Soundtracks

[scarletpeaches]

I was listening to one of my favourite albums this evening, and I wondered if anyone had any particular pieces of music they listen to when they're writing? Or does music put you off?

It can do with me, but if I reach a plot-knot that I want to think through, I stop typing (that's usually the problem, that I can't get going!) and listen to the 'soundtrack' album for that book. For some reason, there are particular CDs that seem to 'fit' the storyline of my WIP of a given time, better than others.

For instance, Come To Me was the first complete story I ever wrote, the title being nicked from a song on Bjork's Debut album, which fit the mood of the story perfectly. For reasons unknown to even me, David Gray's White Ladder made itself the soundtrack to Bird of Prey. Once I got a fair way into the book, even listening to that album once, made it a lot easier to get going on another writing 'session'.

I'm working on something at the moment (as every good writer should of course:idea: ) but feel as if I won't really get going until I find the correct background music for it. Is it just me, or are there other writers who like to have a 'soundtrack'?

[Jamesaritchie]

I can write in silence, and often do, but I like background noise, as well. When I play music, it's almost always classic or celtic, or, every now and then, a bit of new age. More often than not, I reach for a Mozart CD.

Music isn't my first choice, however. More often than not, I turn on talk radio, or tune into one of the Old Time Radio programs such as The Shadow, Fibber McGee & Molly, The Life of Riley, etc.

[Perks]

For me to think and write, it really needs to be quiet. There are songs or albums that can inspire or a kickoff an idea. In fact, the entire idea for my completed novel came to me after listening to Ventura Highway, by America. I was driving and singing along and realized that I had just uttered the words alligator, lizards, in, the, air - and in that order. And then I thought, "Crap, what if a truck came around the bend in the wrong lane at that exact moment and the last thing I ever thought was 'alligator lizards in the air'? 85,000 words later...

[September skies]

I guess for me it all depends. If I'm on a tight schedule (I come in at 9 p.m. and the newspaper story's deadline is 9:30pm) I turn everything off.

For my other writing, I always have the television on in the background (either CNN or Country videos) and it actually is a soothing way to write. But just like you, once I get into a story, I seem to find a song that "fits" and I tend to play that song or album quite a bit.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it......
:Guitar:

[victoriastrauss]

For me to think and write, it really needs to be quiet.Same here. Gotta have quiet. My husband also works at home, and our offices are only a narrow hallway apart. Sometimes even with the door closed I can hear him swearing...it's then I have to put on my rifle range headphones...

- Victoria

[Perks]

Sometimes even with the door closed I can hear him swearing...

Now, that I would love. I'm such a juvenile. Vigorous cursing rarely fails to crack me up. Could be even more inspiring than music!

[KTC]

I like silence, but I'm also happy to listen to low BJORK Debut, or low T-REX Unicorn, or low THE CURE Head on the Door, or low SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Singles, or low DAVID BOWIE Changes One, or low....you get the picture...

[My-Immortal]

Same here. Gotta have quiet. My husband also works at home, and our offices are only a narrow hallway apart. Sometimes even with the door closed I can hear him swearing...it's then I have to put on my rifle range headphones...

- Victoria

....and pick up the rifle....?

Just kidding. :)

I can write in silence, but with a little one running around the house there isn't a lot of silence to be found - heard - so instead I usually listen to music. Evanescence's CD 'Fallen' was basically playing on repeat while I wrote my fantasy novel, but I do listen to a variety of music depending on specific scenes (Unfortunately, I'm still in the middle of unpacking and the box with most of my music-writing CDs is in a pile of other boxes next to my desk).

Take care... :)

[Jamesaritchie]

I like silence, but I'm also happy to listen to low BJORK Debut, or low T-REX Unicorn, or low THE CURE Head on the Door, or low SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Singles, or low DAVID BOWIE Changes One, or low....you get the picture...

We must be from different generations. Just about the only words in your post I understood were "David" and "Bowie."

[fedorable1]

I can't stand silence when I'm writing. It makes me think too much. I would rather type than think. It hurts my head.

As far as soundtrack music, I'm happy to hear other people do it, too. :) Every work I do has a "soundtrack" song, and more specifically a "trailer" song. Whether it's a screenplay or novel, I always picture a movie trailer to go along with it. The song playing is usually the most appropriate to the main character and/or storyline, though there is sometimes a varience.

