[GUEST POST] Take Your Writing To The Next Level With The Power Of Music – Ernie Luis

Ernie Luis is a college student down in Miami studying sports and fitness. He loves drinking beers andgrowing beards. Hobbies include adventures and road trips with friends, obnoxiously yelling at his favorite sports teams whether they’re doing good or bad, and eating. When he’s not doing any of those, he’s probably writing and chasing his dream of telling people stories.

Connect with him on twitter @Frikkercus

So you’re probably wondering why Anthony Vicino is letting some low-life like me guest blog on One Lazy Robot. Here’s the thing, he wasn’t kidding when he titled his blog One Lazy Robot. Sometimes he’s gotta hit up the subs to give the Robot a lazy break. So here I am. I promise I won’t take much of your time.

You’ve probably heard this a thousand times: don’t listen to music when you’re writing. Turn the TV off. Turn the radio off. Turn Spotify off. Enter the void of writing silence that will allow you to be at your best. Well, I’m here to tell you to be a rebel. (Yay, rebellion!)

The main portion of the video I want to focus on is in the beginning, when the narrator describes our brain while we listen to music. Like “fireworks,” he says. What’s interesting is how he describes multiple portions of our brain all being active at the same time. Like warming up our minds (Ha! Take that all you teachers who told me to stop listening to music during my homework!).

I see this as a way to prime my creative muscles before I deep dive into my writing. And you should too!
My bud Anthony Vicino writes these great posts on the television shows he likes, and how he uses that to better himself as a writer (What Sense8 Can Teach Us About Characterization). Studying the characterization, the pacing, the dialogue, and applying it all into his own work. I love how he used something that’s often labeled as a distraction and turning it into something productive you can use (while also sitting back and resting those weary fingers). So here’s my version of that, by way of music:

1. Prime your mind. Take a moment before you write to listen to some of your favorite music. It could literally be anything, any station, any genre, just get that brain working!
2. Start picturing your scenes. What I love to do when I know I’m about to sit down and write a particularly important or epic scene, I’ll listen to film scores. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, music from epic movies to put a picture in my head of the scene I want to create. And it works both ways. Have a happy scene to write? Listen to jolly music! Have a romantic scene to write? Listen to those steamy artists on your guilty pleasure list!
3. Listen to film scores. This is sort of an echo of the previous ones. I know some writers already do this, but for those of you that don’t, you definitely need to try it. There’s nothing like listening to the Interstellar film score while writing a space opera novel. Or listening to the Game of Thrones score while writing a fantastical scene. Try it for yourself.
4. Listen to the lyrics. “In fields where nothing grew but weeds, I found a flower at my feet.” “I believe in angels. Not the kind with wings, no, not the kind with halos, the kind that bring you home, when home becomes a strange place.” Sometimes when I hear lines like those, it fires me up, the same way a line in a good book inspires me. Songwriters are a great source of poetry. Listen to their words. You might find your own gem you repeat to yourself when you need inspiration.
5. Listen to music while you write. I used to do this all the time in my early writing days, a habit from listening to music every waking hour I did homework in my high school and college days. But now, once I get in the zone, I do like my silence, to just listen to the characters in my head or the cold wind blowing across my scene. But the first 200 words or so, I like to pop in my headphones and write, and this could be anything really, just to get the mind going. Write something particularly flowery or cheesy, something according to the music, just to unlock the gates and let those creative juices flow. Try it for yourself. You might find you get into your rhythm much quicker this way.

So there you are, five little tidbits into how you can be productive while listening to your favorite music. Just a few more tools you can put into your little writer toolbox. Thanks to Anthony for letting me drop by and share some knowledge with y’all. Now be a good blog reader, like this post, like his other posts, comment, subscribe, do it all!

Don’t forget to let us know in the comments what music you guys like or listen to while you write!

Anthony here again!

If you like what you read, I highly recommend you check out one of Ernie’s books. His short stories/novellas Alternate and The Killswitch are absolutely phenomenal. Go grab a copy today!