I just write with white noise going on in the background otherwise I can't work at all. I need noise to study. If I don't then I can't work it is too quiet and too silent and I start to get distracted. I think my characters don't listen to my music, but I think they do listen to some kind of music.
Different music genres work for different things I'm writing about. I listened to Eminem's "Survival" while writing the biggest chunk of the first book I ever wrote. It kind of fit and it kept me motivated to keep writing. I started off with music like Deadmau5, went to Survival, then ended in Hard techno music (like by D-block and S-te-fan). Now that I think about it, my writing and what I was writing shifted with the music. Hmm. lol I'm still trying to find an artist or a genre to fit what I'm writing now. So for now, just writing whilst listening to the background noises of my house. *Sighs* --- And to answer your question, no I've never really imagined that. It's a great idea though. Ha.
Sometimes I listen to "silence 10 hours" while working (writing or otherwise), because at times I need complete silence and that video seems to make everything more quiet.
I do that all the time - although I usually listen to music when I'm brainstorming and write in silence. I have one character in my near future who used to be a Taylor Swift superfan - and trust me, you have not listened to Taylor Swift until you've looped it for three hours trying desperately to get inside the head of a 37 year-old alcoholic woman in the year 2034 who is pining for her lost youth. And yes, I actually did that...I also only did it once...but it certainly worked for the resulting scene.
I never imagine my characters listening to it. When I listen to music, it's usually because it gets me in a zone where I find it easier to concentrate. But I think it's great if it could help with understanding/developing characters.
I can't stand silence, especially when I'm trying to work. So for me it's netflix or LeTv and sometimes music. As for imagining the characters listening to the music. It's not something I've thought of as they all have there own little problems and would be far too distracted with the breakdown of society as they know it. I do like music when reading and I can't listen to the division bell album by pink floyd without thinking about the book Imagica.
I generally prefer quiet when I write. I don't like to be distracted. But, having a spouse whose main form of entertainment is television, that's often not possible (or at least it wasn't until last month, when I retired), so I do sometimes listen to music (via noise-cancelling headphones) when I write or edit. When I do, I usually try to make it something abstract (like Bach), unobtrusive (maybe Strauss), light (Mozart or Respighi, although there are pieces by either that make me stop whatever I'm doing and listen) or mindless (electronica). Although, when I was in the late stages of Rosa's Secret, I did listen to a lot of Los Van Van, Juan Formell and BVSC,
Yes, sometimes I write in a song that I have been listening to over and over. For example, I had a scene where my hero and heroine had a big falling out and the heroine was listening to "Fix You" by Coldplay. I didn't pick the song because it fit the scene, I actually had been listening to the song so much that I wrote the scene to fit the song.
I almost always listen to music when I'm writing. In terms of what I listen to, it depends upon whats going on in the story. I've listened to everything from Nine Inch Nails to 1920's swing music. Even now, as I'm writing this comment, I'm actually listening to music. Music is incredibly important to me especially when I'm actively writing. I also find myself thinking about the ideal "soundtrack" to the story sometimes. On a rare occasions I do reference the music my characters might listen to, though this is infrequent as I generally like to keep pop culture references out of my writing. With this said, I do my best revision and editing in silence.
I used to listen to music when I wrote a lot. Now that I am fresh back to writing though, I find that it just distracts me. Perhaps once I get used to writing again I'll be able to put on some understated music and listen while I write.
i listen to music a lot while I am writing, sadly though, the music i listen to, doesn't really fit into the realms of "my characters listen to this" as heavy metal can't exactly be made in the fantasy world i made!
For every new story I'm working on, I create a playlist of songs that just remind me of the story or characters in some way, and listen to it in the background while I write. It's also helpful when I get stuck--just kind of gets me inspired again.
Oh, and I write historical fiction, so none of my characters would be listening to the kind of music I listen to--didn't exist.