For example, my current WIP is about an immortal woman fighting in a war she can't avoid, and seeing her family die in the process. Thus, I have My Immortal by Evanescence. Another similar screenplay is about a group of immortal warriors who have given up their quest to defend mankind. Who Wants To Live Forever by Queen is what I used to listen to for that one. Finally, my next project is about a war in Ancient Egypt, and Book of Days by Enya is perfect to get my creative juices flowing.

[inanna]

Er...this may "out" me as a potential member of the Geek Hierarchy, but here goes...

Music to me is pretty much organic to the process. Ever since I was a little kid, I used to make up my own "videos" in my head to songs I liked. I never gave it much thought, and it only occurred to me later that this was just another form of storytelling.

My WIP has a huge playlist of songs, many designated for specific scenes. When things get tricky though, I hit pause until I can un-garble my sentences.

So...does that make me a geek? :)

[fedorable1]

So...does that make me a geek? :)No, that makes you an artist. Close, but not so much. ;)

[KTC]

We must be from different generations. Just about the only words in your post I understood were "David" and "Bowie."

lol. We're probably not too far off in ages. I grew up in record stores in the 70s. T-REX were Gods to me back then. Marc Bolan lives! And then, in the early eighties...I went punk...the goth before the goths. Bowie is transcendental...he is generationless.

[Elwyn]

www.live365.com (http://www.live365.com/) (Internet Radio) "The Cosmic Island" - sometimes Old Time Horror Radio

Oh, and World of Warcraft soundtracks - downloadable at www.blizzard.com (http://www.blizzard.com)

[NeuroFizz]

Default - Stones

For mood - Pink Floyd or Enigma

Occasional divergences:

Really, really in the mood - Marvin Gaye

In some other kind of mood - David and David, Billy Pilgrim, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Collective Soul

In the Scots mood - Runrig

In the New Age mood - Narada

[Andrew Dugan]

Neither the mood I'm in nor the mood the story is in, I always play the same bands when I write.

The essentials:

A Perfect Circle, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton, Genesis, Jeff Buckley, Led Zeppelin, My Dying Bride, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robert Plant's solo stuff, The Beatles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, and Tool.

I write for long periods of time. >=)

[ricaykw]

I listen to Belle and Sebastian

[Ivonia]

I'm going to sound extremely geeky here, but I never found myself liking mainstream music. Instead, I seem more interested in movie soundtracks, and video game music (more of the latter though). For the most part, I find lyrics somewhat distracting (at least when writing. For just regular listening, it's usually acceptable) in a song, so that's probably one reason why I like this type of music.

I like it because I grew up playing games, and for the most part liked the music in them (and don't think of the mario music from the NES either, video game music has evolved quite a bit from that era lol). I usually play some kind of music when I'm reading a book (or my mind does it automatically if I'm not listening to something bleh), but I've found it helps me out quite a bit with coming up with ideas and writing.

In case you're interested, I like Nobuo Uematsu, the musical genius behind the Final Fantasy series (he's been called "the John Williams of video game music". John Williams is the guy who's composed many movie soundtracks, most notably Star Wars, and I like his stuff too). I also like Yasunori Mitsuda, particularly his work on Chrono Cross, and Xenogears (both of them have a lot of tracks with a "religious" feel to them, which helps me work on the fantasy elements in my story. Some of his soundtracks have a celtic feel to them too, in case you're interested in that type of stuff).

Jeff van Dyck's done a great job with the soundtrack for the Total War games, particularly Rome: Total War. A lot of it is mostly for the battle scenes (since the game focuses heavily on the militaristic aspect of the roman era), but if you need inspiration for a land battle in your story, or just something that sounds like it probably would've come out of that time era to help establish some mood, I would highly recommend this, despite being a "video game soundtrack".

I'm going to sound even dorkier here, but I've already "compiled" a "soundtrack" for my novel as well (it was originally going to be a screenplay, but I don't know if I can trust Hollywood with telling my story properly lol), and the music I selected really helps me to write out the scenes as they capture the mood of the scenes pretty well (for example, I used "Adagio for Strings", the vocal version, for one of my "sad scenes" early in my story, and wow, did it make the scene much more difficult to write, as it made the story even sadder, and I had a hard time killing off one of my main characters as a result. I like this song so much that if my story ever does get made into a movie, I'm probably going to use it during that scene).

