Click!

That's the sound of a lightbulb snapping on. You know...when someone finally "gets it"?

Well, I finally got it. Not that I'd really lost it, mind you. It's just that I had let it slip into some deep, dark corner of my mind and forgotten how desperately I need it.

The "it" I'm referring to is music.

Music has alway been there for me. During happy times, it inhanced the joy of the moment. When I was sad and felt that I was sinking into a deep abyss, it somehow pulled me up and kept me afloat.

Music is my muse. I didn't know it then. I do now.

I remember writing my first screenplay. I got some of the best work done [even if not on paper] during my half-hour commute to/from work each day all the while listening to the same exact piece of music from Sting. By the time I had completed that screenplay, you could actually see how worn the CD was from playing that one song so many times.

It seems that [for me] finding just the right piece of music is essential to writing. If I'm writing a tender moment, I will - most likely - choose something by John Barry. If there's a chase scene, Hans Zimmer currently has some great orchestrations I really like.

I've had a hard time writing anything for a while now, and it just dawned on me that all during this "blank" time, I haven't really listened to music. Sure, I listen to the radio while in the car. I'll also pop in a CD, just to drown out the outside world, but I haven't truly LISTENED to my music. But, a few days ago I finally made the connection:

It's a simple formula really; Music + Writing = Success.

So, what's your muse?