P is for Playlists

When I was a teenager we called play lists, mix tapes. We created these tapes by waiting by the radio for the song we wanted to record to come on, hoping to recognize it from the first few seconds that came through the speaker of our boom box. Our fingers hovering over the record button just waiting for the right moment.

Once we had created the perfect mix, we would play it over and over until the tape broke or wore out. And we had to create a new one. Later it became recording from CDs, then to MP3 players, to iPods, and now we create playlists on Spotify and Pandora.

Playlists are the musical soundtrack to our lives and are a great way to inspire writing. Writing romance? Create a playlist with crooners such as Michael Buble, Barry White, or Celine Deon. Writing a western? How about some good ole honky tonk Waylon Jennings or Loretta Lynn.

My current playlist should really include Christmas music (but my family would probably think I was torturing them since we are praying for warmer weather after a long rainy PNW winter). Instead I listen to some of my favorite country music everything from Garth Brooks to Florida Georgia Line to Rascal Flatts.

What’s on your current playlist?