I’m not a great planner when it comes to writing. I’m an artist. I’d rather just follow whatever crazy trail my muse takes me down, as I write.

But there are things that inspire me or keep me pressing ahead – though I’m not a huge fan of planning (we’re called seat of the pants writers).

I thought I’d share a few posts in the next few weeks that cover some of the process of writing a novel or the things that inspire me and keep me focused.

Up first? Music! Lordy, I couldn’t get through a day without it.

But for writing, it’s often a necessary component of staying in the moment. And by in the moment, I mean that real life keeps me distracted for the vast majority of my day. If I can keep the music going that inspires me, and fit in bits of research here or there – when I can actually find time to write, it’s not as hard to get back to the right spot. For instance, a few nights ago, I wrote a portion of the prologue to my new novel.

But I have a lot of work to do on it still. The music keeps me thinking about the plot, characters, and working through the “issues” that pop up as I work on the plot.

When it comes to writing, I can and do listen to a lot of different things. My favorite writing stations on Pandora include my “Mumford & Sons” and “coldplay” stations. But I also will switch it up and listen to a variety of classic rock stations – especially if they’re Fleetwood Mac/Eagles themed.

But Spotify is where I tend to land most of the time. A few of my favorites, which you can find, here – are:

Coffee Casa (an xm playlist – The Coffee House station is almost enough to make me want to pay for XM Radio.)

Sunday Morning Jazz

Evening Acoustic

Sunday Nights if You Were Here

With my new novel, I decided to start a playlist of songs that remind me of the characters and their story. It’s called, like the novel itself – a thousand years. You can find it here.

As I write, there will always be different moments within the plot that bring up different moods. The music I’m listening to always reflects that.

It helps me to feel more connected to my characters. With a thousand years, that feels particularly true.

Next up I’ll share how an idea for a book takes shape in the first place and how I decide where and what to start writing.

If you’re one of the writers that follows me, are you one that has to sit in the quiet to write, or are you a white noise/music person like me?