Music and Writing

Music often helps me to stay centered when writing. There's something about the rhythm it establishes. At times, the tone of the music will shape the tone of a scene. Some writers prefer a certain genre. This can include classical, jazz, new wave, rock, hip hop, heavy metal, or nothing at all. My personal favorite is post rock. For those who don't know what this is, the definition isn't quite clear. It can be described based on the elements of the music. Post rock is often considered a subcategory of indie and experimental. It also tends to be comprised of instrumentals with little to no lyrics. I prefer this because lyrics tend to distract me when writing. I've been regularly listening to post rock since college. Oftentimes, I'll think songs from the genre that would fit well with different scenes in my stories.

Some of my favorite post rock bands are Mono, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, and Underground Cities. I often think of how awesome it would be to have one of these bands record the soundtrack for a movie based on my work. Explosions in the Sky actually did the majority of the music for the movie Friday Night Lights. There's something about post rock that makes it suitable for use in movies. It can be as beautiful as traditional orchestra pieces.  The following is one of my favorite songs.

I'm not sure if I could ever get tired of post rock. It has helped influence my work so much that I couldn't imagine not having it.