On Writing Inspiration, or, Motivating Your Muse with Music

I've been thinking about inspiration a lot lately: what drives us to want to write, and more importantly, what drives us to write when the muse is balking and our brains are tired.

A little backstory is called for.  Four weeks ago, my first novel, The Duke of Shadows (the winner of Gather's First Chapters Romance contest), hit the shelves.  To commemorate the occasion, my brother gave me an engraved fountain pen that reads: Meredith Duran, 3/25/08.  Now, this gift is more meaningful than perhaps even he realized.  Without it, March 25, 2008, might figure in my memory primarily as the start of my qualifying exams for the doctoral program in which I'm enrolled.  That's right: the first week of my book's life on the shelves, I was buried in social theory, wracked by nerves, producing dozens of pages of writing that were the farthest thing from fiction imaginable.  The dream I'd nurtured since age four had finally been realized -- but I was too busy to enjoy it.

 A week later, I turned in my exams and celebrated by walking to the nearest Borders.  I'm not sure what I expected to feel upon beholding my book there.  The sense of quiet satisfaction surprised me.  Okay then, I thought.  Time to get back to work on the next one.

But how do you relocate your inspiration when your brain feels like it has been beaten out like a dusty rug?  I'd spent the last month cramming for my exams, and the last seven days pounding out page upon page of dense, tedious, anthropological theory.  The last thing I wanted to do was sit down at the computer again.  When I did, the prose that emerged was stilted and flat.
 
I needed a way to call back the muse.  So I did what a lot of writers do.  I turned to my CD collection.
 
Okay, I know that some novelists collage.  Jennifer Crusie, for instance, could probably making a living just by selling her collages (check out this one, for Agnes and the Hitman). I certainly wish this method worked for me.  If it did, I'd have a handy souvenir-cum-wall-decoration for every novel I ever wrote. But I don't seem to have much luck in thrift stores, and when I start ransacking magazines for photos, I get caught up in the articles.

Some novelists use index cards to channel inspiration.  Holly Lisle has written a great essay on how to produce plot ideas for a book with nothing but a stack of Mead 3x5s.  The idea is brilliant: if you only have to come up with a brief one- or two-line description of a scene, you won't feel pressured; therefore your muse will feel free to come out and play.  It's a very intriguing method…if you're organized enough to keep track of your index cards.

When writing The Duke of Shadows, I developed my own method for producing inspiration.  That's right, I said producing inspiration.  If it's not coming on its own, I generate it with the help of a playlist. The dark, luscious melody of "Breathe Me," by Sia, helped me write a certain scene that transpired between Emma and Julian in Colthurst's study.  When I lost track of the isolation and melancholy enveloping Emma, "Fear" by Sarah MacLachlan put me right back in her head.  Certain songs spoke to me when writing this book that I never liked before and could no longer listen to once the book was finished; but during the course of its writing and revision, these songs became so important to my writing process that at times I wondered if they hadn't been written about my characters.

I'm not the only writer who turns to music for help; a google search yields several interesting discussions led by novelists who visualize their stories through song.  If you're curious, or looking for suggestions for your own novel's soundtrack, I suggest you start with this discussion at Fangs, Fur, & Fey. This is a fabulous blog, written by a group of urban fantasy authors who are constantly discussing the writing process.  As a bonus, they also seem to have excellent taste in music.  :)

 Anyway, if anyone is curious, here is the playlist that ultimately powered me through the writing and revisions of The Duke of Shadows.  (Most of the songs that helped me during the first half of the book are from Hindi film soundtracks -- if you've never watched a Hindi film, you are missing out!) 

If you're currently working on a piece of fiction, I'd love to hear what songs are inspiring you—or the other ways in which you restart your writing when the muse seems to have abandoned you.

Part One (India), pp. 1-176

"Mangal Mangal" - Mangal Pandey: The Rising
"Crucify" - Tori Amos
"Teer-e-Nazar" - Pakeezah
"Dil Cheez Kya Hai" - Umrao Jan
"Main Vari Vari" - Mangal Pandey: The Rising
"Rasiya" - Mangal Pandey: The Rising

Part Two (London), p. 177-371.

"Jezebel" - Iron & Wine
"How You Remind Me" - Nickelback
"Savin' Me" - Nickelback
"Karaoke Soul" - Tom McRae
"Breathe Me" - Sia
"Fear" - Sarah MacLachlan
"Here With Me" - Sarah MacLachlan
"Clocks (Live 2003)" - Coldplay
"Crash Into Me" - Dave Matthews Band