Shelly’s “It’s All About the Feelings” Playlists

It’s music week at the Ball! We’re all talking about the music that we listen to while we write and edit. I’ve been reading all the other Debs posts this week and thinking to myself, “I’m really out of it. I don’t think I’ve even heard of most of these songs. When did I get so uncool?”

I have to admit that I don’t listen to songs while I write. Instrumental music is much better for me. When I’m writing something new, it’s always Mozart. If listening to a musical genius makes babies smarter, it’s bound to help me. When I’m editing, it’s jazz: John Coltrane, Maynard Ferguson, Wynton Marsalis, Stan Getz, Thelonius Monk.

But I also LOVE movie scores. I always have, even as a kid. I have playlists of them for different types of emotions I’m trying to tap into. A movie score is designed to enhance the emotion of a scene, so listening to these scores is a shortcut for me to get into the emotional setting of what I’m writing. I have a different playlist for each type of emotion. So that’s what I’m going to share with you now. Here’s some samples from my movie score playlists.

Loneliness:
Outside Looking In (Carrington)
Mirabelle’s Story (Shopgirl)

Urgency:
Morning Passages (The Hours)
Sayuri’s Theme (Memoirs of a Geisha)

Confrontation:
The Battle (Gladiator)

Fun:
Theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Buckbeak’s Flight (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Sad:
“Why Does Someone Have to Die?” (The Hours)
Death of Falstaff (Henry V)

Romance:
Wish I Would See You Again (The Illusionist)
Your Hands Are Cold (Pride & Prejudice)
In Viola’s Room (Shakespeare In Love)

Bittersweet:
The Hours (The Hours)
The End (Shakespeare In Love)
Liz On Top of the World (Pride & Prejudice)