How Music helps me write

As an indie fantasy author I have to use my imagination a lot. Sometimes it can hard to create something that no one has ever seen or even thought up before, but I’ve found that one of the best ways to get my creative juices flowing is to listen to music.

EPIC Music for epic battles

Some authors I know prefer to listen to rock music, some even pop or rap while they write but for me I have to go a little bit more out there and off the beaten track. Fortunately there is an entire genre of music that has grown rapidly in recent years and that is funnily enough called Epic or Epica.

I love writing battle scenes and one of the main reasons for that is the way in which I get into the mindset to do so. As with anything that requires energy and urgency a writer needs to psyche themselves up before plunging into the heart of battle.

At the moment I'm working on a huge battle scene for one of my works in progress and I have found that listening to music is the best way to get into it. A battle needs to excite the reader, put them onto the edge of their seat. Will their favourite characters make it out alive? Will they emerge the same people that they once were?

Planning such scenes is a lot of work in itself, especially if the battle in question is on a grand scale. Tens of thousands of combatants need a lot of direction if the scene is to make any sense and progress the main plot of the story. Strategies and tactics need to be considered, as well as what are both sides trying to achieve?

To get into the mood for this battle and the grander war to come I've been listening to a few groups and tracks. Groups like the fantastic Two Steps from Hell and Audiomachine have been around and helping me write for years but there’s been an explosion in the number of muscians dabbling in the genre and on Youtube there are now entire channels devoted to it.

Here's a few of the best tracks I've discovered:

Do you listen to music when writing or reading? Let us know your favourite tracks!