Or Something #11: HOW TO CREATE THE BEST WRITING PLAYLIST EVER
"Dance everyone, dance. It's so beautiful." - Dakota Johnson
Hi it’s your buddy Allison Mick, a writer or something, here with another installment of the newsletter where I try to familiarize people with my writing voice which hopefully makes them want to preorder my book Humboldt Cut, which comes out early next year.
When I start a new project, I make a new playlist. Don’t let anyone tell you that vibes aren’t important. Vibes come first, last, and always. If you’re not setting a scene, how is your reader supposed to lose themselves in your story? Follow these steps to vibesmith your way into writing something that escapes the everyday.
I need to listen to music when I write. When you work a day job, sometimes you need music to escape to your fiction palace where Teams notifications can’t reach you. I treat writing a lot like I used to treat sports and an energetic warm-up playlist was easily one of my favorite parts of basketball (whenever I hear Cum on Feel the Noize by Quiet Riot my body feels like I should be in line ready to shoot layups). Nearly every story in my upcoming collection DIVE had a different playlist to put me in the headspace to write those stories.
1. Get your blood up
IF YOU DON’T ADD BANGERS, YOUR PROSE WON’T BANG.
High BPM pop, rap, techno, funk, dance music fires up your endorphins.
After a few times listening through your writing playlist, the muscle memory starts to kick in and you’ll have trained yourself to get into “writing mode” because when your special writing song comes on, your heart and fingers are ready.
Taking breaks to stretch and not get hunchback is important too, so some movement music is always helpful.
2. Don’t get distracted by lyrics
A great way to supply high tempo beats without getting distracted by lyrics is adding pop music in other languages. Kpop is excellent. For this and many other reasons.
Some places to start:
You can just search [language] + [genre] and get a whole playlist of songs you can’t understand but you can move your body to.
3. Set the scene
Where does your story take place? Add some ambient noise of the setting and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what you hear. As an eco-horror writer, I try to always include nature sounds to help me set the scene. When I first started adding nature sounds, I was surprised by how many bugs you can hear in a forest. If your story takes place in a school or a mall or an office building, add some air conditioning sounds. You want to be able to get into your characters’ headspace so surround yourself with the sounds they’d be hearing. There’s also a ton of youtube videos of people just walking through almost any setting imaginable.
4. Include EVERYTHING
You never know what’s going to spark something. You’ve got your bangers and your nature sounds so now it’s time to add everything else.
If there’s a thematic phrase in your story, add songs that include those words. Choose a song by its title and you might just find the thing that cracks open your story or a new favorite tune that doesn’t work for this playlist but fits in perfectly somewhere else.
What kind of music does your character like? Add it!
Movie/TV soundtracks and scores are great bc they already have story beats built in so listening to those while writing will build along with whatever story beats you’re trying to hit. I really like Cliff Martinez’s syncopated synth score from The Knick, which shouldn’t work for a period piece but de-coupled from the images of the show work for almost any vibe you’re going for. Ditto Thom Yorke’s score for Suspiria (2018).
Keep adding to your big playlist because you never know where inspiration will strike.
5. Refine/Edit/Cull Your Darlings
The “big” writing playlist for early drafts of Humboldt Cut has 267 songs on it and clocks in at an un-tight 16 hr 56 min. The “final” playlist has 41 songs and is just under 3 hours.
As you figure out the beats for your story, refine your playlist so that when that run of songs comes on, you can get into the vibe immediately. Keep your big playlist so you can always go back to the well if you paint yourself into too restrictive a box with your beat by beat playlist.
6. Don’t be afraid to get tizzy with it
Repeat repeat repeat. If you find a song that just makes you write, don’t let it end. You don’t have time to wait for it to come around on the playlist again. Milk it! That’s what the repeat song button is for. Your writing process is just for you so no one needs to know that you listened to The Cruel Angel’s Thesis 400 times in order to get your thing written. You’re already in your pajamas so don’t worry about what anyone else would think if they walked in on you. If it works for you, use it.
7. Actually Write, tho
Making playlists is fun and a great way to think about your writing project without actually writing, but don’t let it become another procrastinatory crutch like moodboards or pitch docs. So unfortunately my dear friend, you actually have to write. If making playlists isn’t helpful to your process, kick it to the curb. It’s all trial and error so don’t be afraid of drop a task or habit because it’s just stressing you out more. Sometimes shit sucks. Heck, most of the time, shit sucks. Find what works for you and use it.
If you dig the playlist, you’ll love the book: Humboldt Cut comes out in January and you can pre-order it right now!