Classy Christmas

Less of a list of inspirational songs to write to this week, and more of a pre-holiday theme. I thought I'd do something a little more festive, since yesterday I had to go out to do Christmas errands. There was no avoiding it any longer. And like every year, by the time I get around it, it seems that the world has been immersed in Christmasland for at least a month. Driving from mall to book store to food store, I had to blast ACDC on the radio so that I could decompress from all the corny holiday jingles that were piped over mall speakers.

But then someone amazing happened. I stepped into the grocery store for a few minutes and they were playing one of the only Christmas songs I can actually tolerate:

Yay! Forget the peppy '50s ditties. That's much more like it. It's-so-cold-I'd-rather-be-sitting-on-a-beach Christmas. But I have to admit, it's not the only song that I don't totally regret being forced to listen to this time of year. I guess I have a few others. Tunes to which I can imagine that everyone celebrating Christmas has the same taste as me: champagne cocktails at the Nutcracker intermission. Total lack of gifts and instead formal affairs and conversations about the modern implications of the cultural appropriation of the Yule Log from Celtic pagan by early European Christians to increase the new religion's appeal. Or something.



Apparently, I have a thing about traditional British Christmas music. And, of course, A Muppet's Christmas Carol. It's the only Christmas movie that matters.

All right, well that's it for me, kids. Have a good holiday! See you in 2014! :)

Retro Motivation

Sometimes, I need a little kick in the bum when it comes to getting the writing on the page. Especially this time of year, when there are lovely and fun distractions such as writing holiday greetings to friends or buying gifts or attending tacky Christmas sweater parties. I personally need motivational soundtracks galore over the next two weeks to remind myself not to throw in the towel early.

And so, I present my Retro Motivation playlist:



Some of the inclusions I've made are obvious. But others need explanation:

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - They All Laughed: Sure, it's about a love affair. But it can easily apply to a work of fiction, art -- any endeavour really. Especially since Ella and Louis reference historical endeavours that were once laughed at.

Irene Cara - What a Feeling, Rocky Theme Song, Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, Chariots of Fire: All mega motivational anthems, retro style!

Dolly Parton - 9 to 5, Avenue Q Original Broadway Cast - What do you Do with a B.A. in English/Sucks to be Me: I guess these are more "I'm not the only one feeling this way" songs. Toiling away, chipping away at the steps, working towards a dream sort of songs.

Eminem - Lose Yourself, Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars - Billionaire: All right, all right. Not so retro. But still motivational. And besides, does anyone remember the last time Eminem was bleached blonde?

Jessie J - Price Tag: Again, not so retro. But also not exactly of the moment, is it? I needed to add this song at the last moment, as an antidote to the previous track. Lately I've been feeling like I don't want to think that I am writing for money's sake. Maybe I want to create art because I have to. That, for me, is motivational in itself.

Scenes of Romance

I don't know about you, but I find writing love scenes of any sort extremely awkward. Whenever my characters happen to be a pair of lovers -- they are involved in a scene of romance or a quarrel -- I have to stop partway through the drafting of it. I try to let go of whatever hang-ups I have by writing out the phrase "So Awkward" in the midst of the happenings.

My theory is that I have an allergy to cheese. As soon as things stray into romance territory -- whenever a plot calls for a love scene -- I feel myself cringing. I always want my writing to be at least somewhat believable. I don't want it to become saccharine. Besides, gooey sweet love stories are not something that I personally enjoy. And so I balk at the prospect altogether.

But plots will call for what they will. Characters, fictional as they may be, don't always do what we want them to. And so I present to you my playlist for writing romance scenes. There is quite a bit of cheese included here, but that's because I need it in order to bring out my inner (deeply buried) romantic.

I used to have a playlist player here. It's not working for me anymore -- don't ask me why. However, the list lives on on YouTube! You can see it if you follow the link above.

Oh, what? You don't think it's that corny? I could do much, much worse I guess. I could indulge in a lot of songs that are as phony as artificial sweetener. But that's it. That's as much cheese as I can handle, thank you very much.

It's not like I think fictional characters shouldn't fall in love or something. It's more that I know a million and a half ways to screw up romantic subplots. And I am terrified of screwing them up. So, here's to silencing the inner censor with love songs.

What do you think of my list? Is it too romantic for you, or not quite sweet enough? What do you listen to while writing love scenes?