I write to music, but not for music. A big part of this is that Jack Asher does not listen to any music that I'm interested in. I'll let him explain it
I listen to music while writing, as said above it will usually be rock (Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac mainly) or classical. I find that music in writing is often a distraction, and usually stems from the author interfering with the story because they are excessively pleased with their obscure music tastes. Music snobbery has always been tedious and it is especially tedious when it interferes with a novel I am reading. I frankly couldn't give a toss about what music the author likes.
id be here all day if i were to tell you lovely people what i use, so i will stick to one simple to use term: Metal (i should create a spotify playlist and link it)
Depends entirely on what I'm writing. Usually I listen to relaxdaily's calm, instrumental yoga-ish music, though that can't really set my mood for a fighting scene, a flight through a burning forest or a child watching his parents die at the hands of a killer. I mostly choose music that fits the scene, though it is always instrumental (not necessarily without a singer, since the voice can be an instrument as well). And I always have practically zero volume. The music is there to drive my inspiration and move me into the scene, not to scare it away.
My music likes and listens are so patchwork it's kinda like my writing - lol. I like Christian music, 80s ska, goofy 80's, classical, Bob Dylan, the 70's, disco, vintage stuff like Ukelele Ike, Perry Como, Roger Miller, Doris Day. Oh and 70's lounge music from old Italian movies.
Am I the only one who finds this question odd? What music FITS your writing? Perhaps it's the way the question is worded but I can't even think how to answer this. Many people have answered with what kind of music they listen to while writing but that isn't the question. The only way anyone could answer this question would be to match certain music with scenes they are writing. Dramatic music for intense scenes, gentle music for tenderer moments. Mostly I write to silence, but not entirely, the roar of the traffic passing my windows is constant but I manage to block it out when writing. Most, I'm sure will block out any music they have in the background to set the mood to write, so my thought is, why bother
Because for some music helps you relax and lets your mind wander. It's not all about hearing the notes and words, whether you block them out or not your unconscious self will still be listening.
Music involves a lot of emotion, and depending on what kind of music you listen to, it can help you to reflect that emotion in the writing. I've found a lot of instrumental and TV or movie soundtracks and scores are not only enjoyable but help keep my mind on task. If I have nothing to listen to, my thoughts often wander off topic and I wind up thinking about everything but the story. If I can get that emotion from the music, it drives my writing. So it's not so much fitting a work to the music, it's fitting the music to the work.
Most of like to listen the music while writing or whenever we get bored. I think while writing everyone will like to listen slow and motivational music.
I usually maintain a playlist for each of my novels/stories that I write. I play the playlist over and over again when I need a little jolt, though I write best without music (I usually get writing with music and then turn it off when the words come naturally). The playlist may have thematic relevance, but usually it has to do with particular scenes or images in my head which excite me and give me muse to continue forward with the storyline. Sort of like the background tracks for the highlights of my story. I do not stick a particular genre; I usually randomly take up a new song or an old song I sometimes listen to with the novel, and then strengthen the association over time. For instance, my playlist for my current novel includes: Cosmic Love by Florence and the Machine Seven Devils by Florence and the Machine Climbing up the Walls by Radiohead Bailamos by Enrique Iglesias Cheating by John Newman O Death by Jen Titus
I love listening to music when I write, or any other time for that matter. Mainly IDM, Ambient and modern classical. Nothing with lyrics though, I find music without lyrics uses my own creativity to make up my own story in my head to go along with the track. The Flashbulb, Tycho, Aphex Twin, Little People and Yppah are a few examples of artists I indulge in.
I can't listen to music in my own native language, = Dutch, that's way too distracting during writing. I only listen to songs in the English language ;-)
This is a beautiful rendition of a very old Southern Gospel song too bad she took the most important word of the song out: Lord. :-(
If I listen to anything it's classical music soundtracks: Jurassic Park The Village Star Wars Harry Potter Band of Brothers/ The Pacific Are my main ones
When writing fantasy/historical fiction I always try and find some songs that connect me to the world. For example, I've been working on a short story set around the fall of Rome (inspired by Total War: Attila) so I always listen to the soundtrack while writing.
I listen to music based on what im writing. Currently im listening to a lot of Elvis and my main character Hank is a big fan so i listen to get into his mindset.
@KaTrian and I listen to all kinds of music whenever we write. And yeah, there's always music playing when we write. It depends largely on the story and scene we're working on, going from Renaissance music (like Luis de Narvaez, John Dowland, Luis Milan etc) to ambient/dark ambient/electronic music (like Tangerine Dream, Bill Laswell/Praxis, Abruptum, video game music like the Super Metroid OST etc) to all things extreme metal (e.g. Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Decapitated, Meshuggah, Mayhem etc), and everything in-between including radio pop/rock and stuff so underground, even the musicians on the album don't know they're playing on it. To us, the mood of the music is the single most important thing: a good song can really help us with immersion. Sometimes music even inspires things in the story, e.g. our entire current WIP was inspired by a single song. If it wasn't for that piece of music, the story wouldn't exist today.
Have you ever listened to music while you're writing and imagined that your characters are listening to it, too? Whenever I write, I listen to classic rock, like Credence Clearwater Revival, and think that my characters are rambling down a dusty highway in some beat up, rusty old pickup.
I often listen to music while writing, but I often do it to get myself into the perfect writing mood. I don't think I've ever imagined my characters listening to the same kind of music. You see, for scenes like sitting in a plane that's falling from the sky, walking through a city completely destroyed decades ago, or crying oneself to sleep, music doesn't exactly fit. ETA: We have quite a few threads already about music and writing (though the "imagine the characters listen to it" twist is a new one. )
Nope, never happened to me. But my characters don't live in worlds where they would come into contact with Zero 7 or Thievery Corporation.
