Writing inspiration? It’s got to be Epic.

Trailer music. It’s a thing. It’s an awesome, fire everything, run for your friggin life, kill the bastard, save the world, kiss the girl or boy or puppy, don’t look down, don’t let go, EPIC thing.

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I like it.  A lot.

When I’m sitting in front of my computer screen, words gone dry and inspiration and imagination taking a holiday somewhere the cocktails have tiny umbrellas, I call on the gods and goddesses of epic music and I am saved.

Praise be! Hallelujah!  (Is it bad I had to look up how to spell that? Sorry baby Jebus.)

Juices start to flow (and taste amazingly like margaritas), fingers hit the keyboard and the old brain cogs start to turn.  Though these little masterpieces of musical genius usually only run a scant few minutes, fear not! The world has been blessed with the ‘replay’ button. And I am not afraid to use it, people. No one leaves till this scene/chapter/paragraph is done. No idea seems too ridiculous. These tunes help me kiss the world goodbye for a little while and suck back creativity like it’s a bottle of Grey Goose.

I will take those Two Steps from Hell over and over and over until my characters, and my neighbours, beg for some kind of mercy.   I’ll play that Epic Score until the world is saved or destroyed or just slightly broken, and I’ll drag Mark Petrie (Kiwi composer who we Aussies should declare our own.) up the slopes of the final chapter and make sure he’s the last thing my MC hears as he/she/it, saves/destroys/poops on the aforementioned world-in-trouble.

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(Even Stickmen fighting is awesome with trailer music. Here, add some of THIS)

I love this shit. Bottom line –  music inspires my writing.  (I lied. This is not the bottom line. I’ve still got more to say.)

And clearly I’m not the only one.  You no longer need to trawl through YouTube and various unmentionable sites to find the snippets of music you heard at the cinema, you can buy this stuff now. Legitimate. Like, not be a pirate. Can I get a ‘Hell yeah?’

Maybe not.

Point is, I’m clearly not the only sad muppet who’s ass fused to the chair at some point as she listened to Twelve Titans Music one time too many. This stuff is crack. We wants it. It is our precious.

Hell, you can go to a Two Steps From Hell concert, people! Shit just got real.

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Epic trailer music sure as hell sells movies. They even have their own category in the Golden Trailer Awards, the motion picture previews version of the Oscars. Think about how many movies you’ve gone to based on the epicness (why yes, epic is my word of the day, thanks for noticing.) of the trailer you’ve seen. You buy your ticket, take your seat, then realise that you should have just watched the trailer for two hours instead. Am I right? Well a huge part of that initial sell was in the music. It’s what gives you goosebumps, makes your eyes do wet stuff and makes you think for a second that you actually have the skills to fight off monsters and alien armies, if only you were given the chance and the most flattering camera angle.

In my little fantasy world (where I’m a successful published author and everyone loves me and there isn’t one bad comment written about me or my awesome stories on any form of social media) my book is being adapted into a (no doubt whatsoever) Oscar nominated film and I have Steve Jablonsky doing the score and Twelve Titans, Two Steps from Hell and Really Slow Motion all fighting for the right to do the trailer.

Cue the slow-mo.

Epic.

 

 

3 Comments

  1. Austin Hackney on May 25, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    Fun. I use music and I’m especially fond of Sibelius (named a protagonist in my trilogy after him!) for epic scenes as his compositions are so filmic.

    I know several other writers for whom music is not only an inspiration but also an essential background to their working time.

    There are also times, however, when the concentration of silence, or as we’ve spoken about before, the neutralizing background “buzz” of a busty cafe or public space can be just the thing.

    • DanKG on May 25, 2016 at 6:16 pm

      Absolutely! Busty or busy, the cafe space and its neutral buzz is fantastic:) Mind you, I often have headphones in, music blaring. One thing I’ve noticed at home though, is often the music I’m listening to will stop and I will be completely unaware because I’m caught up in my writing. I’ll suddenly realise I’ve been typing in silence for an hour – I love those moments. Means I’ve gotten lost in the writing.
      PS- listening to Sibelius now 🙂

  2. Austin Hackney on May 25, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    *blushes* I think I meant “busy* rather than *busty* cafe, there …

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