For some people, nothing; for some, it is setting the Mood.

Some people swear by the use of background music to stimulate their creative flow.

Stephen King comes to mind with his use of heavy metal to stimulate his creativity. Other people, such as myself, prefer no music when creating. 

Let us think about creating a background mood for a moment.

Can you imagine the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey without the strains of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” evoking the mood?

It would have certainly been totally different had he used a less grandiose piece of music. Kubrick was experimenting with this film’s opening scenes by using music to create the mood nonverbally, as opposed to more traditional cinematic narrative techniques. He went against the norm by using existing pieces of music rather than having pieces composed for the experience. 

Much of the film is done with no dialog and simply uses music to set the scene. This was novel in film, although the approach had been used in other forms of visual media for years, i.e. cartoons.

I remember as a child, cartoons were rare, unlike today. Initially, there were only the movies and the Saturday morning fare, and that was all there was in the way of cartoons. I loved watching cartoons, so going to the movies would help feed my hunger. As I recall, there was almost always a cartoon and a news clip before every matinee. 

Merry Melodies and Loony Toons often used classical music, and I grew up hearing these scores with no idea where the music came from.

It was in these cartoons and the Disney Movies where I was first exposed to such pieces as Grieg’s “Hall of the Mountain King,” “Anita’s Dance,” and “Morning Mood.” 

Who can forget Disney’s Fantasia, with Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” and “A Night on Bald Mountain,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Dance of the Hours,” “The Nutcracker Suite,” and more? 

They exposed me to all of this classical music with no idea where any of it came from, but they set the mood so well. 

I wonder if Fantasia’s success influenced Kubrick, and inspired him to take the concept from cartoons and adapt it to his masterpiece?

The trend with most soundtracks was to compose music specifically for the film rather than to adapt. The list of great soundtracks is enormous, indeed there are some films where the soundtrack is considered to be better than the film it was composed for. 

Using music to set a mood is indeed an art. 

Peter Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations come to mind as a masterful example of the fantasy genre.

Okay, but what does this have to do with writing?

For myself, I find if I have music playing and a song I love comes on, it distracts me.

I tend to listen to the lyrics, maybe even sing along, and not create. 

Instrumental music rarely has the same danger, but I find, when I am on a creative roll, background sounds fade into oblivion and so why bother to put any on? I just ignore it. (Moreover, my cats are not music lovers. Liv tends to flee and hide if it is too loud and Riley, the unflappable, just ignores it.) 

In the past, I have put on long playlists for my gaming and, more often than not, I never notice when the music ends. The same is true with my writing. If I am in a groove, all other sounds fade away, so why bother to even turn them on?

But some people find stimulation for their muse with sound.

With that in mind, finding the correct music would seem important. 

I think the type of music that would help the creative mood for action-adventure or a thriller would not be correct for a romance. Likewise, the sounds that might aid with creating sci-fi or fantasy would differ from those used to tickle the fancy for a rom-com. 

Setting a mood is important for some people when they write, the wrong mood will stifle rather than nurture. 

The only way to discover the right mood setter for you is to experiment. 

If you are convinced you can only create in total silence, you may be correct, but you might be surprised what a soft mood setter in the background can inspire. 

Try putting some low-volume music that seems to fit your genre into your creative space. It may surprise you.

I would suggest you attempt to find music that seems fitting for your style and genre. Ravel’s “Bolero” or Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” would probably be the wrong choices for background mood when writing a tender love scene but might aid in writing an action sequence. 

You never know until you try.

Casey Cooper, Writer, Bard.

You can follow him on Facebook.

The post Music and Mood in Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.

Spring greetings, leisure learners, and word nerds! I hope this April has found you immersed in the power of individual words, a la National Poetry Month. Now, what happens when you put a whole bunch of words together, complete with punctuation? Hopefully, a short story. Pair it with the month we are heading into and you can conclude that May is National Short Story Month. Please note: friends from across the pond, beside the pond, and any other orientation involving the pond are always invited to join in on our bookish themes!  

WARNING: Lots of good feels possible this month!

Here is your April 2022 Leisure Learning List:

5 Minute Reads

As mentioned before, May is short story month…but sometimes we don’t even have time for short stories. 

