This week’s theme is music to write by. Uh…truth is, I need quiet to write because, quite frankly, the voices in my head are as much noise as I can handle. Seems weird, since I do a LOT of other things while I write (e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, compile taxes), but that’s how I roll.
End of blog post.
No, no, don’t go-I should give you a little something more, since you came all the way here. But I really do need silence to write, or at least almost silence. Background noise that isn’t too loud is okay (like a hockey game on TV in another room). But definitely music is out.
But that said, music is a fairly prominent theme in SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE (Lilah wants to be a drummer, despite barely being able to play) and this song even makes it into the book:
And some behind the scenes stuff: when I was first writing the book as a YA, there was a scene (which is actually still in the book now) where Lilah’s music teacher shows her his drumming skills and he played this (seriously, check out the drumming – I’m no pro, but I think it’s pretty impressive):
Seeing what it is, you can surely see why I thought this was a hilarious joke. Obviously not a joke appropriate for a MG book, however, so the song never gets mentioned by name. But there’s some trivia for you: in the book, when Mr. Robertson says, “Just an old Van Halen song…” that’s what he’s drumming.
😉
And then there’s this song:
Which also didn’t make it into the final cut of the book. Too bad, because I still really like it, but it was from a romantic scene where Andy is singing to Lilah and it was just a bit too much for the younger audience. So there you go: SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE musical outtakes!
And now I’ve just spent a ginormous chunk of time surfing YouTube for videos that should have been spent actually writing. Jeez, the things I do for my Deb Ball posts!
So now tell me about you? Does any music make it into your writing or do you make playlists for your books? What about stuff you read? Do you ever think of songs that might work well with other people’s books?
LOL! Can’t imagine why the Van Halen song didn’t make it directly into an MG book. 😉
My writing is influenced by music, but, like you, I need it quiet when I’m actually writing.
Ha – I know, right? That video is SO appropriate. I kind of cringed a bit when I watched it over the weekend, but I still think it’s a funny joke.
I also rarely (as I can’t remember when) have music on when I write. If I do it is the background music from films. Anything else distracts the heck out of me.
Exactly – I’m so easily distracted as it is! Thanks for popping by today, Eileen.
Awesome! I haven’t seen Hot For Teacher in YEARS! I must learn how to embed videos in my blog!
And it is a great song, too, right? I’ve been humming it for days. 😀
I’m like you Joanne. I can’t have music on when I’m writing or doing any work because it’s too distracting. At least music with words. A game or some other TV in the background is no problem though. I wonder what that is…. probably I get so distracted trying to channel my inner rocker than I forget to write!
I LOVE that Lilah wants to be a drummer–I always wanted to be a drummer and I always had a thing for drummers (Roger Taylor from Duran Duran set me on that path–I blame him!)
Thanks for making my night with a viewing of Hot for Teacher. Now that I’m married to one, it really is a very different song 😉