a very different narrative than my intended course. Instead of Axe, Mac, and Quartermas dealing with gritty rough problems, they were on a trippy, cosmic journey.
Music lights up my brain (probably yours too) and images can be worth hundreds to thousands of words. Why not use them as your force multiplier? Think of the time you’ve slogged your way through a dull but awesome looking movie. I’ve sat through many boring but visually stunning and beautiful sounding movies. Choosing instrumental music videos with majestic animations as your writing companion can push you and your words in different directions that you weren’t prepared to go but might actually like better.
A.S Axeman is the pseudonym of a professional rabbit-holer and over thinker who enjoys general woodworking, guitar foot pedals, holiday baking, dark beers, and being retired from the Air Force.
Photo by Don DaskaloonUnsplash
Yes it is winter still im just tired of it
1. a walk on a brisk morning, ice frosted windows, a bouquet of flowers from a farmer’s market
2. distant bird song that wakes a character in an unsavory place, April showers, a character named May who betrays another
3. a picnic just before it’s warm enough, a love that blossoms like early spring flowers, a promise made in good faith
4. a bet for who can do something before the first flowers spring up, a robin with a worm, borrowing someone’s jacket
5. a gurgling fountain in a park, days that grow slowly longer, a time for moving on and fresh starts