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What music (if any) do you listen to when writing?
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message 151:
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Arthur
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Jan 11, 2018 06:50PM
Tom waits. My new book is ending up being so damn depressing
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I have a couple Spotify lists to go along with the mood and whatever I'm trying to write. One is primarily instrumentals, like Secret Garden or Benn Jordan and others. The second list looks like a tornado ran through a 90's music store, then threw in a dozen country songs, a dose of inspirational and a bit of Lindsey Stirling for the heck of it. It's quite the eclectic mix, but keeps me going!
It varies per chapter. Lately, Josh Garrels has been a great fit.
Lately, I jam out to 80's love songs to help spark my creativity.
Obviously it varies by what's going on in the book, but if I use a specific piece to create a mood while writing, I'll use the same piece while editing that scene too. I find instrumental music works best, and due to the creepy nature of a lot of scenes I write, I spend more time listening to creepy music than most people probably do.
It varies. I've got a couple Pandora stations, that I rock out to. Mostly '80s and '90s stuff.
Unfortunately, music has too many associations to life events and people, so listening to it while trying to write would be like inviting a party into my head as I try to visit quietly with old friends!
Chris wrote: "Obviously it varies by what's going on in the book, but if I use a specific piece to create a mood while writing, I'll use the same piece while editing that scene too. I find instrumental music wor..."I don't know, I listen to some pretty creepy music. I've written 3 vampire novels. :-)
Rachael wrote: "I've put together albums for each of my books, storing them on my IPhone. It really helps me get into the right frame of mind..."I do this too! Great way to build atmosphere.
I don't always listen to music while I write, but if I do, it must not have any intelligible words. Foreign language is OK since I won't understand it. Last thing I want is someone else's catchy verse "sticking in my head." Writing horror, or something with horror in it? Carmina Burana is great.
I listen to instrumental fantasy music, movie and game soundtracks, Celtic and Scandinavian folk, etc. They greatly help me to get inspired ^^
J.N. wrote: "I don't always listen to music while I write, but if I do, it must not have any intelligible words. Foreign language is OK since I won't understand it. Last thing I want is someone else's catchy ve..."In the novel I'm currently working on, one of my characters has "O Fortuna" as the ringtone on her phone! LOL
I listen to Green Day or other rock music :)
G.G. wrote: "Complete silence for me. I love music too much. If I'd play some, I wouldn't get anything done. :p"
Same here! I want to listen =)
When I'm writing fiction, no music. When I need to get in the mood (aka stop procrastinating) with my non-fiction writing I pop in the Beatles' Help!
I love listening to old school R&B to get into the mood. When I'm deep into it, classical music to keep me focused. When classical won't do, instrumental jazz.
Mostly white noise like the sounds of a river or something like that. Sometimes the ocean.
Anything upbeat to get the adrenaline flowing, as long as there are no lyrics or the lyrics are so banal I can shut them out.
Usually a song I know well enough to block out the lyrics to with an even beat. Never had any luck listening to new music, I end up distracted.
Usually I find a few songs that somehow resonate with the themes of a story or a character or a scene when I'm still in the drafting/planning stage and that sticks for the whole time I'm writing. I love listening to the lyrics, I take them for inspiration. Maybe that works for me because I prefer artists who sing softly and I don't go for really busy, upbeat songs.
For the most time I prefer silence, however sometimes classical music does help me (preferably Mozart).
Mod
Instrumentals, absolutely. Unless I am just working on a character in general. Then I ask hubby for reccomendations. He's like having a personal dj who knows what my vague descriptions of mood mean...
Silence possesses a beautiful melody.
I have created "soundtracks" for my books since I started writing about 30 years ago. Back then, it was a "mixed tape" with the music in an order I felt best told the story (kind of like an opera or overture). These days, I use playlists on my cell phone, and I will loop one song over and over if I'm working on that particular theme and need to keep my mind in that particular mood.The way I pick my music, certain songs are themes for characters, while others are used to almost "choreograph" action sequences. Usually, there are one or two main songs and a contingent of lesser songs that "flesh out" my soundtrack. Sometimes, though, I only had one main song that I would listen to at the beginning of each writing segment.
