I develop a lot of story ideas while jogging with my iPod. I’ve heard a lot of writers say similar things, so I was wondering what kind of music works best for the rest of you.
Most pop songs seem to be about romantic relationships, and those don’t do much for me, idea-wise. Maybe if I were a romance writer. The ones that aren’t obviously about romance, or where I can interpret the words as something where she’s actually mad not because he’s got another girl but because he’s gone off and betrayed her to the dark lord or whatever, those work. What also works well are show tunes, especially if I don’t know the show. The good ones have story built into them and if I don’t know the plot, I’m free to spin my own. [1] On the other hand, opera doesn’t work, maybe because I don’t know the words, but classical music without words does–I just build on the feelings.
[1] I did most of my show-tune listening in the car, from tapes I recorded in Boston of Standing Room Only (not actually that long ago, despite the use of cassette tapes). Now I can get their stream, and I bet there’s a way I could record that. Though they aren’t particularly great for jogging, especially as I’m trying to get my running speed up.