Courting the Muse with Unconventional means.

Trent Reznor: King of Depressing Inspiration

Every writer has types of scenes they dread writing. For some it's love scenes, others have issues with action or exposition. For me, it's the sad scenes that do me in. I will use any excuse necessary to avoid the keyboard when one of those come up. And once I do get to the document, the words crawl...and they often turn out dry and distant.

Well, this time I couldn't do it that way. My crit partners are on my butt to get my weekly quota of pages to them  AND they will have no mercy if those pages aren't up to snuff.

So I really had to dig deep and utilize some unconventional methods to get that scene out. I don't usually listen to music when I write because I prefer total silence. But this time I did. I listened to REALLY sad music. Highlights were: "The Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven, songs from the soundtrack for INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, and most of all, "Something I can Never Have" by NINE INCH NAILS.

...and it worked. The scene came alive to the music, so much that I had a giant lump in my throat the whole time writing it.

What about you? What scenes are hardest for you? What unusual (for you) tactics have you used to get them out?