I make a specific playlist for everything that I write. The type of music depends on the general mood of the story.
R&B for scenes with heavy dialogue and romance. Rap and rock for scenes involving confrontations and fights. Foreign music where I can't understand the words for everything else.
I find that if I'm listening to classical music that doesn't overly demand my attention, that it actually helps me think and sometimes it's nice when I'm writing. Most of the time I just write in silence though, because I consider music listening to be its own activity at lot of the time and it pretty much because the only thing I'm able to focus on. If I could, I'd just sit and listen to music for hours every day, without doing or thinking about anything else.
I used to write random poetry and thoughts while listening to death metal. Oh, on a side note: driving and listening to the radio can often spawn some great writing ideas in my head. I can think of three seperate times this month where I was inspired to write lots and lots just by listening to lyrics in the truck.
It has to be the right tune for me. I often choose music that fits the mood of what I'm writing, once I'm in the flow it's just background music. I also find it helps when my mind rebels and pops back out of the flow to speculate as to whether I remembered to switch the oven off...or did I flush the toilet...or what was the name of that bloke I met the other week...or doesn't Emma Watson look like Richard Dawkins. I always find that certain tunes or songs actually really move me, they are the ones I listen to while writing. The rest is just noise.
("...well, I can write within the silence if that's how it must be but, between the two, I would prefer to hear uplifting tracks that seem to mirror the topic in hand whenever I'm writing in that vane then.." mentioned the goblin who couldn't stand listening to any song that he didn't know because his mind would simply focus upon those lyrics instead, adding "...but when I'm reading I tend to read in silence though admittedly, what with this internet here, I don't have the time to read like I used to...")
If complete silence is an option I prefer that. However our household is never silent, so I have a playlist Sometimes it helps, but sometimes I find myself getting into the music instead of my work. Then I end up dancing!
Whenever I've tried doing both - reading and listening to music, or writing and listening to music - I've only been able to focus on one or the other. The music is either going to distract me from the reading/writing or the story is going to distract me from the music. However, I can knit and read at the same time quite easily. Crochet takes to much concentration, though.
I can write while listening to music, but I have the tendency to loop the same song or songs over and over. After a while, I guess music fades into background sound and isn't so important for me.
The only way I can write is when listening to music. It depends what I'm writing--usually with poetry I'll listen to rap or R&B. With normal prose I stick to indie rock or trap music, and with screenplays I always like to crank up the Do Lab tunes.
I usually listen to jazz from an internet radio station when I'm doing first drafts. It distracts some part of my mind and allows me to be creative. If I work myself into a groove, I don't even hear the music anymore. For revisions, I tend to like it quiet although I might put on some music then, too.