As such, here is a compilation of short, short stories by literary greats. You will find Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oscar Wilde, Kate Chopin, and Franz Kafka among the many authors in this list of stories, which has the additional benefit of being organized into Feel Good, Introspective, Dramatic, Witty, and Other-Worldy categories, among others. 

One piece I feel obligated to mention is Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, as there is a deep appreciation among word nerds for The Yellow Wallpaper itself. 

10 Outstanding Contemporary Short Stories

If the 5 minute reads whetted your appetite for something longer, here are 10 outstanding literary short stories. 

Pravesh Bhardwaj of the famous Twitter #longreads account went through the list of the 276 stories he posted throughout 2021 and chose the best of the best. Each link on his page gives you full access to the work listed.  

Look for Lauren Groff’s short story as well as one by Sally Rooney. All pieces pair well with wine. (I have verified this for you.) 

All Stories Aloud

Ok, so maybe you had time for a Short Short story, but that was about it. How about listening to one of these acclaimed longer stories while doing errands or on a walk? 

The All Stories Aloud Youtube channel features free short stories read aloud by Albert Camus, Haruki Murakami, Graham Greene, and Alice Munro, among others. The time budget is about 20 mins to 1 hour if you want to listen to a story in its entirety.   

Comfort Books

Have you had a hard time getting back to life these past few months? Pandemic? War? Disgruntled by Pantone’s “it” color for 2022? (I actually like it.) 

My point is that life can be difficult to get through right now. 

While there are a ton of excellent self-help books out there, it is tough to keep up with the pace of coping skills one needs to acquire before the next disaster comes rollicking upon the world stage. 

LitHub has come up with a workable solution for modern-day families and adults who need short boosts of bravery when gearing up for human interaction. This list rounds up several lesser-known selections intended for children, but equally enjoyed by adults. Topics include pessimism, overall sadness, grief, calming practices, guilt, and even those days when you kinda-sorta hate yourself.  

I plan on reading through ALL of them.

Cornelius Eady Trio

Since it is technically still April, I’m sneaking in poet Cornelius Eady’s band. Eady himself is a renowned poet whose work is inspired by family life, race, and class. One of the elements that make his work easily recognizable is the use of rhythms found in blues and jazz music. He is the author of seven volumes of poetry, one of which qualified him as a finalist for the 2001 National Book Award in Poetry while another garnered a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. 

Level the experience of National Poetry Month up by checking out his poems fully realized as music, played by himself and bandmates in the Cornelius Eady Trio. 

Even if you’re not particularly fond of jazz, it is still worth considering how musical rhythm enhances the meaning of the lines in a poem or the meaning of a word. (Ahem, ahem—prompt idea, anyone?)

Tell us in the comments: Which of these April 2022 Leisure Learning picks are you most excited to try?

Melissa Haas is the author and illustrator of Catula: The Misadventures of Dracula’s Cat and The Night Before Christmas (NOW WITH CATS), among other books. Follow Catula’s whereabouts on Instagram @CatulaTheCat or download a free coloring page at www.catulathebook.com.

The post April 2022 Leisure Learning appeared first on DIY MFA.

Alexandra Monir is an Iranian-American author and recording artist who has published six popular young adult novels. Her internationally-bestselling debut, Timeless was a Barnes & Noble Bestseller and Amazon.com “Best Books of the Month.” In 2018 she published the hit sci-fi novel The Final Six and Sony Pictures optioned the film rights in a major pre-empt deal. More recently, she has followed up with a sequel—The Life Below—which was published earlier this year.

Alexandra was chosen as part of a group of global bestselling authors to write for the New York Times-bestselling DC ICONS series. Her book is Black Canary: Breaking Silence, the first-ever YA novel about that DC Comics superhero. Next up, Alexandra is writing a historical fantasy YA for Disney based on Princess Jasmine.

In this episode Alexandra and I discuss:

• How she honors her grandmother in her career, especially in her latest book.
• Her method for creating a complex cast of villains for Black Canary.
• Why she incorporated original music into the release of her book.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About the Alexandra Monir

Iranian-American author and recording artist Alexandra Monir has published six popular young adult novels to date, beginning with her internationally-bestselling debut, Timeless (a Barnes & Noble Bestseller and Amazon.com “Best Books of the Month”). More recently, she published the hit sci-fi novel The Final Six with HarperCollins in 2018, with Sony Pictures optioning the film rights in a major pre-empt deal. A sequel, The Life Below, followed in February 2020.

