Whatever music you play in the
background affects your writing. It helps if it's instrumental, because lyrics
can be distracting. Try to find tunes
which suit the mood, culture, period or setting of your story.
Ideally, the music you play in the
background should have medium or fast tempo. The tempo of the music will affect
your heart rate as well as your subconscious. Fast, bouncy music leads to
fast-paced scenes, while ambient relaxation music can give your scene the pace
of a slug.
Consider burning a CD or creating a
playlist for every WiP, or better still, for every scene.
Is Harry Hero about lead his loyal
henchmen into battle against the Forces of Evil? Will Helga Heroine defend her
virtue against Vicious Vince?
Put on fast music, and the fight will
practically write itself.
Here are some of the tunes I play while
writing fight scenes. At YouTube, you can listen to them for free. Just don't
be tempted to watch the clips when you should be writing.
* Sabre Dance by Aram
Khachaturian. Very fast, exciting, perfect for sword or dagger fights.
* The final of the overture
to the opera William Tell (aka Wilhelm Tell aka Guillaume Tell)
by Giaochino Rossini. Very fast, great for cavalry charges.
* Ceddin Denden, a
traditional Turkish military song. Medium tempo, good for historical fiction.
* Walkürenritt aka Rideof the Valkyries by Richard Wagner. Dramatic and intense, good for final
showdown fights at the climax of the novel.
* Kafkas Lezginka
(aka Kavkas Lezginka), a traditional tune from the Caucasus, used for
ultra-masculine folk dance performances. Good for dagger and fencing fights.
* 40 Göktürklü. Soundtrack from a Turkish historical movie. Good
pace, steady bouncy rhythm, some singing.
* Seyh Samil aka Sheik
Shamil aka Seyx Schamil and various other spellings. A famous folk
song from the Caucasus and the Middle East, celebrating the heroism of a
historical resistance leader. This is an instrumental version with a steady
rhythm.
You can also listen to military
marches, which generally have a steady medium-to-fast rhythm. However, their
exuberant mood is designed to make soldiers happy about going to war and does
not reflect the brutal reality of battles.
Movie soundtracks, especially from
fight scenes, are often dramatic and intense. Although they lack the steady
rhythm most authors need for writing, they're great for plotting and sure to
get you into the mood.
Put on music – apply fingers to
keyboard – write!
Rayne Hall is the author of thirty books in different
genres and under different pen names, published by twelve publishers in six
countries, translated into several languages.She teaches online craft classes for advanced
and professional writers (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes,
Writing about Magic, The Low-Word Diet and more).
Recent releases under the Rayne Hall pen name:
“Storm Dancer” (dark-heroic fantasy novel)
“Six Scary Tales Vol 1”, “Six Scary Tales Vol2”, “Six Scary Tales Vol 3” (short horror stories)
“Writing Fight Scenes” (Practical step-by-step
instructions how to make your fictional fights realistic and exciting.)
Recent multi-author anthologies edited by Rayne
Hall:
“Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts”
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The first painting is by Francesc Sanz i Cabot: The General Juan Prim y Prats at the Battle of Tetuan, which occurred on 4 February 1860. The second is by Francisco de Goya, La rina c. 1819, both in public domain.
