Musical Murder

Who Shall I kill?

 The author of a murder mystery novel must have at least one victim. Without a victim, there can be no murder to be mysterious. So who shall I kill? The idea of a murder victim inside a prison gives mind to 3 types of people:

1.      Inmates/Prisoners

2.      Staff (Guards, admin etc...)

3.      Visitors (Officials, Relatives etc...)

Out of those three types, I found myself being drawn to the inmate. The idea of a prisoner being murdered inside their cell is more interesting and has more potential, plot-wise. At least it has to me. But, before I could do anymore to this tale, I must plan the plot. Decide on the story and what characters are going to be needed to help the story develop. Several ideas presented themselves and I decided to write a brief synopsis for each of these to see which one develops more freely.

While typing I discovered that I work well with music playing in the background. It has to be something instrumental, or orchestral. I cannot work with any songs containing lyrics. I find the lyrics interfere with my train of thought and I end up typing things out like,

‘He stood over her quivering corpse with a knife in one hand and I’m sexy and I know it.’ Amusing as it is, it doesn’t help to further the plotline. The only other problem I have with listening to music while working, is that when the music has finished, (but I am too engrossed in my own little literary world to notice) that I end up whistling the last tune I heard. Whistling isn’t a bad thing, but my whistling is. Many people have commented on my whistling being the worst in the world, the most monotonous even compared to a boiling kettle. I murder every tune I attempt.

So what do you do to help concentrate while writing? Do you listen to music? If so, then do lyrics distract you or can you continue oblivious to the words emanating from the speakers? Is it the same when you’re reading a book?

Read, Follow, Comment. See you later J

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