Alexandra was chosen to follow global bestselling authors Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas, and Matt de la Pena as the fifth author to write for the New York Times-bestselling DC ICONS series. Her book is Black Canary: Breaking Silence, the first-ever YA novel about the titular DC Comics superhero, publishing on December 29, 2020. Next up, Alexandra is writing a historical fantasy YA for Disney based on Princess Jasmine.

You can find Alexandra on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Black Canary

In this thrilling origin story of Black Canary, Dinah Lance’s voice is her weapon. And in a near-future world where women have no rights, she won’t hesitate to use everything she has–including her song–to fight back.

Dinah Lance was eight years old when she overheard the impossible: the sound of a girl singing. It was something she was never meant to hear–not in her lifetime and not in Gotham City, taken over by the vicious, patriarchal Court of Owls. The sinister organization rules Gotham City as a dictatorship and has stripped women of everything–their right to work, to make music, to learn, to be free.

Now seventeen, Dinah can’t forget that haunting sound, and she’s beginning to discover that her own voice is just as powerful. But singing is forbidden–a one-way route to a certain death sentence. Fighting to balance her father’s desire to keep her safe, a blossoming romance with mysterious new student Oliver Queen, and her own need to help other women and girls rise up, Dinah wonders if her song will finally be heard. And will her voice be powerful enough to destroy the Court of Owls once and for all?

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 338

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 338: The Dystopian Superhero Story – Interview with Alexandra Monir appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Janet Pocorobba on the show!

Janet is a former features writer and editor at Metropolis magazine in Tokyo, whose memoirs, essays and reviews have appeared in many notable publications such as The Rumpus, The Writer, and Kyoto Journal.

She is the author of the memoir, The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me, which is now available. In the memoir Janet shows the relationship between her and her sensei in the initial years of her apprenticeship learning to play the shamisen, a three-stringed Japanese instrument.

So listen in as Janet and I chat about this awesome book and how to defy writing structures both in the classroom and on the page.  

In this episode Janet and I discuss:

• Presenting the self in relation to others in a memoir.
• How training in music gives you structure and form for your writing.
• The role absence plays in a narrative.
• Using the practice method to grow your craft.
• The relationship between the word mind and the content mind.

Plus, Janet’s #1 tip for writers.

About Janet Pocorobba

A former features writer and editor at Metropolis magazine in Tokyo, Janet’s memoirs, essays and reviews have appeared in The Rumpus, Harvard Review, The Writer, Kyoto Journal, Indiana Review, Provincetown Arts, American Athenaeum, and elsewhere.

Janet is also an associate professor of writing at Lesley University and the Associate Director of their Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Her memoir, The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me, is now available from Stone Bridge Press.

To connect with Janet check out her website at www.janetpocorobba.com.

The Fourth String: A Memoir of Sensei and Me

The word sensei in Japanese literally means “one who came before,” but that’s not what Janet Pocorobba’s teacher wanted to be called. She used her first name, Western-style. She wore a velour Beatles cap and leather jacket, and she taught foreigners, in English, the three-stringed shamisen, an instrument that fell out of tune as soon as you started to play it.

Vexed by the music and Sensei’s mission to upend an elite musical system, Janet, on the cusp of 30, gives up her return ticket home to become a lifelong student of her teacher. She is eventually featured in Japan Cosmo as one of the most accomplished gaijin, “outside people,” to play the instrument.

Part memoir, part biography of her Sensei, The Fourth String looks back on the initial few years of that apprenticeship, one that Janet’s own female English students advised her was “wife training,” steeped in obedience, loyalty, and duty. Even with her maverick teacher, Janet is challenged by group hierarchies, obscure traditions, and the tricky spaces of silence in Japanese life.

Anmoku ryokai, Sensei says to explain: “We have to understand without saying.”

By the time Janet finds out this life might not be for her, she is more at home in the music than the Japanese will allow.

For anyone who has had a special teacher, or has lost themselves in another world, Janet Pocorobba asks questions about culture, learning, tradition, and self. As Gish Jen has said of The Fourth String, “What does it mean to be taught? To be transformed?”.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 247

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 247: Defying the Western Narrative — Interview with Janet Pocorobba appeared first on DIY MFA.

