TEDx

Writing Fuel: 13 Songs to Get Your Words to the Weekend

Does anyone else feel like they’ve had four Mondays instead of the normal Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday routine?

Well, it’s Friday afternoon, so we all deserve something fun to take the edge off.

Here are 13 shots of inspirational adrenaline from the Writer’s Bone team:

Sean: Any time I get tired and don't think I can type another word or send another email I blast this song and it gets me back in to the Writer's Bone groove.

Daniel: My writer switch turns on whenever I hear this song or watch Jed Bartlet march out of the White House with his staff to deliver a nuanced “Fuck you, I’m running” to an awaiting press corps. I get chills whenever I hear John Spencer’s Leo McGarry utter, “Watch this.”

Emili Vesilind (Editor-in-chief for Washington Flyer, badass writer, once wrote about Nirvana’s influence on fashion):  I listen to this when I really need to focus. But I like electro-y stuff!

Sean: If it's good enough for the Boston Bruins to get pumped to it's good enough for you!

Lindsey Wojcik (Associate editor at Pet Business, city dweller, former barista, and future Writer’s Bone contributor): This the first song on a playlist I compiled inspired by songs I heard every single day when I worked at Starbucks. Music like this was an escape for me in a very stressful work environment. When I hear the first chords of this song, and the songs that follow on the playlist, it's soothing in that same way. I can focus on what I want to write about and my mind starts going.

Daniel: Ask anyone who used to work at JCK magazine and they’ll tell you I needed just a small cup of coffee from Pret a Manger and this song dialed up to full blast in order to fully embody my web editor persona.

Dave Pezza (Providence College grad, writer, future Writer’s Bone contributor): Usually it’s a White Stripes song, for example “Take Take Take” off of their fifth album “Get Behind Me Satan.”  The bluesy tempo keeps me creatively on point. I get easily distracted and tired mentally without a rhythm. Secondly, Jack White always hits home, making me either pissed off or horribly depressed.  And emotion is the only substance that can make me not produce absolute shit.

Sean: AC/DC is pure and simple rock! Their power rifts get you pumped for any activity: writing, driving, walking your dog! 

Hailey Reissman (Blogger for TEDx, literary genius, Daniel’s debate foil): This is just a jam. It goes through so many phases.

Matt DiVenere (Once coached by Daniel in Little League, sports writer, future Writer’s Bone contributor): When I had a paper route as a kid, my dad would help me deliver the paper if it rained or snowed. He would only play Billy Joel's greatest hits and somehow “Movin’ Out” was always on. The song helps me write because it’s an easy song to have in the background. You can both listen to it and kind of not listen to it, but still know when to blurt out "IIIIIIII'm movin' out."

Daniel: I am going to catch all kinds of abuse for choosing this one, but I don’t care. The musical episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was a great hour of television then and now, and “I Want the Fire Back” spoke to a bunch of crap that was going on in my life when I first heard it. #fuckthehaters

Sean: The bass line in this tune is foot-tapping good and is backed by some great vocals. It gets you pumped for some afternoon writing.

Writer's Bone: Okay, this isn't a song, but every week should end with Elmore.