- Feb 18, 2021
- 2 min read

Music To Create A World

Have you ever found a song that could be played on a loop and it would help keep you inspired and focused? Maybe you haven't and that's probably because my music taste is superior to yours... Writing is a solitary path so selecting the right songs for the journey is, I find, an incredibly important task...

If you click on the image above you will be met with a brilliant animation created by #RiotGames. It will wow you, but it's the song Breathe (Legends of Runeterra Version) that knits together that incredible animation and really makes it perfect. I loved the song and it quickly became a choice to be looped whilst writing the Tattoo Trilogy. Thanks #Fleurie.

I went on to listen to other songs by Fleurie and though they didn't quite inspire me the same way, I'm now a fan. I'm sure she's delighted with the #LeagueofLegends collaboration because of statements like that. Of course the vid has also made me want to build an animation like that for the Tattoo Trilogy... but hey, we'll keep that as a dream and leave that for another blog post.

All this got me thinking... how much does music influence writing? Below I've shared my own 'songs of inspiration' and you should set aside a week or so of your life to fall in love with them (like me).

Vivaldi for Fighting?

"I'm a coward. I succumbed to jealousy and now it eats my heart" Antonio Vivaldi

The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, not any second rate recording, but the version from Nigel Kennedy (that I grew up with) is an incredible resource for fantasy battle scenes... or at least that's how I found it. Listen to 'Allegro non molto', in Concerto No.1 "Spring"... I defy you to not be holding a sword by its end. Every thrust of bow on violin had me frantically typing into Microsoft Word.

Maybe there is something about musical genius that makes authors want to elevate their own creative levels? Perhaps there is something about classical music that gives an imagination freedom whilst not always distracting with the need to sing or dance?

My Top Ten: Musical Accompaniment Edition

You may have noticed that we are offering a prize for the person who accurately identifies 4 songs that I've hidden within the text of the Tattoo Trilogy. That means that there are four omissions to this list (as I'm not going to make that competition so easy); these ten songs, however, still constitute the greatest playlist you will ever hear.

Nevertheless, here are ten of the best songs to write to (in my entirely correct opinion):