A Word On My Song

I write. Frequently. It’s what I do.

A few years ago, I was having a minor identity crisis, trying to henpeck myself into one category or the other: Actor, or Writer. A friend of mine, Malinda, posed the question:

“Which do you do every day?”

That shut me up. As much devotion and energy as I put into my acting and otherwise performing, there are weeks and months that go by between performances, or rehearsals. I write daily, if not almost daily.

Sometimes it’s something short, frequently its in effort to add to something bigger…

When I write, I always put on one piece of music: Danse Macabre, by Camille Saint-Saëns. I love this piece. I love it.

It’s relatively short (barely seven minutes), and goes on repeat play seamlessly, as its beginning and finish are both practically silent. It makes my ‘rhythm’ that much easier to find, and fall into. Not a literal typing pattern, but a great cadence across the keys nonetheless.

In a given day at the keys I will listen to it dozens of times. It fills the background silence, until I hardly notice it at all. If I stop typing, it’s there again.

OH: I’d be remiss if I failed to mention where I heard it for the first time: Appropriately, it was used in an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. In Hush, the entire town had lost their ability to speak; and data-monger Giles had found some, well, data on the problem. He made a presentation of it on a projector, and used Danse Macabre as very appropriate background music.

It was love at first sound.

I think it’s an absolutely beautiful piece of music; and I have yet to get tired of it. So there’s that little piece of information for you.