During my 2 1/2 day writing retreat with my critique group last October, I ended up writing 22,000 words on my Saving Marilee manuscript. A lot of that success was due to my determination to plug in and write. No excuses. Just writing. And most of the time I would have my headphones on, listening to my writing playlist so that I could tune out anything else going on around me.

When I’m working on a story, I also have the tendency to listen to the lyrics of all songs to see if they apply to my character or stories. Thus I end up accumulating a list of songs that I associate with my work in progress. The list isn’t terribly long, but I think it’s easy to see why I would choose these songs to represent Marilee’s story.

Fix You—Coldplay Marilee’s song

Keep Breathing—Inglid Michaelson Chapter One

Gravity—Sara Bareilles Marilee and Damian

Begin Again—Taylor Swift Marilee and James

Not About Angels—Birdy Chapter 8—Realm of the fairies

Instrumental songs I would listen to while writing:

Infra 8—Louisa Fuller

Liz On Top of the World—Pride and Prejudice soundtrack

Casper’s Lullably—James Horner

The Kiss—The Last Of The Mohicans