Putting the "muse" in "music" - What's your writing jam?

The more I talk to other writers, the more I realize how great a source of inspiration music provides for all of us. Every year during A to Z, many people use their daily posts to share some of their favorite, most nostalgic, most deserving pieces of music, and it is always a treat to browse through those posts. In my own research, I have conversations with people who reveal the many uses music can have in the creative writing process.

Do you do any of these?

Have a playlist for a specific writing project
Do you meticulously assemble a list of songs that are somehow associated with your WIP? Do you often wish that you could publish a soundtrack CD along with your book? Do you have your go-to station on Pandora while you are busy typing away?
(Some writes are better at this last one than others. Some of us require silence when we write - but we still need out music when we are planning!)

Have a playlist for a specific character
Do you have characters in your writing who come with their own mix tape? Do you make lists thinking about what songs your heroes listen to (or would listen to, if they had the time and the means)? Do you come across songs and thing "this is totally Her/Him/Them"! Do your love stories have Their Songs?

Have characters or stories inspired by music
Have you ever listened to a song, staring out the window of a train or jogging away on a treadmill, and though "ooh, this would make a great story!" Have you ever watched a music video, saw a character, and thought to your self "I want to know about that one!" Have you ever been so taken with the mood of a piece of music that you had to put it into words?

Share your music with other writers
Have you ever said the words "YOU GOTTA LISTEN TO THIS!"?

We'll listen! Tell us what your favorite writing music is. Tell us if (and how) music inspires your writing. Tell us about that one nostalgic song that always makes you want to write.
Give us all something to listen to!

Alphabet Remix - We Were Warriors

These blogging prompts are brought to you by Nicole at The Madlab Post....

It’s time for The Alphabet Remix - A Writing Prompt Idea Engine Treating A to Z Blogging Avoidance Disorders

Today, W is for Warriors. Partly because I feel like fighting so many things right now, partly because of the people who changed lives by going to battle for a cause or injustice and partly because it’s just such a powerful term. So, here are some topics about Warriors that you can consider when writing a blog post for Letter W during the next A to Z Challenge.

A Warrior’s Wardrobe
List one warrior each from different decades and compare their wardrobes, paying close attention to whether what they wore had any impact on their battle methods. You could also compare historical warriors from different countries, cultures or generations of men.

Words of a Warrior
Find quotes in autobiographies, magazine articles or other literary material, that were written or said by someone who is considered a famous warrior of his time. Share the quote with readers on your blog and then write about whether you think there is a certain meaning or perspective  from the comment that can be useful to you or your readers, and in what capacity.

What makes a Warrior?
Write about your definition of a warrior and list some examples that reflect your definition. The examples do not have to be famous or fictional warriors from books or from historical wars. They can be regular people who you know in real life or regular people whom you haven’t even met.

Now, onto other Friday Fun Time news:

The winner of last week’s Alphabet Soup game titled Watching Westerns is...

Loca4Crafts who also blogs at The Drunken Vegetarian.

Loca correctly unscrambled all four movie titles from films in the Western genre. Loca’s prize package includes: the title of “Alphabet Wizard,” first choice of the next letter to be used for an upcoming Alphabet Soup game, and the option to select a theme for a future Monday Movie Meme on my blog. Congratulations to Loca!

Here are the answers from last week’s Watching Westerns game:

1. iWiedstdWllW is Wild Wild West.
2. cilBWhhnedTu is The Wild Bunch.
3. rueiGtTr is True Grit.
4. hoCosdaebmtsetiJassAatdarTeesbifrowJsnehonoResrFy is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Have a Fun Friday, everybody!

NICOLE
Find Me @MadlabPost on Twitter

Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly group blogging series that inspires discussion about entertainment in a whole new light and provides recommendations for your DVD, on-demand or theater fix. New topics are posted every Monday at The Madlab Post!

Special Challenge Participant Feature - Nick Wilford

Today’s Special Challenge Participant Feature is Nick Wilford from Scattergun Scribblings! His Challenge theme was “26 Things that Made Me a Writer.” There was a lot of inspiration in his posts, and he’s here to share some of that with you today. So please welcome my blogger buddy, Nick!

What made you decide on your theme?

I was casting around for an idea, and I'm kind of always fascinated by the make-up of writers - not necessarily things that caused them to become a writer, but maybe things in their past they draw special inspiration from. So I made a list of 26 things that inspired me or helped me to grow as a writer. Some of the things seemed a bit random, so I tried to liken them to writing in some way!

How important is “Globetrotting?”

It's not essential for a writer to be well travelled as I believe you can go anywhere in the universe in your imagination, but there's definitely loads of inspiration to be drawn from seeing different cultures and ways of looking at the world. It can open your mind up, especially if, like me, you come from somewhere like southern England - we can tend to be quite insular! I really credit my round-the-world trip at 21 as a massive turning point for me, as it was when I decided to pursue writing as a career - initially in the form of journalism, but having trained in that, my first book was about a journalist, so one thing led to another.

Your choice for K was unique! Describe it for everyone.

Ha! This was the post that I really felt was the most tenuous - I decided to compare writing to kiteflying. I was glad when a lot of people responded with positive comments and likening their writing to their own hobbies. I think at this point, I was out of pre-written posts and was writing them the night before or the day of... so this was a bit last-minute, but after the comments, I felt the analogy did work. Amazing things can happen in the blue sky of our writing if we pull the strings just right!

“I” was for immortality – how DO you want to be remembered?

You're really grilling me on these! I'm having to go back to refamiliarise myself with what I wrote. There is a certain attractive kind of immortality that comes along with writing, as it's possible your stories could still be enjoyed hundreds or thousands of years after your death. But in terms of how I want to be remembered as a person, to the people that matter right now, I'd hope it would just be as someone who tried to do their best - whether as a writer, husband, dad, possibly a grandad... That's all you can do! “B is for Balls!” You definitely have to tell us about that one.

Erm, OK! Well, I guess what I was trying to say is that it takes guts to go after anything in life. Especially if it's something that's very personal to you, and you're putting yourself up for criticism. So, that could apply to a musician too, for example. Luckily, so far, everyone I've met in the blogosphere has been very nice! It was also about having the balls to try something even if your first book doesn't turn out to be perfect. You shouldn't be disappointed in yourself, you should treat everything as a learning process.

How would you describe your “Voice?”

That's a tough one! I have to go back and read what I said here too. Hmm... I'd like to think my voice is easy to read, although I do have to work hard at not being too long-winded. It's a funny thing because I don't think your basic voice changes that much even if you write in different genres. It's just sort of "there", and it's very hard to describe your own! I'd like to think my voice leans towards good characterisation and evokes a reaction. Writing something in first person might challenge me more in that area.

What theme are you considering for the Challenge next year?

I hadn't thought about it too much until I read this question! For a while, I did consider doing an A-Z of the 90s, because a buddy of mine, Susan Oloier, did the 80s this year which I enjoyed. I was born in 1980, so the 90s holds more resonance for me. But then after the image copyright debacle I thought getting the images might be tricky, and there's been a 90s blogfest recently. I then thought about doing something more creative and decided that I'd like to make a story. Another friend, Jessica Salyer, composed a story by setting a word for each day which commenters had to use in a sentence to continue the story. I'd like to flip that by getting commenters to suggest a word for the next day's letter, which I would choose from at random to use in the next sentence of my story. Maybe I'd select three for an even greater challenge! It'd be interesting to see where that would go.

Thanks for the interview, Alex! I had fun answering these. :)

Thank you Nick for appearing here!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of CassaStar and CassaFire and his blog can be found HERE