Some people eat while watching a movie, I write. Last night I was in action-adventure mode and popped in the latest Transformers movie. Then I flipped open my laptop and sat down to get revising. I had come up with a brilliant way to make the opening scene of my book a lot better and I was dying to get to it. Then the movie starts and I'm thinking, there is no way I'm going to be able to write with this on. I start typing over the booms and robot noises, trying to delve into the mood of the scene I'm writing, which does happen to be action-oriented. It's going kind of slow, but I really don't want to turn off the film!
Well, lo and behold the movie comes to the point where they're in Egypt and for some reason the soundtrack at that point clicks with what I'm working on. Words come pouring out and I'm all in the scene I'm writing and nothing else exists. Something about the quiet of the music helped me capture the sensory emotions I wanted to portray. I haven't gone back to read it yet, but I know if nothing else that I have the raw emotions and visceral aspects of the action that I wanted the reader to experience. And all because of the soundtrack of a movie I was watching. Who knew?
Photo credit azrainman
