So You Want to Be a Writer?

Charles Bukowski once wrote in his famous poem about writing called "So You Want To Be a Writer" that:

If it doesnt come bursting out of you

in spite of everything,

don't do it.

His poem reflected on the idea of purpose. It championed passion and emotionality as the forefront of being a writer. As one of his masterpieces, it remains to be inspiration for those who cannot live without writing. But more importantly, Bukowski's poem rejects the idea of desiring to be a writer but embraces a more difficult task to accomplish: expressing inate passion. In other words, it is more important to be a writer who can ardently express themselves than a million dollar author who writes for checks. He says:

unless it comes out of

your soul like a rocket,

unless being still would

drive you to madness or

suicide or murder,

don't do it.

unless the sun inside you is

burning your gut,

don't do it.

If you're a writer and the stories in your soul don't burst from your chest at the sight of a typewriter, sheet of paper, or your laptop, then don't do it. While Bukowski satirically tears through the idea of being a writer in this poem, he highlights an important insight into being a storyteller: writer's block. Though his intentions are more focused on passion, zeal, and emotionality, Bukowski alludes to composed disdain for those who force themselves to write. In his poem, he writes:

If you have to sit for hours

staring at your computer screen

or hunched over your

typewriter

searching for words,

don't do it.

While this can be interpreted as hyperbolic, Bukowski asks only of passion. For many storytellers, passion comes swiftly when music reaches their ears. It serves as a cushion for their thoughts and a blanket to comfort their emotions. And though Bukowski would reject the idea that "writer's block" is actually a thing, music can be the saving grace for the moment you realize that your passion is still stuck at the back of your throat, attempting to burst through. So don't write if it doesn't come bursting out of you. Instead, listen to music. But don't just listen to any music. Indulge in composed instrumental music that you might find in the backdrop of a cinematic masterpiece or the songs played by talented orchestras. Listen to the strings of cellos colliding with its bow and listen to violins vibrate. Hear the deep tone, playful tune, and solemn sound of a piano. And let your ears consume the intoxicating emotionality that composed music can bring to anyone.

"SIT AT YOUR TYPEWRITER & BLEED" PLAYLIST

Ernest Hemingway once said: "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

Writer's block is a common occurrence. It has plagued many writers before and it will plague future writers as well. Ernest Hemingway claims that it is easy to write. You just have to be vulnerable. Charles Bukowski says writer's block is easy to overcome. If you have it, just move along to something else. To find inspiration, creativity, and peace, music is the "something else" an artist should turn to. Writer's block is just another thing a writer has to go through. But that doesn't mean music cannot aid in easing the way to creativity.

This is a comprehensive playlist that aids in opening up my passion when the doors to my creativity have closed. If you need a playlist to help you work through your writer's block and find peace, then take a look at these composed pieces of music.

Track 1

On the Nature of Daylight - Max Richter

Max Richter is arguably one of the most talented contemporary classical composers in the game. His work is known for being post-minimalistic, and a lot of his work can be found in great cinematic pieces. For instance, "On the Nature of Daylight" has been widely used in film but most notably used in Shutter Island and Arrival. The music works slowly and solemnly. Listening to the composed music feels like a wave has washed over you. It erupts peace from your soul so much so that finding inspiration to write becomes less cumbersome than the days you sat at your computer for hours, waiting for something to come to you. Don't wait! Listen to Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight." It will be sure to push your passion from the dark reaches of your soul onto the paper.

Track 2

Comptine d'un autre été, L'après-midi - Yann Tiersen

This Tiersen song has been made famous by a beloved french film called Amelie. But Yann Tiersen has composed music far before the film was released. His talent can be seen as unmatched in the art of composing and writing music. The french musician crafted this melodic piece for the piano and its strength is found in the way you interpret the peaceful tune. As the song plays, you can feel the passion escape his fingers. You can feel his ardent love for the black and white keys. But more importantly, you can feel the sensibility of passion that his composed song elicits. Play this song when you're working on a sullen poem, prose, or an emotional essay. It will inspire the hidden mysterious in the archives of your soul to come bursting through.

Track 3

Song for Bob - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Though this duo needs no introduction, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have composed so much peace-inducing music for various cinematic films. The Australian artists are also writers and musicians for their own band. But their efforts for the motion picture, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is among their most beloved work. While the strings of the orchestra collide, creating a silent but strong stir of emotions, the melody reincarnates a feeling of longing and nostalgia. Listening to the song, it almost feels like walking through an open field while the grass caresses the sides of your thighs and grabs hold of your wrists. Utilize this beautifully composed song upon the instant of writer's block. It can be perfectly paired for pieces that need that slow burn until it builds to a climactic end.

