Music does, however, play a large part in my working process: I use it to reach the point of starting, to attain that frame of mind where fiction happens. In the moments before I begin to work, I will turn on a painstakingly selected playlist of songs. They will all have a link to the novel in some way or another: a line might suggest a character, the sentiment of a chorus might bring to mind a scene or, if I’m writing historically, the music will help establish the period. They will all be so familiar as to be almost white noise. As soon as the writing comes, I turn off the music and put in my earplugs.
These were some of the songs I listened to while writing Instructions for a Heatwave:
Moses – Elizabeth Fraser
This Time Tomorrow – The Kinks
And She Was – Talking Heads
Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush
It Ain’t Me Babe – Bob Dylan
Life In a Glass House – Radiohead
I Put a Spell on You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon
Save Me – Aimee Mann
