Nathan Bransford - The Forums

When I'm writing I HAVE to have music going. It can't be just any music either. Classical, and it has to be something I already know really well so my mind can sort of tune it out, yet still keep the emotions and ideas flowing. What about you? Do you need background music?

As I've mentioned before in similiar threads, I can't have music playing when I write. For me, it interferes with the rhythm of the prose. However, I do have music I listen to in order to get into the right frame of mind for the story. For my current WIP (urban fantasy), I've been listening to Florence + The Machine, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather, and a tiny bit of Justin Nozuka (love his music but most of it isn't right for this story).

It varies according to my mood. Sometimes it's techno, sometimes it's show tunes, classic rock, whatever. Usually I pick a song or two that get me in the mood, and then once I'm off and running it can be anything as long as it's music I like. Bad songs will yank my attention out of what I'm doing, so I can't listen to the radio or whatever's on at Starbucks. Thank goodness for Rhapsody.

I have music playing in the background most of the time, but it comes from a very specific list of tunes I know by heart. Something new is too distracting, especially since I first pay attention to lyrics. Also, I listen to French music when I write in English, which prevents any language interference (such as writing a word I just heard).

But yes, most of the time I will have music on.

Since none of the music I listen to on the radio fits the moods of my stories (Horror, True Crime, Sci Fi, Some Fantasy), I generally write my own music.

Michael doesn't listen to music while writing fiction (though he is a huge fan of Gothic/Industrial, which he listens to if he's working on something else).
While working on Forgotten Gods (our novel), I had an almost exclusively Scottish Celtic soundtrack: Silly Wizard, Tannahill Weavers, Alasdair Fraser, Jerry Holland...When I'm writing non-fiction, I usually listen to rock of some kind: right now, my dissertation soundtrack is the Barenaked Ladies and the Dropkick Murphys (my undergrad thesis soundtrack was all Beatles).

I need quiet to compose. Thinking through plot lines, problems, even editing sometimes, I like to hang out in public spaces, usually cafes, and if the music is something that doesn't pull at my attention it's sometimes helpful (baroque classical, opera, lyrics in a language I don't understand, are best). Mostly I want to be in the prose, with all my senses.

I actually have different playlists for different characters. Everyone gets a song that has something to do with their mood or their situation. Normally I'll listen to it before I start writing, while I'm checking emails or something, just to get into the mindset.

While I'm actually writing, anything goes. Lately it's been a lot of classic seventies rock. Most of the time I don't really hear the music though. I'll work for a while and then realise I didn't hear a particular song because I was so focussed on writing.

Jen

I have a few songs that, when I hear them, I think of a particular character. The music becomes that character's theme song. However, when that happens, I can no longer listen to that music when I write (unless I'm focusing on that particular character) . Thank the Gods there is an endless supply of good, inspiring music! :)

I have a playlist for whatever I'm writing, but I generally only use it to get to a certain place emotionally and then I need complete silence to accomplish any actual writing. I find music quite helpful, especially if you only have a short amount of time to sit down and write and you're saying to yourself, "OK, hurry up and get really sad so you can write this scene."

I tend to listen to music without words (Enya) or music that I know by heart (Dave Matthews Band, U2). Otherwise, I can't write. But, usually, I don't listen to music at all. It doesn't really make the writing any better. I only listen to it when I'm on the train and I need to drown out the neighboring conversations.

I often write to music, even when alone. I use different music for different tasks. When I'm in "creative" mode, actively putting a new part of the story on the page, it's some kind of soft music that I've heard many times before. Norah Jones usually does the trick. When I'm editing or proofreading, I find I prefer something with more of a rock beat to it, often Meat Loaf or Melissa Etheridge.

I have this weird nack of finding new music that I designate as "the soundtrack" for that WIP. Sometimes it's experimental house music, gentle ambient stuff, movie soundtracks, or even more lyrical stuff like Linkin Park or Foo Fighters.

All in all though, I like the soundtrack/ambient stuff best cause I can put my own images in my head and create the mood of the scene with it.

I usually write with iTunes on shuffle.

It's constantly changing for me. Sometimes it's hard rock, sometimes it's classical medleys, sometimes it's gothic rock/stuff with Latin lyrics. Whatever it is, it usually has to have a rhythm similar to whatever scene I'm writing. Heck, even OSTs from video games work sometimes (I know, I'm a geek. But I'm 16! It's still okay!), but they have to be fairly recent soundtracks--all the old ones are just mechanical noises.