I try to find a different song for each new story to embody the mood and themes. A few I've used for completed stories: Blue Buy Me a Rose Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Master of Your Fate Poor Unfortunate Souls There are a lot more I want to use but haven't found the right place for yet, like Adrenaline or Welcome to the Family. Edit: I should note that my most recent unfinished project is based around Come a Little Closer.
I think latent learning occurs with music. I do not really look for music. I turn it on. Whatever is on whatever station, or seems interesting on Youtube, etc, that is what grabs me. In other words, "That which interests me interests me." But my interest level waxes and wanes. I like songs by the guy who does Inception soundtrack, especially for profound reflection. I do like other specifics, but those are for another day. Most of the time, though, I just accept the radio station playing.
I can't write without music - it helps distract part of my brain and lets the creativity flow forth. Normally, I just listen to internet radio (metal, rock, some alternative), but if I can't anything good or really need to get into the mood, I'll throw on some Opeth (my go-to), Lacuna Coil, Ra, Sevendust, or something similar. SYL is good, too.
I try to find God Is An Astronaut music to get myself settled in, or rummage around in indie albums, or even obscure music genres like this (seriously, what). But finding a music that fits your mood can often be found on Spotify or Youtube playlists and have proved super helpful for focusing on a certain section in a novel or article.
I think music and writing go hand in hand in some ways as they are both forms of art. You would think that music might be a distraction and writing in complete silence would allow your brain the freedom to "Speak" to you, but Its the opposite with me, a smooth jazz or RnB helps me really write my best work. I've never tried but I wonder if heavy metal or something loud like rap would wind up being a distraction when trying to focus on a novel or poem that's more reserved in nature. I guess it would be up to the author whether or not he or she could stay detached from the music and write without letting its nature spill over into their work. Chaotic music could serve for a chaotic novel otherwise..
When I was coming up with the vigilante serial killer villain protagonist for my Doctor Who fanfiction, I tended to listen to songs from Within Temptation's The Unforgiving - an album about a cult of undead vigilante serial killers - to get a better feel for how my VP looked at the world around her (and at the evil people in it) : *A Demon's Fate *Faster *Murder *Sinéad When actually writing, I never listen to anything with lyrics (at least not in English), but for this specific character, I tried to look for motifs that put me in mind of a villain who goes on murderous rampages because she is just so excited by the adrenaline of engaging in epic battles against her enemies (although some of these could also be interpreted as heroic motifs, which fits with my character being convinced - beyond any shadow of a doubt - that she is a superhero instead of a supervillain) : *The Dark and Endless Dalek Night *Victory of the Daleks *Hello Zepp *Asturias (Leyenda) as re-composed for the horror movie Mirrors *somewhat more surprisingly, the expanded opening themes to NCIS, Sleepy Hollow, and Elementary *and I most recently added Ride of the Valkyries
Yes yes yes! I totally do this. The kind of music I listen to depends on the project. I like metal, especially melodic death metal, when I'm working on something futuristic or dystopian - Blood Stain Child is one of my favorite artists for these moments. I'm also working on a kind of coming of age story with some teenagers forming a band in the 80s and for that inspiration my go-to music is always hair metal or old school Japanese visual rock. Folk metal is my go-to for fantasy stories. The only thing is I don't listen to the music when actually doing the writing itself because that's too distracting - usually I have it on in the background while I'm brainstorming.
Back in HS I wrote like an entire fanfic to Ellie Goulding's Halcyon Album Recently though, I've been writing the first chapter to Zayn's Drunk The Prologue was True Colours from Dark Souls three And Chapter 2 doesn't have one yet lol
I personally find listening to music too distracting for me while i'm writing. Although listening to music does sometime help me with ideas for my stories. I actually find listening to "white noise" background sounds helps me focus. Partocularly when the sound is related to what im writing. My latest story takes place on mars, so i listen to sand storms, for example.
Lately, I've been writing the rough about an epic story in ancient China, with hints of fantasy. For this story I listen to ethnic music, played mostly by natural instruments but for my epic battle I stumbled upon the perfect song: Free Tibet (Hilight tribe/Vini Vici clean version) When I heard the song, I didn't even try to think of the battle. I just saw it unfolding like an edited film. I love it when this happens with music!
