Are You a Mood Writer?
And Can "Romancing Your Writing Help Set Your Tone?"
On the debut episode of The Unfocused Writer—my podcast with creative partner Christopher Robin—we touched upon mood writing. I admitted that I was a mood writer for a long time.
When writing my memoirs, I always had to set the mood. With the idea in my head, I’d begin framing my canvas. Sometimes I’d light a candle and pour a glass of wine. I’d carefully curate a song or sometimes more that made me think of the event, which I’d play on a loop throughout the course of writing my piece.
I don’t do this so much anymore and my question to myself is, although listening to music can be helpful in creating inspiration and I tout this often to others as an excellent means of finding that full body in a story, is “setting the mood” truly helpful in setting the tone or is it a crutch?
Setting the Tone: The Negative
I can’t say for sure why I stopped mood-writing so much. Every now and then if I feel the need, I will put on background music, but now that I don’t drink, I have to wonder if my “mood writing” actually had less to do with writing and more to do with setting the tone for my drinking.
I’m just being honest.
I’ve always had fun with my writing and I’ve always loved it, but as a drinker, creating the mood by putting makeup on, doing my hair and setting the space with my laptop and romancing myself with my wine seemed par for the course. And when I look back at that writing when I “set the tone?” It was not that great.
But there were variables there. I was much younger. I was going through things.
Today, as a much older and wiser woman, I find myself writing with messy unwashed hair most the time, lying in an unmade bed surrounded by chaos. I usually don’t listen to music or set the tone anymore.
Sometimes I do. Sometimes I’ll do my hair and makeup and put on a pretty robe. And sometimes I’ll listen to music. I’m listening to The Avett Brothers right now as I write. I look like crap and truth be told, I haven’t brushed my teeth or hair—but my writing today is a lot better than when it was back in the day when I was a mood writer.
Is it age or the mood? Both?
Setting the Tone: The Positive
I still believe setting the mood is a positive and helpful tool in strengthening your voice as a memoir writer.
Setting the mood for me just got complicated with drinking, depression, and the other variables in my life that I’m still working through. Romancing my writing when I’m sinking my teeth into a memoir is something I still think is valuable…and fun. It makes the process truly come to life, and there’s just something about bringing memories back to life, seeing them standing vividly before me.
When I give advice to memoir writers to seek out music and photographs and any memorabilia that can bring them back to that place and time they’re writing about, I mean it. I think you can visit your memories just the same without these tools, but there’s just something inate about visiting your memories by romancing yourself with as many elements from that time as you can possibly conjure.
Give it a try some time.
Writers, what do you think? What is your experience with mood writing?
XO-Ki
I usually say I need to be "in a mood" to write. Except it's not really true. I write whether I have background music on or not. I don't drink much alcohol, so that doesn't apply in my case.
I write because I feel compelled. DRIVEN. I need to write. I miss it when I don't.
I loved your essay.
Hello, Kiki! I love writing with a glass of Cabernet and music set to the same time period as the piece that I am writing on. It does seem to come to life that way and is much more fun!
I agree with you on the quality of writing however, under the spell of wine and nostalgia. It is not always that great, when I read it back the next day for editing. I am trying to let go of the wine part, but that's not as fun.