Most writers think of the senses as a way to spice up flat descriptions. In fact, I have one writer friend who used to keep a post-it note stuck to his computer screen with the five senses written on it so he’d be sure not to leave any one of them out.

What most writers don’t realize is that the senses are also a great way to get a fresh perspective and come up with new ideas for your story.

Here’s a short sampler of ways you can engage the five senses in your writing.

Sound

This sense forces us to focus. When we listen–really listen–to something, we zoom in and focus on it in depth. It is important to practice listening and not just letting sounds wash over us, so we train our minds to pay attention. This is the first of the senses that I always turn to because once I can focus, the writing comes naturally.

Warm up your writing chops by listening to some music. The Planets by Gustav Holst is a great piece for just about any writer because each movement captures a completely different mood. To hear the different moods in Holst’s The Planets, click on the following links:

Mars     |     Venus     |     Mercury     |     Jupiter     |     Saturn     |     Uranus   |     Neptune

Sight

This is probably the one of the five senses that we use most often. When we describe things in our writing, it’s easy to forget the other senses and focus only on what we see, because vision is so powerful. But there are other ways we can use sight to inspire us as well.

Look at a painting or photograph and try to figure out the story behind it. Who is the main character? Why is he there? If is photo or painting is a snapshot of a moment, what happened just before that moment? What happens after?

Another exercise I love is going to a paint store and browsing the paint chips. A color can sum up a mood in a way that would require dozens of words. In fact, I often give my protagonists a “signature color” and post the paint chip on my bulletin board for as long as I’m working with that character.

Touch

Touch forces us to notice the little things. When we close our eyes and ears, and rely only on our fingers, the ordinary things in life become extraordinary.

Try this: close your eyes and pick up a small object (a paper clip, a small stone, a seashell, etc.). Let your fingers explore the object and notice all the minute details. By examining an object through touch alone, you will notice things about it that you would not have picked up on otherwise.

Taste

This sense is all about interaction. When we taste something, we gobble it up, drink it in and experience it from the inside out. Taste also elicits very visceral reactions. If we don’t like the taste of something, we know right away and we know it in our core. When I need to access raw emotion, I turn to taste because there’s an immediacy to it that none of the other senses seems to capture in the same way.

Give your writing a jolt by tasting something that gives you a strong visceral response. I often turn to jelly beans when I need to access this one of the five senses.

Smell

Finally, there’s smell. This sense is unique because of all the senses, smell is the only one that has a direct pathway between the receptor (in this case the nose) and the memory center of the brain.

Think about it, smells often bring up unexpected memories or make you remember things that had been buried for years. I know that one particular scent—a combination I can’t even describe—always makes me think of my grandmother’s house. Smell is a powerful sense because it’s loaded with so much memory and emotion.

When I turn to smell, I use it to access memories. A lavender lotion reminds me of a vacation I took years ago to Scandinavia. The smell of coconut reminds me of drinking coconut water on the beaches of Brazil when visiting family. If I need to remember a moment or put my character in a setting I visited long ago, I try to draw on a smell to bring that place to life.

Why It Works

The senses are such a powerful source of inspiration for writers that in the past I used to teach an entire 5-week writing course based on the five senses. While many of the DIY MFA courses are specifically designed for adults, this course worked equally well with adults and kids, including ones as as young as elementary school.

What makes the five senses such a good source of inspiration is because they are something that writers of all ages can latch onto and “get” pretty quickly. This is why, whenever I need to jump-start my creativity, I turn to the five senses for inspiration early in the brainstorming process.

Now it’s your turn.

Do you use the five senses for inspiration? Which of the senses do you turn to most often? Which ones could use a little more attention? My challenge for you this week is to choose one of the senses—preferably one you use least—and do something with it to inspire your writing.

The post How to Use the Five Senses for Inspiration in Your Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.

But the section of Anna’s work that I’m most familiar with are her wonderful picture books: Once Upon a Masterpiece, where she tells the story behind a famous musical masterpiece, explains the meaning of the music.

In this episode Anna and I discuss:

• Looking for the gap on the shelf, for what is not there.
• The process of research and creating historical fiction that jumps off the page.
• How shifting point of view can enhance the story you are trying to tell.
• The impact of technology on music and publishing.
• Why it’s important to have a self-powered, targeted platform.

Plus, Anna’s #1 tip for writers.

