music and writing – laughcryandwrite.com

Hi Everyone.

This week has been a slow one for me with regards to progressing A Step into Darkness. I’ve mainly been concentrating on some last minute research due to a plot change in the middle of my story that presented itself from nowhere and seemed to good of an opportunity to miss (all hush hush at the minute).

The main reason that I have been unable to write is that I am getting ready for the arrival of two of my closest friends who are flying in on Friday morning to visit me in Baku and watch the F1 Grand Prix which is now in its third year of running here.

As I’ve been present at them all, and fingers crossed I will be here to attend many others in the future I thought I would share my experiences from this fantastic and highly anticipated event.

The F1 in Baku is set in the best parts of the city. It heads along the magnificent Boulevard and then goes off into the narrow cobbled streets of the Old City.

The streets are lined with stands and the whole length of the Boulevard is set up for the fans with everything ranging from merchandise shops (ripping everyone off), bean bags for lounging in the sun, DJ’s blasting out tunes, various food and drinks outlets and for me the best thing of all…the Johnnie Walker Cocktail Bar.

To say the atmosphere is electric is an understatement. Locals, expat workers and tourists from all over the globe convey together in full party mode.

I had a drive down the track on Sunday and a walk along the Boulevard and everything is progressing well and the place looks great.

The best thing for me about the F1 is every year after the racing finishes there is a end of day concert and so far some pretty cool Artists have played here. These have been open air concerts but this year the event has been moved from June to April and as the weather is somewhat unpredictable here just now the concert venue has been moved to the Crystal Hall which is fairly new having been originally built for the Eurovision Song Concert. I’m as yet undecided if this venue will work.

The price of the F1 tickets for me as an Expat are so cheap. I don’t know how it fairs against other circuits around the world but a 4 day ticket cost me 250 Manats which is just under 100 GBP! The cost of this ticket covers a Pit Lane walk on the Thursday, Friday Practice Sessions, Saturday F2 racing and F1 Qualifying Round, Sunday main Race AND access to all 3 concerts.

Id like to finish of this short blog by giving my expectations of this year’s Artists and my reviews of the Artists from the last 2 years . (I have add to edit this section twice to remove all traces of swearing).
2018 Artists

Liked his music years ago. Sadly though he really irritated me at the same time. God only knows how I will react on Friday night.

CAjpg

I couldn’t remember her at all (Shocking guys I know). After looking at her on YouTube last night I don’t really care what she signs like. Didn’t realise she had had so many hits. So should be good.

Have recently heard her songs in bars out here but never knew her name. After an education from my Daughter I am now familiar with her music and think she will go down well here.
2017Artists

Tarkan – Turkish singer. Too cheesy for my liking but the locals loved him so fair play.

Nicole scherzinger – couldn’t make out a word she said but she redeemed herself later.

The Black Eyed Peas – Absolultly rocking. Had the whole crowd wild. Will never forget the memory of having my 73 year old mother bopping away at my side singing along happy as Larry. Nicole Scherzinger joined them for the missing Fergie parts and linked with them brilliantly. One cool night.

Mariah Carey – worst artist I have ever seen. Total diva. Couldn’t sing a tune and was like mutton dressed as lamb.
2016 Artists

Chris Brown – Made everyone wait for over an hour to turn up. Then came on stage and did nothing but grab his bits and refer to everyone as motherFu**er and Bitch. Fair to say he didn’t go down too well with the locals.

Enrique Iglesias – Im going to be honest. I did not want to watch him. Everyman hates men who are more good looking than themselves. I can’t tell you what my dad used to call him. Went along at the last minute and you know what…he was really really good and a genuine nice guy. Everyone loved him and his music

Pharrell Williams – closed the weekend out and was my favourite for that year. Had everyone dancing. He was lively on stage and when he brought some local children on stage for one of his songs it was emotional.

Hope you have all enjoyed my review and rest assured I will be back on track with the final run in for my book very soon.

Take Care All

Craig x

craigwrightson@laughcryandwrite.com

There is a long standing debate in the writing community as whether you should listen to music whilst your writing. Some are all for it and some totally disagree. Sure there is no hard and fast rule that must be obeyed and I’m in the middle with this theory.

Those who are in agreement with the music and writing collaboration working well together claim that the music promotes inspiration and enhances the mood of the writer. I can see the logic of this, I know that sometimes when I’m watching an epic movie, the soundtrack behind it if chosen correctly will conjure up all sorts of thoughts and memories. No one can argue that the music from Jaws does not provoke a sense of fear within them and will continue to do so no matter how many times they watch the movie. Listening to my favourite music in the car often causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up as it is so empowering to me as an individual.

My own personal thoughts on the matter is if a writer is fully immersed within his / her story, plotlines and characters then he / she will have already evoked all of the required senses and feelings required to do the story justice and if like me, he / she will already be living with the plot and characters fully embedded in their mind 24/7 during the whole writing process.

For me on my journey I have tried both options, writing with music and without music and I have to admit that I feel I write better without listening to music.

I like to write on a large table or desk with all my notes laid out in front of me and my chapter planner at hand. Before even starting to write I quickly jot down a list of what I want to achieve that day (What is the status at the start, what needs to change in the middle and what needs to happen at the end I also note what do I intend to portray to the reader). Once all this is done it’s a quick refresh of the notes and Im off! I don’t like interruption or distraction though I can tolerate a small amount, I wont stop writing until I have achieved everything identified on my list.

Music is a big NO NO for me when it comes to editing. I have to do this alone in total silence, first checking the text on my screen quickly rectifying any glaring errors and typos. After printing out the section I plan to edit, I read it out aloud, very slowly. This can be highly painstaking as it may take 2 or 3 attempts to satisfy me that everything is good and how I want it to sound. By this time, the print out is littered with numerous scribbles , notes and cross outs which I immediately transfer onto my laptop to make the last edits before saving.

Now one part of the book writing process where music does work for me is at the Planning Stage. I use an assortment of playlists stored on my Spotify App and the type of music I select depends on what stage of the story I am planning. For example when planning a sad scene I will listen to something completely different than if I was planning a fight scene. Like I said at the beginning of the blog at this stage of the writing progress the correct music will inspire me and enhance my mood making me feel more in touch with my story. I can often be found strutting around or mincing around my apartment writing down snippets of ideas (not a nice thought).

Now at the end of my blog it seems that my statement of improved writing without music is correct but I do embrace music in my writing process. Hence that is why I sit on the fence on the whole debate of writing and music. Each to their own and if it works for them then that’s great.

I have went through my Spotify playlists and have identified what music I have been working to for the past 2 month. It’s a bit of an odball list but I want to share my current top 5 musics tracks with you – My readers and my friends

No 1 Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy

No 2 – Texas ft Method Man – Say What you Want

No 3 Pet Shop Boys ft Example – Thursday

No 4 – IAMDDB – Running

No 5 – Maverick Sabre – Come Fly Away

Hope you have found this fun.

Till the next time

Craig x

Category: music and writing

BAKU Street F1ghter 2018 – Grand Prix F1

Like this:

Writing Inspiration Part 3 – Writing and Music – My Current Top 5 Tracks when Working

Like this:

Share this - it only takes a minute and means a lot to me

Like this:

Share this - it only takes a minute and means a lot to me

Like this: