Last week I wrote a blogpost that highlighted several Spotify playlists that could serve as the soundtrack to your writing. I thought I’d continue with that theme this week and share some Spotify features that often go unnoticed. Little does the everyday Spotify user know, but this online music player also contains several playlists and categories that can be added to the writer’s toolbox. If you’re like me, then you love audiobooks. These Spotify playlists have all the benefits of audiobooks with the addition advantages of Spotify: they’re free, there’s more variety and the service is completely portable, so you can take your favorite writers with you on-the-go. You can download Spotify for free onto your phone, computer, tablet or other mobile device. One playlist that will certainly come in handy is Spotify’s How to Write.... Here listeners will find advice on writing everything from academic essays to poetry. The speakers also cover topics essential to any author’s career, such as the editor-author partnership, overcoming writer’s block and how to find inspiration. And just in time for NaNoWriMo, the playlist features several discussions on how to write the novel. Modern Poetry: On this playlist users will find over 150 selections of modern poetry, read by the authors themselves. Find inspiration from authors such as Edna St. Vincent Millay, E.E. Cummings and Ezra Pound. Short Stories: This collection of classic short stories by authors such as James Joyce and David Moore is sure to provide a much-needed creative boost, as well as a valuable lesson on craft. The Essential Edgar Allen Poe is composed of over 15 hours of mystery and macabre. This eerie collection caters to anyone interested in the literary gothic, the American Romantics and the everyday Poe aficionado. The Beats: Surround yourself in the surreal sounds of America’s anti-conformist movement spoken by the Beat Generation writers: Alan Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs and Peter Orlovsky. The Beats’ art has caused much debate and discussion since its emergence in the 1950s. Join the discussion after listening to this playlist. Slow down and listen to The Poetry of Sylvia Plath, another free, handcrafted playlist for the writing community by Spotify. This playlist is best played while on a hike through the woods or sitting inside on a rainy day. It is Sylvia Plath, after all. The Robert Frost Reading Room playlist is a true hidden gem within Spotify's servers. In this playlist, readers can enjoy over two hours of American poet Robert Frost’s poetry read by both Robert Frost and his daughter, Lesley Frost. Editor's Choice: Fiction Speaking of eBooks, here you can listen to novels, short stories, plays and more. Among this list users can listen to Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, just to name a few. Just as a heads up, Hugh Laurie does, in fact, read one of the stories on this list, and it’s wonderful. Editor's Choice: Nonfiction: If you love nonfiction but oftentimes don’t know where to look among the cluttered bookshelves, competing literary magazines and websites, then this playlist is for you. The Editor’s Choice provides a “fresh and varied selection of nonfiction” that is updated weekly. This week’s featured authors are Noam Chomsky and Joseph Campbell, with a dash of Margaret Mead. It may only be November 3rd, but NaNoWriMo is already in high gear. Interactive writing tools are the writer’s (sometimes only) friend during this demanding time. While the majority of writers shut themselves off from society for the next 27 days, I’ll be here to provide writing tips and tools to help improve your writing.
Happy listening!
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Alyssa ShainaWriter, reader, believer. Archives
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