For example, I used Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet overture as the main inspirational theme for The Lucky and the Strong. The woodwinds represent Mary, the brass represents Renaud. I would listen to the stronger movements over and over again while writing some of the action sequences (a certain chase scene, in particular) and I would play the softer moments while writing the dialogue and the more romantic moments.
In Dungeon of Illusion, I knew I wanted "Komodo Joe" as a main character, but I had absolutely no idea what his personality or abilities would be until I heard Skrillex. Joe's character is almost entirely based on what I envisioned while listening to "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" as well as "Rock and Roll". A kind of child-like sweetness combined with a cyborg-like dub-step.
The inspiration for Men of Renown came from an old Michelle Tumes song, "One and Only", that I listened to while trying to research Nephilim. As I read Genesis 6:4 ("they were the heroes of old, men of renown") that song made me envision a kind of D&D world of swords and sorcery where mighty warriors with flaming swords fought prehistoric monsters and dragons. The album had a couple other songs that worked to help me flesh-out the soundtrack and the feel I wanted for world I was writing about.
I am currently working on a "paranormal romance/thriller" based largely on an older song by Skillet, "Whispers in the Dark." For some reason, that old album conjures up visuals of Gothic cathedrals, crypts, and old castles, which is largely the setting I am writing in.
*As a side note, I should point out the irony I find in this thread, since I brought this up about 15 years ago while trying to present one of my older works to mainstream publishers on the eve of the e-publishing paradigm. I suggested presenting a "soundtrack" or even a single song as part of the finished, e-publishing product, and the response I received was entirely negative. One publisher argued that each reader has the right to choose what they think their own soundtrack should be while reading a book. Considering how I still, to this day, associate certain songs with books I read as a child, I have to say, they may be right. At the same time, it takes a lot more concentration and effort to write a book than it does to read it. Who is to say the writer's soundtrack isn't the better one?
I don't listen to any music when I'm writing and if there is any sound around I mentally block it out. My writing mentor used to play opera.
Hi. Not necessarily AS I am writing, but definitely inspired by music. I could not write without music, and the music I listen to various enormously. Depending on what I'm writing about. Rock on!
I listen to Swing on my tv on Infinity, mostly for editing.If I'm being really creative, classical.
It depends on what mood I'd like to be in. When I'm writing (as in the writing stage, and not editing or anything that requires that side of the brain), I usually have something in the background. I also do this sometimes during the plotting stage. Good stuff. :)
None. I can't write with music on. I start writing the lyrics instead, and if it's something that has no lyrics, I start creating them and then writing them down.
I usually listen to Vocaloid, french pop music, or classical piano music when I write.
Pretty eclectic. I've got a bunch of Pandora playlists; 80s, party rock, old school hip hop, skrillex, Sometimes classical. Anything really as long as it's some 'noise' to fill the house.
I listen a lot of music when I work, whether it be writing or other types of work. My preference go to hindie musicians: Miracle of Sound, Brunuhville, Sharm, Adrian von Ziegler... I think I enjoy instrumental music the most.
I have atmospheric music, and it usually comes from artists/composers I like, or discover. My recent book was classically driven (Elgar, Mozart) and with a lot of Muse inspiration. My fantasy books are usually Sarah McLachlan or similar. Interestingly I write a whole scene once that not long after I found a Sarah McLachlan song that was a perfect fit. Something seeped in along the way, clearly... The historical WIP I have is Mediaeval Baebes/early music backed. This 80s/00s WIP I have is Britpop soundtracked! I edit better with classical, and write better with sung usually. It helps me get the tone.
Sometimes... good r&b music or instrumentals, some young jeezy, rick ross, some rock...whatever fit the mood..
Sometimes, I get a little old Motown going, mostly when I'm writing scenes where I'm looking to create some emotional punch. Other times I just pour a few fingers of Jim beam over ice and sip on that.
When I'm writing, it has to be quiet, with no one around.
