Meet My Muse

Lindsey Stirling

The Violin Valkyrie

So I believe in Muses, it helps me disconnect my feelings of writers' block, inspiration, and fears of inadequacies, from myself. It may sound silly but there is value in it. It becomes easier to blame them than to beat yourself up.  It's a way of reminding yourself that Yes, you are a good writer, you're just in a tough spot right now. You will get through this as soon as your muse stops being an ass. Which is a small joy, but a necessary one for us.

This video from Eat, Pray, Love's Elizabeth Gilbert about Tom Wait's relationship with inspiration, and about having a genius (as opposed to being a genius) makes total sense to me. It gave me courage. Check it out! 

So that being said I wanted to introduce you to my genius, my inspiration, my muse.

A little history: Lindsey Stirling was first seen on America's Got Talent, yet she got a less than spectacular review, and of course- didn't win. The judges didn't appreciate her thing, which was to incorporate dance into her set. They told her that it wasn't good, it didn't fit, and it would only make her violining harder. 

She gave no fucks and kept on doing it. Not too long after that she put out an album which was an instant hit. She began touring around the world, entertaining millions! Though it seems that she is more appreciated abroad since most of her shows were outside America. Probably because America didn't think she had talent.

The best way I can describe her music is Violin Electronica. Many people say it is Dubstep, but in truth that plays such a minimal part of her music that I don't think it even fits. Only a handful of songs include lyrics, (and they are awesome too) but mainly she is instrumental only.

Which makes a perfect soundtrack for writing. Music without lyrics actually improve concentration while writing. There are actual scientific studies to back this up. THIS study is helpful but extremely long winded. So for clarity here is just the conclusion: 

Using pleasant and arousing vocal and instrumental background music we found no strong influence of background music on verbal learning. We suggest that the participants are easily able to cope with this background stimulation by ignoring this information channel in order to focus on the verbal learning task.

 Her music allows for a distraction-free writing environment while keeping our minds from wandering. It is sweet and pleasant, or sometimes gritty and edgy; but still it offers the benefits of classical music without the lack of novelty. Classical is great, but if you're writing a contemporary story about super-powered teenagers fighting to stop darkness from overcoming the world, or a feudal dystopia on the brink of social revolution, maybe Ode to Joy isn't the ideal candidate... #justsayin

The other thing that I love about her is that each of her songs are unique, each of them have their own story arc, and listening to them can inspire different feelings in me. If I'm writing something dark I'll listen to Moon Trance, if I'm writing a conflict between characters I'll listen to Roundtable Rival, and if I'm writing something beautiful I'll listen to Elements; all of these tracks and more can elicit specific emotions in me and help to translate them into my work.

And lastly, like I mentioned before, her music has arcs similar to a story. It's blatantly obvious in her music videos since each one tells its own tale. There's exposition, there's conflict, there's climaxes, and resolutions. Every one of her videos is like a little piece of her universe. That and each one is visually outstanding. She partners with talented filmmakers, special effects artists, and choreographers. That make her stand out from practically every other music video in the genre (if not any genre). Check out this video, Shatter Me for a perfect example of what I mean.

So that's all I've got. She is my muse, and I think she can by yours as well. If you want to just dive right into her world check out the video above (or if you want to open it in a new page and get to work click here) for a TWO AND A HALF HOURS of  Stirling greatness!