Music in fiction.

The only time I listen to music when I write is when my wife is watching TV at the same time and I need to block out the noise. When I do, I generally listen to either soft classical or smooth jazz - something very noninvasive.

 

I'm like @EdFromNY , in that I only listen to music while writing if I need to drown out some other noise. I have favourite non-invasive instrumental music. I like classical chamber-style music to write to. Symphonies have too many loud/quiet moments, and I find them distracting. I also love classical guitar music to write to as well. Neither sort seems to interfere with my ability to get words out. However, anything with a catchy tune or lyrics will completely drive me off track.

When I read books I often plug in various sorts of music (again, without lyrics) and it acts rather like a movie soundtrack for me. I discovered this little trick when I was still a student, and had to read some pretty heavy-duty textbooks on various subjects. It worked. I found it much easier to concentrate and to remember what I'd read, if I was playing classical music at the time.

 

I listen to alot of Hip hop, and exactly Logic(Don't expect you to know him). He made an album entirely about Sci-Fi with it's own story to it, which helped me make a short little story about Sci-Fi myself, which came out quite well, if i say so myself.
But about music in general, Yes. I listen to music all the time i write. I've noticed some people here saying that it can be distracting, which i can greatly see being an issue.
But for me, it just helps me add in more stuff in a story. Maybe catch a word in the song, use it for my advantage.

 

Music does inspire on occasion. It seems like the most replies to this thread are in favor of music, in some way and form, as an emotional stimulant- an effect I too see as a positive influence on my writing style. I intentionally walk through the city at night, listening to music that churns and knots the stomach, while conceiving a sad story that brings me to the edge and I try not to cry. Sometimes I cry a little, but only a tear or two. Then I keep my expression neutral, put sunglasses over my red eyes and avoid opportunists. The things I think during these walks sometimes repeat themselves, from walk to walk, and I'll rediscover and reinvent parts and characters of the story, essay or letter that has come to mind, with parts and characters out of my life, and parts of myself as well. I wonder if music is more than just an emotional catalyst in this whole process. I surely would like it to be so, because, like so many others, I’m on a search for meaning.

However, when writing I usually abstain from music, especially when I deliberately write at a crawl or when my sentences grow increasingly comma convoluted. Yet I can remember a handful of times in which I found myself writing in synergy to music, albeit somewhat frantic.

When I read the title of this thread, I directly thought of combining story and music into one, that is, the reader listens to music while reading, in a designed synchronized fashion. I had the idea a few weeks ago while riding the train: I would write the story in sections, with each section written and molded to exactly one musical piece. Synchronization is the hard part, unless it is an audio book that is to be made; But let us entertain the idea of making a physical book and possibly an accompanying album which the reader must play while reading. In the text one could mark letters to the beat, or in the absence of a beat, the cycle, in the story such that the reader can roughly approximate how fast she should read.

I’ll have to attempt to write a section to a song in the near future..



I ask myself, who would want to read such a book and music symbiosis?

 

That's the real question, isn't it? If it's the first, anything goes, depending on one's taste in music. As for the second, it's what every songwriter does. For many of them (Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan) the poems can stand on their own weight, although the musical accompaniment adds so much depth to them. For others (John Prine, Nancy Griffith) the music is indispensable.

As for stuff that isn't sung, my introduction to the poet Roger McGough was a collection of readings he did with a musical accompaniment. You can find it on YouTube:



You must listen to the whole thing. It's lovely.

 

There's this funny story, I was writing my Santeria based novella while listening to The Mars Volta's Frances the Mute and drinking sangria from a cup I found in Bethlehem. I fell asleep and when I woke up.. The cup was empty.

 

Same. I'm too ADD to write while being talked to.

But I do make playlists all the time for stories, mostly music with lyrics. While I'm writing I tend to listen to instrumental stuff. But right now, I'm using mynoise.net to listen to wind and birdsong because that's what my scene needs for immersion.

Not for me... not always. I'm a musician and it's rare for me to find instrumental songs distracting, but it can happen.

 

This is a great topic, and I wanted to add my two cents.

What music (and a lot of other things) can often achieve is to reduce mental noise. By mental noise, I mean the same old repetitive and useless thinking that our minds carry on about 99% of the time - "What am I going to make for dinner tonight ? Did I lock the door ? Why does my neighbor keep slamming the door so hard in the morning ?"

It is counter-intuitive at first, but real creativity comes when thinking is reduced, not when it is increased. It is as if, when the mind calms down, ideas come from a deeper, fresher source. These ideas are much more likely to be creative/original than the ones that emerge from repetitive mental noise or trying to force something.

This is why you read/hear of writers retreating to the wilderness to write a book. The quiet environment brings out the creativity that often gets obscured by the noise/contamination of our regular environment.

Music, solitude, wilderness, red wine (my personal favorite), candles and incense (another favorite) ... relax the mind, unleash creativity.

 

So that's why I always come up with my best lines when I'm trying to fall asleep.

 

lol, i read the title and thought, add tags to your story like <#now play "Waiting for Mommie" by My life with the thrill kill kult/>

Just put notes in your friggin story telling the reader what song they should be listening to.

 

The Blade Runner soundtrack works for me.

 

I'm new here and if I would have seen this thread, I wouldn't have started my own about it.

I am almost finished with a novel about the struggles of an unsigned band. I am also a songwriter, and have recorded many songs over the years, and since they are mainly just sitting around doing nothing, I have incorporated these songs into my novels, and attributed my characters with composing them. It's been quite fun actually. I figure that I am the author, and the composer, so I can do what I want with my work. I own the copyright to all the music, so licensing is not an issue.

My novel can stand alone without the help of the music, but I think it would be cool for the reader to actually get to hear the songs that my characters have "created". I am not really sure how to go about it, though. I'm not actually sure it would be a good idea, and the last thing I want to do is annoy a reader with links and whatnot.

But mostly, I can't find any other works where this has been done, so I have nothing really to go on.

 

Music helps me capture the emotion of a scene in first draft, but it it has the opposite effect when I am re writing, it distracts me. Happy writing! Mark Lemohr

 

I'm often inspired by music when writing something, but it depends on the mood. Basically, I listen to something relaxing, like downtempo. Although to write some things related to the story I prefer the classic. Also, in choosing a topic for my work, a selection of good topics helps me. I think for many people music is an important creative component.

 

I would like to add that in choosing a topic for my work, a selection of good persuasive essay topics helps me. Maybe it will be useful for someone.