I guess we'll see in a few years if my "listening to different" music pays off hehe :D.

[pepperlandgirl]

I have specific albums to go with specific moods, depending on the work. 9 times out of 10, I'll choose Wilco, but sometimes I throw some Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley, or Willie Nelson into the mix. Every one in awhile, I'll just hit shuffle on my MP3 player and go through my 500 songs.

I can't write in silence. I can't even write if the radio is playing. I need to be listening to my MP3 player with the earphones snug against my ears. It puts me in the zone.

[stace001]

If I'm on a roll, I like to have silence (something I don't often get with a 5yr running around), but when I'm just cruising through a scene Pink Floyd or Jeff Buckley are my two favorites.

[Alana Mortensen]

scarletpeaches,

First of all, music is a good inspiration and tool for letting the words flow. They do have a mind of thier own. Music can set the pace of the work, free your mind, bring about clarity when you hit a snag, free your emotions, andm empower you, your work your work, thus making it more powerfu; when it is completete.

As to your question of whether or not people have "soundtracks" to write a certain peice by, I would not kinow. But you are not the only one to experience this phenomenon. I too am of this oddity, but I would not say "soundtrack" is what I would call it. You see I am a music lover and an aspiring songwriter, besides novelist and poet, and certain songs by certain artists at certain times can do the trick for me. For an example; I just bought two cds by the band, Seether, and I can not stop writing poems for them or more precisely because of them. Another reason is I have frallen in love with the frontman (it is not as it seems), but now I am writing erotica and a nove; of the same genre. I have forsaken my other pieces and novels too, because thioer music gives me such peace and it seems to provide new words for me to speak and write, new ways of viewing things and thinking, and most of all linear thinking and writing, new details I had not seen before, and new ways to describe such. For me it is what I've alway strove for and now it is part of me as thier music is.

So in verdict or imho: Music good? or bad? For me: good. for other it is up to them to decide. And music does not derail me in any way as popularopinion would have you believe, Again it is personal preference of the writer whether it is benefical to him/her or not.

Alana

[Old Hack]

I've done a little research into how writers write and many speak of a trance-like state when the words flood out of them, almost without them being involved. Many of the writers who reported this trance-like state also described quite involved writing rituals (I need a certain type of paper and pen, for example, and have to have a cup of lemon and ginger tea at my elbow before I begin).

This trance state is very similar to the state experienced by someone who has been hypnotised. It's been suggested that the rituals writers comply to act as triggers which induce the trance state. Music, in particular, is a fabulous way to induce a light trance: it has a regular rhythm, and if it's a familiar piece then the familiarity of both words and melody can draw you in, too.

There's nothing sinister in this trance state: another way to think of it is as a state of high relaxation, where tension and anxiety (which are both major blocks to creativity) have no place.

Having said all of that I need a deserted space in which to write: if my husband is at home I cannot write a word, even if he is silent and distant (our house is large enough for that to happen). However, I can write alone in my car, even if I'm parked in a busy street next to noisy building-works. I will get arrested for this one day.

[Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse]

i think it depends on what i am writing.

if its an essay that needs to be mint perfect and consist of brilliant sweeping and utterly pointless irony yet self-conscious, so its okay - i need silence.

if i'm trying to think of sad romance i'll listen to something like jeff buckley, lover you should have come over before i write or anything nick cave (well done that man)

if its something pshycological, i'll put on east hastings by godspeed you black emporer


if its action, cells by the servant or kashmir by led zep
etc

i like to listen to something to get me in the mood for a scene, to warm me up to the themes, but often, when in the heated exchanges of the piece, i like to turn it off and let my characters make their own sweet music

[Sage]

I actually create soundtracks for my stories. I like to listen to them when I'm writing, but really where it comes in useful is when I'm at work or driving & thinking about the song & the meaning behind it. If I'm in search of songs for the soundtrack, I might listen to songs on the radio or CD, & think about whether they connect to the characters or plot in some way. If I've already made the soundtrack (in rough draft form until I'm actually done w/ the story), I'll listen to it & usually end up sticking w/ one section of the story in my head, working through it so that I a) get it right, & b) get excited about it so that I'll work on that section next. The soundtrack also helps me get organized on where I expected the novel to go (although I must admit, I occasionally realize that I don't need a scene that I had a song for, or that it just never worked out the way I expected it to. I'm about to dump a song on my current story's soundtrack for this very reason now that I got to the section of the book that that song would have worked for). Then I keep the soundtracks after I'm finished with the stories for the same reason you listen to soundtracks from shows & movies - 'cuz I like them & they remind me of the story that I enjoyed writing.

