Do you write to music? Do you have a soundtrack for your novel?

I do.

Not a complete soundtrack for every scene, but there are songs that have inspired scenes in my book. Take, for example, David Cook’s Come Back To Me.

I was minding my own business one day when this song came on the radio. I listened, I liked it, then BAM! An entire scene unfolded in my mind. Every little nuance, every word, the location, the emotions, all there.

Too bad I was driving my car and not near a laptop.

As soon as I could I wrote down as much as I remembered. Little did I know every time I hear the song now I imagine that whole scene exactly as I did the first time. Even now, after the scene’s been written and revised several times. It’s all there.

Has this ever happened to you? Maybe not in writing, but in life?

There are songs I hear from the 80′s that immediately take me back to whatever I was doing at the time the song touched me. Tears For Fears is a big one. Best breakup album ever.

I used to only listen to soundtracks when I write. Lately though, I’ve been adding more and more songs with words. Evanescence is amazing writing music. Same with Norah Jones. Great mood music. There are a few odd birds tossed in the mix as well. Gotye’s Somebody that I used to know and Kelly Clarkson pop up every now and then.

I’m thinking I need to add some Depeche Mode and maybe a bit of the Cure. Give that 80′s mope music a little love.

Share with us! What do you like to listen to while you’re doing what it is you do? Be it writing, cleaning, studying, riding a bike. What’s on your playlist?

If you missed it, last week I had a Slacker Monday with Gotye on the blog. Click the link to see their video ~ and scroll though the comments for links to an awesome cover by Walk Off The Earth.

I’d like to leave you with David Cook’s Come Back To Me. I get chills every time I hear this. The scene it inspired? Heart wrenching. My two main characters are ripped apart by someone else’s betrayal. You hope they can overcome it, but it’s going to be tough.

Enjoy and Happy Monday!