Resources

Once Upon a Masterpiece

This series of picture books brings to life the stories behind famous pieces of music. I started playing the violin when I was four years old, and I love that I can share my passion of music with my kids through these stories. My four-year-old son was riveted when I read him the Haydn’s Farewell Symphony and he loved listening to a recording of the symphony afterward and identifying different parts of the music. I also learned a couple of new things about these pieces myself, even though I have listened to and loved these musical masterpieces for years.

Haydn’s Farewell Symphony and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition have been recently re-released in a new format and with great new online resources. Bach’s Goldberg Variations will be out later this year and is available for pre-order. If you decide to purchase these books, please consider doing so via the affiliate links above (where DIY MFA gets a small commission at no cost to you). Thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

About Anna Harwell Celenza

Anna Harwell Celenza is the Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music at Georgetown University and the author of several scholarly books, including Music as Cultural Mission: Explorations of Jesuit Practices in Italy and North America (2014) and Hans Christian Andersen and Music: The Nightingale Revealed (2005). Her work has also appeared in The Hopkins Review, Musical Quarterly, Nineteenth-Century Music, Notes, The Cambridge Companion to Liszt (2005), and Franz Liszt and His World (2006) and The Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington (2014).

In addition to her scholarly work, she has authored a series of award-winning children’s books with Charlesbridge Publishing: The Farewell Symphony (2000), Pictures at an Exhibition (2003), The Heroic Symphony (2004), Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2005), Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (2006), Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite (2011), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (2012), Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre (2013) and a 14-part syndicated series on Louis Armstrong for the NC Press Foundation.

Her work has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs, including NPR’s “Todd Mundt Show”, BBC’s “Music Matters” and “Proms Broadcasts”, and C-Span’s “Book-TV.” Before coming to Georgetown she served as a writer and guest commentator for Michigan Public Radio and NPR’s “Performance Today.”

To learn more about Anna Harwell Celenza and her amazing books, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

Link to Episode 90

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 90: Music and Storytelling – Interview with Anna Harwell Celenza appeared first on DIY MFA.

I learned the benefits of this technique when I was in design school studying toy design.  “Mood boards”–where we captured the mood and overall look of a design project–were an integral part of each portfolio presentation.  In these focused collages, we learned the importance of communicating the essence of a product or brand through imagery.

How do you make a mood collage?

There are no rules.  You can clip pictures from magazines or cut out letters and words in different fonts.  You don’t even need to use concrete objects or words but can make a cool background by using printed fabrics or textured papers.  Use whatever inspires you, as long as it fits the mood of your project.

Idea: Think beyond the flat page and create a three-dimensional collage by gluing down trinkets or 3D objects.  Flat canvas not your style?  Glue your collage to the outside of a round metal canister or the inside surface of shoebox.

Once you’ve collected your materials, lay out the pieces in a way that inspires you and move things around until you’ve got a design that you like.  Finally, break out the glue-stick or glue-gun and start sticking the pieces down.

Sometimes I use Photoshop to create mood collages because it’s easy to download pictures from the web, clip them compile the images in one digital file.  A bonus of making collages digitally is that it’s easy to print them out in different sizes, email them to people or even post them on websites or blogs. Other times, though, I prefer making my collages the old-fashioned way with scissors and glue.  Whatever your preferred method, the goal is the same: to capture the mood of your work-in-progress with your collage.

Here are a few mood collages I’ve made:

Mood collage for a road trip project.

Mood collage for a project about a wedding.

Mood collage for a project about cats.

Try This: Set aside one hour to make a mood collage for your work-in-progress.

Tip: The one-hour time limit is crucial.  After all, you don’t want to invest so much time making a mood collage that you sacrifice your valuable writing time.  Force yourself to work quickly so you stay within this time limit so you avoid tinkering with the collage for too long.

Clip pictures from magazines or print images you find online and cut them up.  If you like, while you’re clipping pictures and gluing, listen to some mood music that inspires your story.  The idea with this project is to get completely immersed in the mood of your work-in-progress.

Once you’ve finished your collage, give it a place of honor in your writing space.  To those brave writers among you, scan the collage and share it on the DIY MFA Facebook page so we can all ooh and ah at your awesome project!  Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

The post Set the Mood for Your Story With a Mood Collage appeared first on DIY MFA.