You don’t realize it yet – but your superpower is writing. Maybe you’re learning this new skill like Midoriya Izuku, or you’re a seasoned veteran at your talents like Captain America, but regardless of where you’re at on the learning curve, it doesn’t change this fact:
you are a superhero!
And that means that you need a theme song.
What? Alixx, are you nuts, the crux of being a superhero isn’t having a theme song! You totally missed the mark.
WRONG!
Having a theme song for Nanowrimo 2019’s annual challenge is more valuable than you might initially realize. It sounds like this frivolous thing that doesn’t matter and shouldn’t make a big difference in your efficiency and productivity. However, you would be wrong.
Think about the theme songs of your favorite movies, television shows, and video games. You could probably belt each and every word or note out perfectly on a whim, couldn’t you? I don’t know a single person in my life that can’t do that for at least one of those things. My mom can hum the “I Love Lucy” song upon request any time of day; my husband knows the Pokemon and Zelda themes forwards and backward; my son and I can zing out the Dr. Who tune in perfect unison whenever the urge hits us. Theme songs aren’t just a silly song that denotes the presence of something you enjoy – it defines it.
So, that’s what this post is about: get yourself a theme song for Nanowrimo 2019. Play this song right before you get started writing when you’re setting up your work area, or play it first thing when you sit down to get writing. And then play it again when you’re stuck, or planning, or feel lost (which you will feel in a week or two when you’re nearing the climax of your manuscript). This theme song will set the tone, the mood, and the pace of your novel.
But what song should I pick? I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to just one, could I?
I hear you, and I promise I have an answer for that question, and pretty much any question you might have about picking the perfect theme song. To answer those questions, I feel the “FAQ” format is the most effective…
How do you just pick a theme song?
I mean, I can’t explain it beyond saying “just pick one,” because some people put more thought into theirs than others. For example, my 2017 Nanowrimo theme song was “Lucky” by American Authors. The lyrics of this song told the story of a person who abandoned the ideals of their parents and was making a future for themselves regardless of the risk involved. I had failed Nanowrimo the last time I had tried and was scared that, even with a team of support, that I would fail again – only others would know about it now.
That said, for last year’s Nanowrimo I was stuck between a handful of songs: “High Hopes” by P!ATD, “Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)” by FOB, “Told You So” by Paramore, and “Silence” by Marshmello and Khalid. More songs made it into my usual run of music, and more often than not I would abandon my musical playlist after playing the small cluster of beats that got my psyched for working and listened through the Hamilton musical (the video posted by ZoshDoesStuff for the songs that didn’t make it to the Broadway set). I associate so much of my favorite music with writing as a result of declaring “theme songs” for the Nanowrimo experience.
As for you, and your process of picking, you can pick any song for any reason. Maybe it’s a song you like, maybe it’s a song that represents what you are trying to do, or maybe it’s a song that tells the story of your main character. It doesn’t actually matter to anyone but YOU how you pick it or why. You just pick it, and you stick with it for the whole month. Honestly, you should be able to sing this theme song in your sleep by the end of the Nanowrimo season.
You had multiple songs? Can I do that too?!
Yes. There are no rules to having theme songs. Not many shows, especially in American television, change their theme songs, but if you watch anime – they change it all the time! As the tone of the show changes, so do the opening and credit songs. You can do the same thing. Like I said, there are no real rules for this process.
I started a playlist of 225+ songs that I listen to on shuffle while I’m writing, and it’s probably the best decision that I’ve ever made. I even made an alternative playlist of nightcore versions of songs that I wouldn’t normally listen to in order to keep my energy levels way up during a hard, late night of writing. You should totally do the same! I have my list on YouTube, but I’ve been using Pandora and Spotify more throughout the past few months. I don’t generally mind commercials, but having fewer of them is definitely nice!
So, have one song, have a whole list, whatever is best for you!
I don’t even think I could make a definitive list, though. What do I do then?
Don’t worry about it. You can keep adding to your list and deleting songs from it. While I think it’s good to have one song that you keep all month, it’s not necessary. The whole point of the “theme song” mentality is that you’re treating your working time and your project like something professional and powerful. It is in your heart, elsewise you wouldn’t be participating, so you can manifest that feeling outside of your heart by giving something that others can experience.
What if I start to hate my theme song halfway through the month?
That’s okay, too. Sometimes a song’s value to you changes because of an experience that you’ve had, or because you no longer feel connected to it while you are working. There are songs that I loved last year when I was working that I can’t listen to on repeat anymore because it drives me insane. There’s no theme song police that is going to chase you down for changing your mind about a song. You want to manifest positivity out of what you’re listening to, and hating a song will not do that for you, so go ahead and pick a new song or delete that song from your list.
I promise that you’ll feel better than trying to stick with it for the full thirty days.
Not everyone is a music person, and I get that, but I still think you should invest some time into identifying a theme song or create a list of theme songs. Having something auditory that will get you hyped can make a world of difference! Whether it is classical, radio pop, acoustic covers, or fan-made music, you will find that this is a valuable part of making it to the finish line of this amazing adventure of writing.
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