Listening to music while you’re writing or illustrating has been an issue of debate. Half want to say its an unforgivable distraction. It tears you away from your purpose and ensures no work gets done. The counter argument is that it fills the void between boredom and production. Personally I have a feeling that experts just love to disagree as people in said field are intrigued by the drama.
Those that have read End of Legend: In Search of the Warrior Queen and End of Legend: Death to the Gods know where my perspective lie. In the pretext i always affix a playlist that coincide with specific events in the book. It’s somewhat of a sound track for the book. Every blue moon I get asked why do i feel its important to include something like that in literature. The answer is almost a book itself.
I emphatically feel that music is a powerful driving force! Tempo, rhythm, percussion and melody transcends any language barrier. A chunky drum beat, a racy guitar rift, a piercing violin solo…they can carry meaning or explanations that require no words.In some instances my words seem inferior next to the strum of a harp or blast of a brass instrument.
As you can tell I’m an avid daydreamer. Music seems to inspire and guide my train of thought. Some of my favorite songs will spur the same dream over and over. That dream grows from a fledgling to a full blown saga. This is how the End of Legend series was born.
I often see music as motion. I really want the readers to understand the pace and flow of my imagination. This is also why i like having a playlist in my books. Where writing a series of events may get difficult the music seems to take away the confusion. There was a funny experiment i tried with a few friends. They were rather adamant about reading and listening to music at the same time but i was very persuasive. A free home cooked dinner and a copy of the playlist sealed the deal. Later i asked them about specific fights and events that i cued music to. The results were surprisingly unexpected! Despite my words everyone saw the events in their minds slightly different! Next to the music the words were just guidelines. The music actually spurred their own imagination and they saw a more tailored experience! I thought that was really interesting!
Surprisingly again the more i listened to music and daydreamed my characters developed a sort of musical personality! For instance, the Ash Queen always acts and is in tune with 80’s dance (Stay by Sash! for example). She always try to seem happy around Nathan but there’s a small hint of business and control in that kind of music. Since her swordsmanship and Warrior Queen magic revolves around dancing her personality blossomed from that genre. The god-sworn child Zid often becomes driven and blinded by his rage. His personality is definitely metal (I-E-A-I-A-I-O by System of a Down). Mir often has the same intense rage but with a taste of spoiled brat. Her elegance and ballet training remarkably fits in smoothly with rap music(Fireman by lil wayne). Bishop , the wolf dog, is very instinctual and primal! He is definitely dubstep (Crippled Camel by Downlink)! Nathan ,the main character, is a melting pot of heritage! He’s anything from Zydeco to punk! He is a very adaptive and fluid character.
In conclusion i believe music is master to All! It spurs my artistic process. My literature and illustrations flourish due to the inspiration it provides. If you are going to start writing I say give it a try with music! It may surprise you!
End of Legend 