Track 4

Wake Up - Evgeny Grinko

The Russian musician, Evgeny Grinko has composed so many great pieces of music. This specific piece can be helpful to work through long prose. There were many times where I needed to write a few pages but lacked consistent inspiration. This song filled the edges of my room while I hunched over my laptop to spit out a few thousand words. Its deep melody, solemn tune, and the tap of each note from the piano serviced me greatly. It added to my emotionality because it silently swells in you. The music sneaks up on you as something deeply emotional and peaceful. Tune your radio (so to speak) to this song when you're trying to maximize your focus on that long essay, poem, and whatnot.

Track 5

Piano Trio No. 2 in E-Flat Major, D. 929: II. Andante con moto - Franz Schubert (Beaux Arts Trio)

Franz Schubert was a well known Austrian composer of the early Romantic era. As a master composer, Schubert has left many pieces, symphonies, and operas after his death in the 1800's. Even today, much of his work is celebrated and utilized in film and other work. This piece crafted for the piano, cello, and violin is a lively tune. But it slowly builds to it. At first, the piano leads the orchestra with a sonata form. But then the violins take over. Soon, the song explodes in a lively but endearing rhythm and melody. I've often found myself listening to it when writing comedic pieces. It is not a silly tune nor an unserious composed piece, but it can breathe life into your passion. And the lively passion that is elicited from this piece can break anyone's troubling anxiousness that blocks them from creating up-beat pieces of prose.

Track 6

Spiegal im Spiegel - Arvo Part (Tasmin Little & Martin Roscoe)

The Estonian classical and religious artist, Arvo Part has been celebrated as the world's greatest living composer. He began attending music school at the age of seven. As a teenager, he had already begun composing music. He has often described his work as minimalistic. This comes as no surprise upon hearing his famous piece, "Spiegal im Spiegal" (meaning: Mirrors in the mirror). With only a violin and piano, the song alludes to a sense of peace. It also embraces a hypnotic melody. To be honest, I think of this song as something you'd find upon entering the pearly gates of heaven. It is the defining artwork of spiritual peace. Most often, I find that this song helps express spirituality on paper. You don't have to search for spirituality for this song to work for you though. It is also meditative. If you're tired of writing and you need a second of peace to help gear you up for more troublesome nights of scribbling on paper, then Arvo Part's spiritual but minimalistic song can assist in finding your peace so that you can finally write.

Track 7

All Things Beautiful - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Can you tell that I'm a huge fan of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' work? Well coming in at track 7 is another song composed by the iconic duo. This song was initially composed for a film. But I often utilize it as the piece to help me write something terrifyingly vulnerable. The melodic mix of the piano and strings are enough to stir emotion in anyone. But the composed music makes me feel as though the clouds of my mind are opening up. If I could guess what vulnerability looks like (if music and words could materialize), then I'd guess it would look like this song. It doesn't just make you want to bawl alone in your room. It also makes you want to grab the nearest person to remind them that: yes, all things can be beautiful.

Track 8

My Misty Morning - Fabrizio Paterlini

It is easy to get caught up in the emotions of a song through the vocalist's great set of pipes or even the lyrics. But it is also easy to feel emotional by simply listening to the composed music of a song or the instrumental version. With Fabrizio Paterlini's "My Misty Mornings," it's easy to become swept into the waves of the piano's melody. It's uplifting, stirring, and daunting. As I'm writing, this song often helps me to unravel stories that include a twist, mystery, or crime. Somehow the music helps me express my own emotionality on paper where I am able to build worlds, moods, and moments by honing in on the sweet melody. It is not an easy task to be a writer. Most often, writing is the hardest thing writers will do in their lifetime. That is, expressing vulnerability. With songs such as this, it makes the pain of letting go of your trauma easy. But more importantly, it allows you to feel your passion turn in your gut. Music is the be-all and end-all of being an artist in any subset of the lifestyle.

Music is the literature of the heart; It commences where speech ends.

- Alphonse de Lamartine

While music is certainly literature, it is also something that can conjure a mysterious passion that lies deep in the caves of your soul. It services each person differently but appropriately. So if you want to be a writer, music is the means to help you escape writer's block and lift your spirit from a creative stupor. It isn't enough to want to be a writer. It isn't enough to force yourself to sit and write. It must live in your veins. Bukowski once wrote:

when it is truly time,

and if you have been chosen,

it will do it by

itself and it will keep on doing it

until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

There is no other way. You must write within flashes of passion. And with the marriage of music and passion, you'll unmask the stories hidden in your soul and find peace.

And with peace, then the words will arise unasked.

But it must be because you cannot live without stories, music, and passion.

__

As always, thank you for reading! Any and all tips are extremely and deeply appreciated. Happy writing <3