How about you? What's on your soundtrack? Do you create a specific playlist? Do you write to the same music all the time, or does each work get its own "album?"
Friday, October 5, 2012
Fridaydream: your writing soundtrack.
I am sure lots of writers have a "soundtrack" for their writing time: a collection of musical pieces you listen to when you sit down to work (or, y'know, get on your treadmill desk.) I don't remember ever seeing anyone specifically mention it in their acknowledgments page, though, until Stephenie Meyer's acknowledgments for the Twilight books, where she lists the band Muse as an important influence on her writing.
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I prefer to write without music, but whenever I need to get up and DO STUFF, my go-to motivational piece is Sing, Sing, Sing, by Louis Prima, as performed by Benny Goodman and company: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A&feature=related
I blame Woody Allen movies.
I usually just write to the same music (an eclectic collection of favorites on my iPod), though I'll sometimes pause and put particular songs on repeat when they seem to be striking the right mood for the scene I'm writing.
Each of my novels introduces readers to a foreign country and its music. In each storyline the heroine listens to songs from the foreign country and readers are encourage to listen to these songs on YouTube, while reading the novel. Hence, I listen to many foreign songs while writing the novels and insert the ones that I like into the storyline.
I have really specific music for specific projects - usually a few artists/albums that help me drop into whatever I'm writing about. (This drives my husband crazy, because I'll be listening to the same thing over and over again when I'm writing.) Usually by the time I'm getting to the end of working on a project particular songs are associated with particular scenes, so I can get myself into a scene just by listening to whatever song it is.
I don't think I'd want to tell anyone what I'd been listening to while writing though. I'd rather let readers come up with their own soundtrack!
I always write with music when I can. I have a pair of those gigantic headphones that look like Princess Leia buns because I kinda need to block out ALL the noise and only hear the music. For me, it's all about the rhythm rather than the actual song. The last book I finished was written, in its entirety (rewrites and all) to Tubular Bells (the theme from the Excorcist...hahaha!) This time around, I've been writing to an old Christmas song (Ding Dong Merrily on High...wtf???) I have learned not to question the weirdness. I just go with it.
Kara, agreed that it's often more about the rhythm than anything else. The current chapter I'm writing is involving much Rachmaninoff...
Every book I write has a sound track, and they are all wildly different. I don't choose this at the beginning, but as I come across songs that remind me of a particular place or character, I take note. Then when I want inspiration, I listen to that song and I often find ideas sparked from the connections to the music. Sound is important, but usually its the lyrics that "speak" to me. :)
You should check out Kim Harrison's website. She has (or used to anyway) a whole page devoted to songs that invoke her Hallows characters!
I create a playlist with lots of instrumental music on it. Movie soundtracks work best for me.
I love writing to movie soundtracks, or those bands who make music similar like Two Steps to Hell (which is actually a really cool group that does a lot of symphonic compositions)
I'm totally the person who thanks bands in their acknowledgments page. Crap, does that mean I pulled a SMeyer...?
I don't listen to music when I write. I do when I'm brainstorming, though.
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