Music and the Soul of the Writer.

My science fiction and fantasy-writing group is an eclectic bunch.  Hailing from many walks of life; young and old fathers and sons, daughters and mothers, all drawn together by the common theme of telling a story.  At the last meeting, one of the questions that been asked, and I don't think I answered with any great clarity, was; “Do I use music to inspire me and what kind of music?”

I answered that at the time, but now that I think about it, the person who asked the question wanted more than an affirmation that I listen to music when I write, which I do.  I think they wanted to know what kind of music inspires me.  What inspires me may not be the type of music that will inspire others, music, like writing is a very personal thing.

My heritage is on my father’s side Scot and Irish and I am sure there is an Englishman thrown in there somewhere.  In addition, on my mother's side, it's Filipino and Spanish.  While it probably doesn't mean much what my heritage is, it does help explain what I find comforting when I seek music that is inspirational to me.

Loreena McKennitt, Enya, Within Temptation, Clanadonia and Albannach are some of my favorites when I settle in and write my fantasy stories.  In fact, I use Clanadonia as my inspiration when I have the Lords and Ladies in my Aesr novels go to war.  The bagpipes and drums along with the look of the members of Clanadonia help me breathe life into this world and the struggles that grip the peoples within.

I also listen to Cusco, and if you have never heard of them, I highly suggest an adventurous quest to find some of their music. What? Yes I am well aware that the group is German, but we are discussing music that inspires me when I listen to it. It’s very new age so it may turn people off, but when I am in a deeply contemplative mood and working through some sort of block, I tend to listen to them.

When I worked in the Native Unit for HHSA, I found myself listening to flute music. At first I shrugged it off but the more I listen, the more I let the music seep into me, I found myself looking at the lands on the Rez much differently than I had before. Artists like R. Carlos Nakai, Hawk Littlejohn and Douglas Blue Feather for some great and awesome flute. Lakota Thunder for Powwow music. And if you have never been to the Gathering of Nations, you should put it on your bucket list.

Don’t know what the Gathering of Nations is? The Gathering of Nations is one of the largest Pow-wows in the United States. Held annually the fourth weekend in April, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 500 tribes from around the United States and Canada travel to Albuquerque to participate. If you can go there and not be dazzled and inspired as your creativity leaps and bounds along new paths and new ideas for your stories, I…simply don’t know if anything will.  

As you can see, I draw my inspiration from a wide and deep musical pool which helps guide me into my stories. Yes, I even use these bands for my science fiction and modern stories, although I tend to allow some of my favorite metal bands come to the fore in these cases.

To get back to the original question, yes I do use music to inspire me, it helps sooth the soul of this writer, leading me along paths and vistas where my creativity blossoms.  

Not Great But Unreal Expectations

It has been a busy week, finishing my NaNoWriMo work at around 65,000 words, getting ready for Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping (I so detest this) and eventually Christmas. Going through my e-mail, I got a letter last night from a friend of mine who lives in the Seattle, Washington area.  Now, Russ, is a fairly good writer but hasn't taken it seriously until just recently.  I got him hooked on NaNoWriMo , mostly as a way for him to become disciplined as a writer.

This will be his second completed NaNoWriMo event.  So when I received an e-mail from him I was both elated that he had finished and with further reading I was appalled by he how he handled his rejection by an agent to represent him.  His e-mail went into detail about why he was miffed that the agent had turned him down.  The gist of it is a he had unrealistic expectations of his own work, a Percy Jackson/ Harry Potter hybrid.

Now, I have known him since 2005, he is a decent writer who gets a little wordy and tends to go into purple prose.  Sometimes I think he gets lost in his own details and fails to advance the story.  These are things I have talked to him about over the years, and his reply to that has always been, that since I am not a published author, I really can't speak to him about his work or its potential flaws.

All right, I’ll let that slide.  I admit I'm not a published author. I do work hard to perfect my craft.  I continue to send out short stories, my novel length stories and novellas, with all that I have been rejected somewhere between 150-160 times so far.  I'm realistic about my approach to my craft, I understand that the bottom line for the agent and ultimately the publishing house is simply can they sell what I write. Therefore, I work to improve my writing so that I increase my salability to my target market.

However, Russ is not realistic. Let's be honest, all writers have egos, we have to have egos to think that what we write and put on paper is worthy of other people reading.  I understand that, I'm good with that, I have an ego.  However, there is a difference between having a healthy ego, and unrealistic sky-high expectations that you are the next big thing.

The United States in 2011 published 292,037 (new titles and editions) books.  Not all of those were on the New York Times bestseller list, maybe 300 or 350 of those books made the list. That means there's roughly 290,000 books that you're competing against to be a bestseller. I told Russ that he needs to lower his expectations about his own work, that he can’t compare himself to other authors and their success.  

I don't think I got through to Russ, for some reason he felt that he was entitled to the success of those authors had. When I asked him why, he stated his story was similar but with a twist, the main character was born to the God Hades and trained since birth to destroy humanity, but in the end, he liked humans and used his dark powers to save them. I told Russ perhaps he should find an agent and let the market determine if his story is worthy of being on the best-sellers list, let the readers decided if he the writer he thinks he is.