"No Writing Track" A Guest Post by a Writer/Musician Derek Flynn

Derek is an intriguing writer in that he doesn't use any writing track while he writes. Neither do I. I NEED to be in the mood of the characters or the story, and some songs are wrong for that. Well...except for his wonderful music on his blog, which is quiet helpful if you're writing a dystopian. My point is, we both play music; he plays contemporary and I play classics. Yet we don't have writing tracks. This post will explain a little about why that is. Enjoy!

Writers get asked the same questions by non-writers all the time: “Where do you get your ideas from?” or “How do you just make stuff up out of your head?” Or, “Why are you talking to yourself?” (Oh, that last one might just be me). However, we don’t get asked these questions by other writers. Naturally, really, because we already know the answers. But there’s more to it than that. Writers don’t ask each other these questions because they’re not the questions other writers are interested in. As a writer, I don’t care where you get your ideas from; what I do want to know is how you go about writing. Do you do it at a desk? (Or standing up, like Hemingway) (Or lying down, like Truman Capote) Do you write in the morning, evening, or all night?

Writer’s writing habits – that’s what writers want to know about.

So, when Su asked me to do a guest blog – knowing that I’m a writer AND a musician – one of the first things she said to me was, “Most writers have writing tracks to help them write. It would be fascinating to know what a musician/writer does.” See? Writing habits. 

But, of course, it is interesting because the fact is I don’t have tracks that I write to. And it’s not just that I don’t have music that I write to, it’s that I can’t write while listening to music. But I’m a musician. Yeah, go figure. Now, when I say music, I actually mean music with lyrics. I find it impossible to write while I’m hearing someone else’s words in my head. I could listen to instrumentals while writing. (Indeed, on days when my neighbour decides to pump his stereo up, I have been known to strap on a set of headphones and listen to Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, or some such album). But for some reason, I don’t. Of course, I listen to music all the time when I’m not writing. And I play music all the time when I’m not writing. But when I’m writing, my space is a music-free zone.

Another thing that often interests people is the fact that I have to keep the two activities separate. That is, I can’t finish writing a chapter and pick up the guitar and start writing a song, or vice versa. It requires – for me, at least – a whole different mindset. It’s not surprising really, I don’t think. After all, most musicians focus solely on their music and their lyrics and most authors focus solely on their prose. They don’t need to turn their attention to another discipline. When you do have to, you need to divorce yourself completely from the other discipline.

All in all, there are as many similarities as there are differences between writing music and writing prose, and that’s one of the things that I hope to examine on my new blog, ‘Rant, with Occasional Music’(You can also hear some of my original music over there). Hope you can all join me!

Derek Flynn is an Irish writer and musician. He has an Honours Degree in English Literature and Philosophy. He’s been published in a number of publications, including The Irish Times, and was First Runner-Up in the 2011 J. G. Farrell Award for Best Novel-In-Progress. His writing/music blog – ‘Rant, with Occasional Music’ – can be found here: http://derekflynn.wordpress.com and on Twitter, he can be found here: http://twitter.com/#!/derekf03

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