Writing to Music

I recently finished reading If I stay, and Where She Went, by Gayle Forman, and at the end of the first book, I saw that the author wrote,

“The song “Falling Slowly” was like my Pavlovian writing trick. It made me cry. Got me in the mood to write, and then I was ready to go.”

First off, can I just say that both of these books are incredible?  A real combination of heartbreaking, and heartwarming. I loved the way in which both stories were told (over a 24-hour period) and that the author alternated from one chapter in the present, to one chapter in the past. This meant that the more we read, the more we got to know about the characters, and the more we cared about what was happening in the present day story. Anyway, I could ramble for ages about why the books were so great.

The point is, that I absolutely adore the song "Falling Slowly", and it made me love the books even more, knowing that in a way, that song was the muse behind the story.

I write a lot to music.

When I was younger, I used to make albums on itunes to write to (most of the songs being lifehouse tracks). I haven’t done this in a long time. Lately, I just seem to listen to whatever, hear a line that I love, and a story just forms in my head around that one line. Most the time I have no control over it happened. And then when I’m writing, I have to listen to that song every time I sit down to write, and every time I’m stuck. I find the tone of the piece emulates the mood the song, too.

Whenever I think of the story, I think of the song. And vice versa.

Here are some recent songs that I have been writing to:

-Addicted, by Neil Finn (My novel idea stems from the song)

-Objects of my Affection – Peter Bjorn and John (which my last story is actually named after)

-Morning Theft – Jeff Buckley.

Does anyone write to music?