My Music Habits and #NaNoWriMo

I started participating in NaNoWriMo in 2009. That year, I began writing the first and second books of my second series. I skipped between scenes and characters and books and it turned into a disjointed mess that I’m still trying to carefully weave plot lines through, but I won, damn it… and I became obsessed with a band in the process. 2009 was the year of the Decemberists… and it’s no wonder the 50,000 words I wrote came out the way they did. Each little Decemberists song is its own little book, telling a tiny story that balloons to epic proportions when added to music. What Colin Meloy and his band can do is nothing short of miraculous, in my mind.

2010, I discovered the upbeat stylings of Hello Goodbye. They were perfect for the third book of the second series, which is what I focused my attention on during that November. I needed happy, young love and that’s what I got. I was also introduced to a band called Stornoway late in the month. They were a perfect blend of strange nostalgia and longing, and at that point in the story, I needed that.

This year, I struggled for 12 days to find motivation. I’d been listening to Christina Perri and Jeremy Lister, and they were okay, but I’d been listening to them in October, too, as I was working on another project.

Yesterday, I discovered Fleet Foxes. My God, how beautiful is their music?! They are similar to Other Lives, who I was fortunate enough to see in concert when the Decemberists passed through earlier this year. Together, Fleet Foxes and Other Lives make a gorgeous, rich, ethereal three-hour journey into another colorful and textural world. I think I could live in this world forever. Is it a little too advanced for Livvy? Maybe, but she’s a smart girl, and a creative thinker, so I think she could be inspired by this playlist. I know I am.

What about y’all? What are you listening to? (And Nikki, I know what you’re listening to, and I know you’re patiently waiting for a list. It’ll come. In December, it’ll come.) 🙂