Exactly. However, the one drawback I found with listening to music whilst writing is that it saps more of my energy and I end up writing for a shorter period of time. It probably has to do with being fatigued with emotion or something.
You're right. It has to be purely instrumental or else it gets disruptive. Nothing like some Brazilian samba rhythms to get your creative gears turning.
I typically prefer silence but if I'm having trouble getting into a particular mood for scene I'll sometimes play something to help me get there, but always music without lyrics. If I'm trying to write a pulse pounding action sequence where my MC's adrenaline in pumping but I'm feeling meloncholy, I'll try a few of my staples such as Gotterdamerang, Duel of the Fates (from Star Wars Episode 1), or He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Carribean theme). It also works in reverse, if my kids are being little s***s and I'm aggravated at child 1 taking child 2's doll for the nth time, and I'm trying to write something tender or romantic, I may put on some slow piano music to soothe me into the mood.
That happens if I listen to music with lyrics, as long as the music is just instrumental I can make it work to the benefit of the story.
I see where you're coming from. This usually only happens to me if the lyrics are relevant to what I'm writing. Generally though I can listen to albums that I've listened to hundreds of times without being distracted by them. blink-182's discography (the Tom DeLonge era), Jimmy Eat World's discography... I know the lyrics so well to all their songs that they don't phase me. Usually though, I listen to something like this:
I almost always listen to music, with a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones. I prefer it sans lyrics, because I find them distracting much of the time. What kind of music depends on what I'm writing; I try to find something suitable to the mood of the story, generally something mellow. Classical, orchestral, ambient, Irish folk, Trip Hop, Synthwave, and Jazz are favorites, but I can put on pretty much anything as the mood takes me.
All the time. In fact, I find it harder to get into the mood in silence. 80's Rock/Pop suits my book's mood, so that's mostly what's in my earbuds.
I listen to soundtracks sometimes. Anything with lyrics is usually too distracting though. One of my favorites: the spotify playlist Brandon Sanderson listened to while writing Oathbringer. Cool stuff. A lot of theatrical tracks.
I totally get into my own head so much while writing that I can just tune out everything. I usually write in silence. Sometimes I put the TV on for background. I'm not sure why I do that since I totally tune it out.
I've told my other half that if she puts the TV on while I'm trying to write, it's getting a brick through it. I guess we're all different.
It can be jarring to switch, so I often find very long songs or just loop short ones. I like dark ambient songs with mantras and repetitive motifs as it helps me focus. Bjargo and Hildebrand, for example. Arcana. Atrium Carceri.
I need music to write. It used to be soundtracks (and indeed only the instrumental kind), such as LOTR, GoT or Pirates of the Carribean. Lately, I have discovered what I believe is called 'epicore' and it fits the fantasy novel I am writing to a tee. If you're interested, here is my current playlist on Spotify:
I usually prefer silence, or I'll let the tv play in the background, and if so, it's CNN which almost goes unnoticed. If I do listen to music, it's the same song over and over and over again. For the last little while it's been Thin Lizzy's, Whiskey in the Jar. For drawing and painting I can listen to music much of the time... but while writing, that ain't nearly so easy and I usually need the quiet to gather my thoughts.
Come to think of it, I haven't written to music in a good minute. I used to do it all the time, particularly with novel-length fiction projects; I preferred wordless music like most of Tortoise's oeuvre, as lyrics tend to get in the way. When working on looooong projects, I find it can help instill a sort of self-hypnotism thanks to state-dependent memory where it becomes easier and more familiar to slip back into the world of your creation. In my early-twenties (I'm 33) when I was nearing the end of my first novel, I asked one of my friends for some wordless music to listen to, and unbeknownst to me he gave me the Twin Peaks soundtrack and main theme. I had never seen Twin Peaks before, but there was one track that I played when I was nearing an emotional zenith in the story and I needed to hear and feel some dramatic melancholy piano that rises and rises and keeps on rising until it resolves itself beautifully, sending chills through my body every time because it's just gorgeous. When I finally watched Twin Peaks and heard that music, I had all sorts of memories flood through me from writing that novel and using that track of music to manipulate some sort of feeling out of me. Not saying it was wrong or right; it just was. And damn was it fun.
Any thoughts on music while you write? I have a very specific playlist of songs for mood setting, usually relating to tempo and how distracting the song is for what makes my default list. But also I find it to be a useful way of getting my own mind into the right to write with specific emotions in mind. For instance i will have a select playlist for good humored scenes, and another set playlist for high tension or tragic scenes, or romantic songs to help set romantic scenes. I find that getting myself into that mindset helps me to construct those scenes in a much more effective way, So do you guys do things like this to help your writing? Do you have specific songs that you use in a similar way? If so what songs?
Sometimes I can't write without music. Generally, I use it to get me into an excited state and rouse enthusiasm for my project. I also use specific genres to help me get into the mindset of a certain character - music they would listen to.
Yeah - i sometimes need to write without music - usually if its a scene that requires more thought or is particularly complex - or if its a section that I hadn't planned ahead before writing it. But usually if I do that I won't get much more then the bones of the story down. I need music to help me build texture.
Music helps me in general in my writing. If I want a scene full of emotions I will use emotional music or melodies. If I desire a scene full of action and epicness, nothing better than listening epic music to feel the power of my characters.
I used to listen to soundtracks specific to what I was writing, ie. The Last of Us for a post-apoc setting but found that would directly influence what I was writing. It was almost written to the beat. Nowadays I would rather get lost in my own thoughts. I barely listen to soundtracks anymore so I find it harder to write to lyrical songs. The genres I write in dont mix well with my taste in music.
I have a playlist for everything I write. This was the song I was playing right at the end of the last novel I finished: [youtube][/youtube]
I almost always listen while I write, but I stay away from lyrics as they're distracting (and I prefer instrumental anyway). Lyrics in languages I don't understand don't distract me though, so I let them in one of my playlists too.
