Newest track: “Silver Coin” by Angus & Julia Stone
The lyrics in this song express love in a poetic way that most mainstream can’t manage. I’ve always felt that the instrumentals accentuate the words perfectly. How can you apply this to writing? Setting (background music) sets the mood for the action (vocals).
Newest track: “Harry & Hermione” by Nicholas Hooper [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince OST]
Every time I hear the strings in this composition I think of rain falling outside during sunset. If writing a lovelorn scene, or moment in the protagonist’s life when things did not go as planned, this track would be the perfect background music motivation.
Newest track: “Simple and Clean” by Utada Hikaru
This song is one of the few out there that can make me wish for a love story. A certain melancholy of having a loved one “walk away” betrays its sweetness and simplicity. Unrequited love still remains one of the hardest tugs on a reader’s heartstrings. When writing, don’t underestimate the universal feeling of never enough.
Newest track: “南国” from Candy Rain OST
It’s hard to not be at peace with this beautiful song playing in the background. “南国” makes me want to sit with a cup of tea or coffee, my laptop in front of me, and sunlight pouring through my window, all while I type out a paragraph or two. Also, the track inspires me to write about the mundane: a walk down a city street in the fog or a visit to a park with a new love, or simply the fall of raindrops.
(Source: wait-im-remembering)
Newest track: “BLUE” by Utada Hikaru
This song seems to encompass a woman’s sorrow, with lines like, “Darling, questions leave me blue.” Maybe it’s just Utada’s soprano, but the music represents a whirlwind of emotion. While I may never use this song as a writing muse, I tend to play it in the background as I read a novel with a female protagonist, many of which inspire my own heroines.
Newest track: “Saeglopur (Dubstep Remix)” by Sigur Ros, featuring Mt. Eden.
The shoegaze-esque vocals in this mix, alongside the beat like an irregular pulse, seem to capture a moment of heartbreak. If words had a soundtrack, this song would embody the depression of losing a loved one. “Saeglopur” has become the background-music inspiration for the scene in my novel where the protagonist is shot down after her realization that she is same-sex oriented.
Newest track: “아침먹고 땡/Have Breakfast/Ttaeng After Morning” by Yozoh
As a folk indie singer who plays the melodica, Yozoh is one of my favorite artists. This song reminds me of waking on a sunny morning to a bowl of hot oatmeal and coffee. Images like this support much of my writing, and perhaps I can bring it into a hotel stay scene where two of my characters order room service.
Newest Track: “The Wizard” by Bat for Lashes.
This song is inspiring as a musical piece and as a template for description. The imagery in the lyrics takes you to a certain midnight; yet, the whole track is a (rather sexual) metaphor.
Newest discovery:
Do you know who Edith Pattou is? Maybe not by name, but her novel, East, is a favorite amongst many young adults. A retelling of the fairytale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” Edith Pattou’s story follows a young girl named Rose as she embarks on an adventure with a bewitched polar bear, who has taken her away from her family.
But what does Ms. Pattou have to do with me? Well, as it would turn out, she is a Scripps College (where I currently attend) graduate! Also, she won the Crombie Allen Award for writing, which I just found out I won today. Please let me continue to follow in her footsteps…
(Source: edithpattou.com)
Newest track: “Silver Morning” by Nujabes.
This song has always seemed to express new beginnings, or more specifically new hope. Nujabes, rest in peace. This track is yet another beat that is helping me through the festival scene in my novel draft.
