I’m not sure what other authors do to get in the mood to write, but for me watching action movies and listening to metal or rock on my iPod does it every time. Once I get into the novel, I then usually dream the scenes.  But to get to the dreaming-the-book phase, I need visual stimulus.

I write romantic suspense, but you could also call them romantic thrillers.  I watch action movies for pacing.  The three-act structure of movies (and plays) fits my writing style.  I write tight.  My scenes move quickly from one to the other and my plots are action-roller-coasters.

Once I have the plot down, then I go back and texturize, as I call it, and add descriptive narrative, embellish characterization, and fully flesh out the romance arc of the novels.  This is when the music comes into play.  I have a list on my iPod that I call Writing Songs.   The list is heavily slanted to metal and alternative rock.

Action movies that help me get my writing moving:

Speed, Broken Arrow, all the Die Hards, The Rock, the Mummy movies, I and II only, any Jason Statham movie, the Indiana Jones movies.

Songs I play while I revise, rewrite and add layers:

Metallica, Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Saving Abel, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Puddle of Mud, 9-Inch Nails, Daughtry, Buckcherry, Cavo, Chevelle, Disturbed, Framing Hanley, Halestorm, Hurt, Kings of Leon, Linkin Park, Shinedown, Staind, U2, Within Temptation, 3 Doors Down

So what do you do to jumpstart your writing?