Playlist: My Muse-ic For Book One

I listened to A LOT of music when writing EVO Nation, but the following are the songs that made it to my ‘official writing playlist’. Just a mere eighteen, however, they were my go to songs, and got me through that epic first draft stage.

1. You ~ Keaton Henson (see video)
2. Sail ~ Awolnation (see video)
3. Demons ~ Imagine Dragons (see video)
4. The Logical Song ~ Supertramp (see video)
5. Breathe Me ~ Sia (see video)
6. Run To The Hills ~ Iron Maiden (see video)
7. Things We Lost In The Fire ~ Bastille (see video)
8. Empty ~ Ray Lamontagne (see video)
9. Black Hole Sun ~ Soundgarden (see video)
10. King ~ Years & Years (see video)
11. Desire ~ Years & Years (see video)
12. Pretender ~ Foo Fighters (see video)
13. Losing Sleep ~ John Newman (see video)
14. Heroes ~ Alesso (see video)
15. Hold Back The River ~ James Bay (see video)
16. Scars ~ James Bay (see video)
17. We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow ~ Soko (see video)
18. Stop Crying Your Heart Out ~ Oasis (see video)

I’m slowly creating my playlist for book two in the EVO Nation Series… it’s all part of the fun, right? Do you have a writing playlist? What are your go to songs? I’m curious…

Find my eBook: EVO Nation

For more on why I have a playlist, check out my blog post : The Power of the Playlist

The Power of the Playlist

When it comes to my writing, my greatest source of inspiration is music, or should I say muse-ic.

When I write my first draft, and I do this only for the first draft, I create a playlist. I usually pick songs from a variety of genres to cover the variety of moods and feelings I expect from my novel. If I know I’m writing a particularly dark chapter I’ll choose a particularly dark song. Music helps set the tone.

Using music in the creative period of the first draft can also ignite ideas, storylines, character traits. Songs that hold sentiment for me are particularly helpful when drawing from my own experiences.

Certain lyrics shall always resonate. For example: Keaton Henson’s song, You, has exquisite lyrics.

‘If you must leave,
Leave as though fire burns under your feet.
If you must speak,
Speak every word as though it were unique.
If you must die, Sweetheart,
Die knowing your life was my life’s best part.
And if you must die,
Remember your life.’

If that’s doesn’t induce a tummy fizz, then I don’t know what will.

I listened to a lot of Keaton Henson’s songs whilst writing intimate, emotional scenes between characters in my novel, EVO Nation, and I hope that I was able to express myself clearly, and capture the essence of what I was trying to convey.

I can’t talk about the brilliance of Keaton Henson without sharing a link. Who knows, you may feel as inspired as I was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fCcggNkTs

I’m always interested to hear from other authors about their own playlist choices…