writing soundtracks

When I started writing Luna in the summer of 2020, I knew I needed a soundtrack that set the tone for trying to write this story. Something that felt foresty and mysterious and sounded like a fairytale.

Then, Taylor Swift surprise released Folklore. Look at that cover! Trees, moody lighting, MOSS?! Instantly, it became the soundtrack to all my writing times, morning, night or weekend. The first draft was completed still listening to Folklore. I've never been a natural, all I do is try try try. Is this about writing a book (no)?! It felt like it.

Folklore really set the tune (pun intended) for all my subsequent drafting, the beginning of Beatrix Bobbit and a new story that's hardly more than a bare outline and a couple of pages (okay I'll share a little: Two sisters are bound to an invisible traveling salon buy a Warlock who curses towns within the Golden Realm to live in an Eternal Night Soiree whilst searching for his lost love).

When I first began with nothing more than Luna and the word Protectress in my head, I imagined I'd spend (aka waste) hours curating the perfect playlist. A little Florence, Iron & Wine, Lana, Lorde, Rufus, maybe. But after the release of Folklore, I loved the cohesiveness of one album. Another surprising thing to learn about yourself when writing! Music preferences for the task ahead.

All the drafts of Luna have been a compilation of hours of listening to Folklore and Evermore along with the Lana Del Rey albums: Chemtrails Over the Country Club, Norman Fucking Rockwell, and Blue Banisters.

I've always been a huge Lana fan (every year she's my most listened to artist on Spotify!). But Folklore and Evermore were such surprises, in the way they represented a shift for Taylor Swift and also appeared at a time when Luna needed music to fuel her story. And I needed musical inspiration to keep me meeting my goals.

To summarize: T Swift and Lana forever.

What do you listen to while you write? A playlist, album, artist?? I'd love to hear!