Saturday, July 24, 2010

How 'bout a dose of Pavlov to Help You Write?



© 2010 Frederick Doot

This post goes out to my fellow writer's group friends who inspired me to start this blog and continually inspire me to be a better writer. Hopefully this can help you..

I'm in various stages of writing four short stories, a novel, a feature-length screenplay, and research for another screenplay. Just recently after downloading new music and enjoying it while writing, I've begun to affiliate certain music (specifically genres or playlists, albums, etc.) with each work I'm writing. I'm calling this the Putting Pavlov to Work for Your Writing..surely I'm not the first to think of it, but it's definitely working for me so I suspect it may work for others.

Now, even riding in the car, when my MP3 mix turns to Seraphim Shock or any other goth-rock/metal song, my mind immediately starts to churn ideas and scenes from the ghost story I'm working on. When Roger Clyne or Springsteen comes on, my mind switches into “My Friend Jack”-mode, another short story I'm working on. I'm fortunate to have a wide range of musical tastes, so I've actually created different playlists to listen to during each writing session. And ya know what, it's really working, and I'm excited.

I've found this even helps when experiencing writers block. I find it helpful to have a few stories to work on at once. If I've hit a block with one story, I'll try switching to a different story. If all stories hit a block, I'll go into research mode, which doesn't require much creative effort. But I've find that lately my research has taken a back-seat a bit, as my writers block is becoming minimized. Why? I'm finding the music is stirring my creative juicing (a salvation of the brain, if you will) and is really helping my writing. I hope it can do the same for you..

So give it a try. If it works, ring a bell and give yourself a bone, you deserve it!

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