[scarletpeaches]

I thought I was the only person who'd ever done that, Sage!

[JANE007]

Music is everything to me. I believe everyone has their own "soundtrack"! I will sometimes put on tunes in the background while i'm writing, however it usually has to be something rather subdued otherwise i'll get distracted and get more into my music rather than my writing. The music I listen to at any particular time is largely dependant on my mood.

Usually Morcheeba works well for me as background music for writing.

[thewritingbug]

It depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll listen to Enya or Nature cd's. Other times, if I'm really rolling, I'll listen to Metallica. Norah Jones's Come Away With Me is reserved for my WIP. Whenever I hear it, I think of my characters.

[cwfgal]

I'm going to sound extremely geeky here, but I never found myself liking mainstream music. Instead, I seem more interested in movie soundtracks, and video game music (more of the latter though). For the most part, I find lyrics somewhat distracting (at least when writing. For just regular listening, it's usually acceptable) in a song, so that's probably one reason why I like this type of music.


Ditto.

Beth

[three seven]

Everything I write has a soundtrack, but I can't listen to it while I'm working. Need quiet, or I get confused and end up typing what I hear. Male brain, you see.

[Sage]

Nope. I love making soundtracks for my stories. It's just as much fun as writing the book, & certainly makes listening to the radio more fun. Finding the absolute perfect song for a given situation &/or character makes my day, especially if I've already written that scene & it still happens to match (& if I haven't written the scene yet, I'll usually get very passionate about getting that scene down on paper (well, the screen) as soon as I get home).

I have even had instances where a song inspires a new scene. For example, one song on my current soundtrack made me realize that that although that was exactly the type of passion I imagined MC2 having for MC1, I had never been able to express that in any particular scene the way this song did. The song was also kind of dark (it was about wanting to destroy someone who hurt the someone the singer loved), & I realized that adding a scene early in the story would foreshadow MC1's concerns about MC2's darkness later in the story. Hitting repeat on the CD player, I listened to that same song while I thought about where this new scene I was imagining best fit into the story.

Of course, some scenes are difficult to find songs for, while others end up with five different possibilities, but these are always made up for when I find the one song that perfectly matches with what I've written (or plan to write).

[goatpiper]

I like to use music I could imagine as the soundtrack for a movie version of my story, but I don't actually make soundtracks (but that's really cool).
I listen to a lot of Tool, Clutch, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Beethoven, NIN, Queens of the Stone Age - that's the main stuff, at least...

[RubyRoo]

I think of what I'm going to write and normally I get this peice of music just coming at me which adds to the mood...if not I have back up pieces for each of my characters.:Clap:

[williemeikle]

I always have music on while writing... it drowns out traffic/neighbours/the playing field out the back-door.

Nothing too raucous though ... favourite artists to write too are Gomez, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison

and I've managed a great bit of self-hypnosis over the years. If ever I get stuck, I put on U2's "The Joshua Tree", and the block goes away. It works every time. :)

Willie
http://www.willie.meikle.btinternet.co.uk

[KelseyF]

I find that it's easier for me to really write when there is music playing. After a few minutes, I tune the music out enough so that it's not the only thing I'm focusing on, but I'm not focusing *so* much on my story that I'm worried about and stumbling over every word. Having background music frees up and relaxes my creative mind.

As for what music I listen to... I create a soundtrack for each project before I start. Procrastinating, maybe, because I spend a lot of time on it, but I've found it often helps with piecing together the story as well. My current WIP is a children's adventure story where the main character is a 10 year old girl. I've got a lot of Avril Lavigne, as well as Russian music.

[mesh138]

"Jane Doe" by the band Converge makes me write to avoid having to focus on the music. Listen to sound clips on Amazon and you'll see why. I love it.