![\"Good](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathrynjohnsonllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kait-loggins-291456-e1498566813945.jpg?w=800&ssl=1\")
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I recently received an email from one of my\u00a0Writer’s Center, Saturday\u00a0morning students. He\u00a0made my day.
\nThis author had been struggling with focusing on his novel, as so many of us do.\u00a0Often, it isn’t\u00a0that we don’t want to be writing, or we think of the work as drudgery, or that we’d just rather being doing something else. What’s stopping us is the moment of transition. We have trouble getting into gear, moving out of the busy-ness of the day and into the story.<\/p>\n
He found himself in the incredibly frustrating position of wanting to write, but\u00a0sitting there, staring at the screen. And…nothing. When he did manage to begin writing, the process felt\u00a0unsatisfying,\u00a0at times painful. Then he recalled one suggestion from the list of tips I’d\u00a0suggested in our Saturday “How to Write a Lot” class.\u00a0Create a soundtrack for your story.\u00a0He thought, why not? He gave it a shot–and it worked! He was so thrilled with the number of pages he wrote that day, he had to email me immediately.<\/p>\n
How do you make a soundtrack for a story?<\/strong> Moreover, why would anyone want to?<\/p>\n It works like this. We all know about movie soundtracks. They are intended to augment the emotional and visual sensations we experience while watching a film. The music behind the action also blocks out reminders in our heads of the outside world–the\u00a0nagging ache in our neck, the to-do list,\u00a0worries about our day job. Movie music puts us in the mood to enjoy a love scene, join in a chase across the desert, soar in a glider beneath a star-filled sky, or cringe at the sound of cannon fire during a heated battle.<\/p>\n Writing our stories, we work most effectively when we’re fully focused on the scenes we must develop to make the story\u00a0come alive for readers. We can create\u00a0intense focus, similar to our experience when watching a movie, by providing\u00a0background music that draws us into\u00a0our tale and blocks out\u00a0everything else. Here’s how I do it…<\/p>\n I grab my noise-reduction earphones (my choice is Bose, the\u00a0honking-big ones that fit around the ears, but any good kind will do). I plug into my phone,\u00a0where my music is stored. I select one album that will run for at least 1 hour–90 minutes is even better.\u00a0For me, it will be classical, instrumental (no voices\/lyrics). This one\u00a0album will be my soundtrack for this particular book that I’m writing.<\/p>\n If you prefer, you can create a\u00a0mix of different songs you’ve selected from various sources. The important thing is–once you have made this your\u00a0track for that particular writing project, you will never change it. Every time you sit down\u00a0to write, you will clip on the\u00a0earphones and boot up the same soundtrack.<\/p>\n Why not vary your music choices from day to day? Because you’re not listening for fun. You’re training your brain.\u00a0After\u00a0you’ve\u00a0written to this music two or three times,\u00a0your fingers begin to itch for the keyboard as soon as you turn on\u00a0your\u00a0earphones. It’s quite magical, really! You sit down to write. You bring up your book file, cue the \u00a0music…and you\u00a0are in the story and typing!<\/p>\n Some of my students have come up with variations that work best for them. One writer told me she uses Gregorian chants. Another prefers soothing\u00a0sounds of nature–rushing streams, gentle rainfall, insects chirping. Stephen King, I hear, writes to classic rock.\u00a0When I’m writing historical fiction, I sometimes select music that was written during that era.<\/p>\n Try any variation of sound-tracking your work-in-progress. Then let me know how it works for you.<\/p>\n I’ll send you creative writers’ tips, news, and inspiration three or four times a year. And, please, keep in touch and let me know how your writing is going. Make my day with news of your work-in-progress, recent publication, or\u00a0exciting writing experience!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently received an email from one of my\u00a0Writer’s Center, Saturday\u00a0morning students. He\u00a0made my day. This author had been struggling with focusing on his novel, as so many of us …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[28,31,32,29,30,33],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-for-writers","tag-creative-writing","tag-fiction","tag-focusing","tag-novels","tag-publishing","tag-time-management"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"stars](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kathrynjohnsonllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/raphael-koh-259721-e1498567903812.jpg?w=800&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nIf you aren’t already on my “extreme novelist” newsletter list, sign up here: http:\/\/eepurl.com\/D8so9<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n