Use Music to Incite Your Creative Beast

When "The X Files" writer Chris Carter would sit down to create episodes for this TV series, he'd often crank up the volume on the sinister-sounding song "Red Right Hand" and listen to it over and over again. When the John Cage character in "Ally McBeal" wanted to envision himself as a love machine rather than the date dolt he was, he stood in front of a bathroom mirror and sang "I Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" a la Barry White. They both used music to incite a creative part of themselves, the beast.

How do I use music to incite my creative beast? When it's important I experience dread and tension the way the characters in my novel do, I listen to the soundtrack for Jarmusch's movie "Dead Man." And when I require playfulness, I sing along to "The Sound of Music," specifically "Do-Re-Mi."

I once wrote a poem as a reaction to Keith Jarrett's "Köln Concert" when I'd intended to use it as background music while I worked on a different poem; the latter has since been forgotten. When I need to settle into my head for a while to see who's there, I listen and type to Gabriella Roth's "Sacred Chants."

And I suppose if I wanted to generate the feeling of a wild 1970s youth—which I didn't have—I could put on Led Zeppelin's sensitive love ballad "Whole Lotta Love." Or if I wanted to experience a bit of my daughters' youth, I could steal into their rooms for an earful of melodies and lyrics of songs by Ludacris or Good Charlotte. They're certain to incite my censoring beast, too.

Faye Quam Heimerl, © 2009

Faye Quam Heimerl of Quam Editorial encourages you to incite your creative beast with music, or any other thing that works for you, then write, write, and write some more. When you’re finished, call on her to tame the beauty caused by the beast. Contact Faye at Faye@QuamEditorial.com or call 303.505.3530.