I have been known to listen to traditional fiddle/banjo/guitar music and imagine my character (s) are playing it! However, that's just in the brainstorming phase, where I'm imagining my characters in a particular setting. When I write I prefer silence. If I can't get it, due to outside interference (like constantly circling ice cream vans...grrrr....) I will play some very low-key instrumental music just to drown out the unwanted noise. It has to be background music, though. I love classical guitar music for this kind of thing, or chamber music (Borodin is a favourite.) Something that doesn't have a lot of stops, starts, or change of pace. Otherwise I find myself listening, rather than writing.
I don't know if they would or not. I listen to music constantly: Metal, EDM, Industrial, Orchestral Hybrid, Dark Minimal, and what ever crazy concoction some evil genius has put together with a good sound to it. So maybe some of it they would. That is to say that it would be considered outdated in their time line though. Never know unless by some weird coincidence I ever actually make it to the future and it is exactly the way I portray it characters and so forth. Ah to reach for the stars, and be obtusely thwarted by stature. Neat idea you got though, very thought provoking.
The only music I've ever tried to listen to while writing is Baroque. It's peaceful and (apparently) stimulates those creative neurons. But I still found it distracting, so I stopped. Whenever this kind of question comes up, it reminds me of Milt Kahl's response to Richard Williams when Williams asked him if he ever listened to music while animating. Leaving out the expletives, it amounted to, "I'm not smart enough to think of more than one thing at a time!"
I listened to some hard core banging hip-hop while writing prison and war books. It got me in a violent and dangerous state of mind.
This is an odd one, but I've just discovered while listening to a completely random collection of songs on my memory stick; classical, pop, film scores, etc, that the type of music which I found most inspiring for the novel I'm writing, couldn't be less relative to the plot and setting. I'm writing (hopefully) a dark, gritty futuristic road novel (no, not Mad Max). And the type of music that felt 'right' to me was this kind of stuff. Funny how the brain works, innit? Not even Freud could explain this one!
The only music I can listen to while writing is classical. If I get into any other type of music -- I find that soon, the story is set aside and I'm on youtube going down memory lane.
I sometimes stop to listen to a song that captures the mood of a scene I'm trying to write. For example if my characters are going to try and hurt each other I might listen to Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills by Pantera which, for me, captures that feeling perfectly. Or if they've going to confess their feelings it might be Unthinkable by Alicia Keys. I find this especially helpful when I'm sitting down to a crucial scene. Once I've started writing I can genuinely switch moods through through the story. I can't have music on in the background and write, though.
Listening to music while writing, to me, is like listening to music while driving. I often listen to the same albums while on a specific piece of work. During writing of my favorite screenplay, I'd listen to Darkside of the Moon and Wish You Were Here back to back, trying to match pace.
I listen to music a lot while writing. I do it to stay focused, it really helps. but I've never pictured my characters listening to the music. I have a broad taste in music too so I listen to anything from pop to hip hop to rock and metal. I also occasionally listen to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme song on a loop while writing for some reason it makes extremely focused and puts my brain into inspirational mode - also it's a kickass song!
I play music that sets the tone for certain scenes or people - often from movie soundtracks or musicals. For instance, I wrote a scene where a young man finds out that the love of his life died when he was traveling, and used "Tessa" from one of the Transformers films. I wrote a pretty good teenage love scene by playing, "Touch Me" and "Word of Your Body" from Spring Awakening.
I'm reviving this old thread just because I can't decide whether I do better with or without music--maybe either--depending, but depending on what I don't know. Sometimes music seems to motivate me, move my mood one way or another and even move the mood of the piece. On the other hand, then I think I'm being directed by someone else's art, not by my own creativity. Yet, sometimes I know that I have absolutely no awareness of what is playing in the background. I actually find myself distracted by the silence at times. I live in the country (the woods), so have no city noise--only birds, the wind, leaves blowing, squirrels--woodsy stuff. Don't see how people write in coffee shops, but I know there've been novels written in such places, public libraries as well. Anyway, know there's no "right" way--just think it's interesting how different folks handle their writing spaces.
