Music When I'm Writing?

     Nope. No music.
   
     Of course, that verdict is subject to the situation. For example, at this moment I am listening to music. If I'm composing an email, then I'll absolutely enjoy some music along with it! Even, occasionally, while I'm writing school papers I'll turn on something mellow––but that's the keyword there, mellow. When I'm writing my story I'm very particular about what I listen to and usually choose to eschew the extra noise altogether.

     To properly defend my position against indignant and enthusiastic music-lovers, I need to explain my creative process.
     I love music, I really do. Whether I'm in the car, writing a blog post, doing my morning chores, in the shower or even doing my math I like to have music playing. I would die without my iPod. I love music. I love it loud, and I love it awesome.
     Music is how I get my thoughts rolling. Doing my morning chores is sometimes my most productive time for great ideas. I sweep, listen to music, and my mind is snatched into my magical worlds through the lyrics or mood of the song that I relate to a story. When I sit down for a brainstorming session I pick the best song that most relates to the story I want to brainstorm, and my mind takes it from there.
     However, this can be a problem if I'm trying to focus. I'm pretty adept at not letting it distract me when I'm engrossed in a book or doing my math, or even when I'm planning a scene in my mind I often grow so immersed that I tune out. When, however, I'm writing and simultaneously listening to music––even if I'm mostly ignoring it––it does pull me off track. That's because of the mood.

     Mood is exceptionally important to me while writing a scene. Sometimes I plan scenes out very well, and sometimes I do not. But whether I do or not, planning out what needs to happen or even what should be said is a far cry from how the reader is supposed to feel when they're reading it. And to do that, of course, I have to put myself in the minds of my characters and in their positions.
     If I'm writing an intense scene where Tigress is fighting for her life while I'm simultaneously listening to a flaccid song by Taylor Swift… Well, Tigress gets a little confused. I mean, she's not planning on ever ever ever ever getting back together with Scorpion anyway…not that she was ever with him in the first place! The song has gone and destroyed the entire mood of the scene for me. This is an especially potent problem when I haven't planned the scene out completely. I go off on tangents and write things that detract from what I wanted and the main storyline. It just doesn't work. I can't listen to a peppy song while trying to write a death scene, I can't listen to a depressing, emotional heartbreak when I'm trying to create a happy, companionable moment between my characters. Pop songs are off limits, no exceptions.
     What if I only chose specific songs to fit specific moods? Well, I would spend quite a bit of time putting together playlists. Sometimes my moods are rather unique.
     What about non pop music? Sometimes. If they have little or no vocal, then yes. Classical music usually doesn't cut it, though. The Lord of the Rings soundtrack is my top preference, but even then I have to be picky and skip songs that turn on at the wrong times (Minas Morgul always makes me jump!). Occasionally I try Enya's beautiful Shepherd Moons, or Fleet Foxes or even Gregorian Chanting (that is very scene specific).
   
     When it comes down to it, the best bet for me is to simply shut the music off. If Tigress is crouched beside a rat's abandoned shelter of cobblestones, Casting for sunshadows every few moments, eyes straining in the darkness through the flakes of snow as she warily watches for Soulles… The fearful silence defines this scene. Tigress would hear nothing but her own hurried breathing, the pounding of her heart in her ears, a few distant screams echoing through the dark-gripped city…and the soft, squeaky crunch of approaching boots on fresh-fallen snow.

Rethinking Villains

Villains cannot be cool because cool people are not evil. Unless they are Darth Vader.
That is all I have to say.

Editing Part 2: Huge Problems––Striker's Redundancy

       I've been having a miserable time editing/rewriting. I run into problems every way I turn. I've been frustrated. I should be able to do this! I know and love my story, I love writing it, so I sit down and expect it to come out the way I want it to. It doesn't.

       I finally zeroed in on the problem (or, at least, one of them).
       Striker is completely redundant. He's a slightly less Aramis.

       At this point you should definitely be wondering how I wrote an entire book and did not realize that my two characters are exactly the same. I have no answer for you. I have no idea what is wrong with me.
       I don't understand how I missed it, but I do understand why it happened.
It began with my decision not to kill Aramis off before the story started. In my original plotlines (as you can read in my previous post), Aramis was killed long before the "main" story even began. This novel began as backstory, showing Aramis and Tigress together, then slowly merged back into the original.
     Striker's purpose, in the original, was to be the good influence on Tigress. The mentor, the wholesome one, the wise-guy, if you will. He pushed Tigress by showing her that there could be goodness and happiness in her world. He was the mediator between Tigress and Trooper and their contradicting (yet so similar) convictions.
       When I pulled Aramis back into the picture, he usurped that position. He is the ultimate wise guy, mentor, the Sun and goodness made manifest. He's untouchable. He is the only person Tigress trusts completely……except for Striker. He is the only person Tigress knows that is actually good……except for Striker.
       Striker is everything Aramis is, only slightly less. He's not as powerful, not as good, not as wise, not as mature, not as secure…but he's close.
       When I merged the two together I nudged Striker a little, making him more eccentric. I amplified his obliviousness, stretched out his funny side, and made him a genius. Unfortunately, this is proving to not be enough. Particularly because––since I wrote the story––I've slightly nudged Aramis a little too, in my mind, making him a much more lighthearted guy.

       What do I do with this flaming mess?!

       Should I just outright cut Striker from the book? That would break my heart. Should I change his character completely?
       What Striker needs is a new role. He needs to be something more than Aramis' back-up, his shadow. He needs to be a new character with a purpose. The question is, what role is there to give him? If I simply slap a new role on him, it will jilt the entire purpose of the story on a new angle.

       Now, I suppose, it is time to reevaluate what I want this story to mean. What is the motion being propelled forward, and who is propelling it? Who is trying to stop it? How do the different characters affect that?

       More thinking, more rereading, more reevaluating. More questions. Always more questions.