Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Complete silence.

White noise.

Dave Matthews Band loud and clear.

Every writer has their own writing environment. Some use music to inspire their writing. Others wear earplubs in the basement corner "office".

What works for you?

Rebecca
http://rebeccakielpages.blogspot.com/

I listen to mostly classical and movie/game soundtracks.

I have trouble working with any noise around me, with the exception of airplane noise. I write very well when flying, except when my three-year old is along for the trip. Then I can't do anything except hold on for dear life and try to keep him off of other people's laps and out of the way of the drink cart.

It depends on the character whose perspective I'm writing from, but some general ones - Breaking Benjamin, Disturbed, MCR, Skillet, TFK... all that stuff that, when I listen to it, I start writing scenes in my head without meaning to.

Cookie wrote:I listen to mostly classical and movie/game soundtracks.

Me too!

Any type of music interferes with listening to the rhythm of the words in my head. Sounds are usually okay, such as the furnace fan or a leaf blower outside. I do like to hear music on breaks from writing during the day.

I can't write with music playing. Although I can block out the music playing if I'm somewhere busy and nosy, like a coffee shop, but otherwise I write in general silence.

I do have a soundtrack of music that reminds me of the story and inspires me that I listen to when I am not writing, especially when I'm at the gym.

Mostly I listen to my normal music, on low when writing. I don't really hear it much, but without it, things feel too quiet. Sometimes, though, I'll pick a song or genre appropriate to a scene, and that can help. A mellow relaxing melody might not put me in the right mindset for a fast-paced action scene, for example.

When righting a luau-like party, I had to buy a Polynesian drumbeat off iTunes.

I usually setup a soundtrack for my actual WIP what I listen at specific scenes, like if it would be a movie. These musics could be anything from Immediate Music, X-Ray Dog, Two Steps from Hell, Future World Music, Non Stop Music or the already liecensed soundtracks of my fantasy.

Falls Apart wrote:...Skillet...

Best. Band. Ever! One of my best memories is being so close to the stage at a Skillet concert that I could have touched John Cooper's shoes.

Onto the subject at hand...

I hate silence. I have to have something going when I'm alone, otherwise I start getting twitchy and paranoid (unless I'm reading, then I can't have anything on or it'll distract me from the story). I don't often listen to music, because my thoughts wander far too much with the mood of the song. I can't focus on a single scene when the music changes, even within a genre.

I write to movies. It can be any movie that I really like, preferably one I've seen a gazillion times, but when I really want to rock the writing I put on movies that are similar to my books - Harry Potter marathons, LOTR marathons, and others like Inkheart, Stardust, Narnia, The 10th Kingdom, etc. are my favorite things to write to. I've also been known to write to Disney marathons and movies like The Italian Job, National Treasure, and things like that.

I think subconsciously following/analyzing the plots of these movies helps keep my mind in line, so that I follow and analyze my own plot along the way.

Lol my only soundtrack is the typing on my computer hahaha. I have siblings who yell and run around, so I can work in the loudest environments. When they're asleep, I can also work, so I suppose I can work in the quietest environments as well, so it's kind of funny that it's impossible for me to work with music...at least if I'm using ear buds. If it's playing out of a speaker, I just tend to ignore it rather than listen to it, so in that case it just becomes random noise like in the case of the adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

I'm finding more and more that I have to have a specific soundtrack in order to work, along with being alone. I find it very difficult to work when I with people in my house. (not when I'm at a coffeeshop or something) But yes, I make a unique soundtrack from every WIP. It morphs throughout the process, but I listen to that almost exclusively while writing.

CV

dios4vida wrote:when I really want to rock the writing I put on movies that are similar to my books - Harry Potter marathons, LOTR marathons, and others like Inkheart, Stardust, Narnia, The 10th Kingdom, etc. are my favorite things to write to.

Um...Brenda, I totally heart your movie collection!

When I'm writing, I have to have music! The words just don't flow as well in silence. Usually, I pick whichever one of my Pandora stations will put me in the right mood for the section I'm working on (I have lots!), or I'll put on a great soundtrack like Last of the Mohicans, LOTR, Titanic (my novel was about ships, okay...it fit), Prince of Egypt, etc. It really varies!

Nicole R wrote:

dios4vida wrote:when I really want to rock the writing I put on movies that are similar to my books - Harry Potter marathons, LOTR marathons, and others like Inkheart, Stardust, Narnia, The 10th Kingdom, etc. are my favorite things to write to.

Um...Brenda, I totally heart your movie collection!

When I'm writing, I have to have music! The words just don't flow as well in silence. Usually, I pick whichever one of my Pandora stations will put me in the right mood for the section I'm working on (I have lots!), or I'll put on a great soundtrack like Last of the Mohicans, LOTR, Titanic (my novel was about ships, okay...it fit), Prince of Egypt, etc. It really varies!

Stardust is probably my favorite movie. I liked the book a lot, but I saw the movie first, and it really captured me.

I like complete silence when I write.

But I do have one novel that has a complete soundtrack addendum that connects into and complements the plot. I didn't plan for it, but it worked, sort of as a part of the "movie in my head" as I was writing!