Friday, April 1, 2011

Music and Writing

I was going to do an awesome April Fools thing today, but really couldn't bring myself to do it. Probably because I couldn't think of anything cool enough to post. So, today I'm going to talk about music.How many of you write to music? Show of hands? ;)

When I first started writing, I could only write to silence. Like, no sound at all. I'd make my hubby plug in his headphones to watch t.v. I couldn't concentrate if there was anything else going on in the room.

Now, I'm the one who has headphones or ear-buds in.

I find I can get further into my characters heads when I'm listening to music. If I'm writing a lovey dovey scene, I turn on a lovey dovey song that reminds me of the happy couple. If I'm writing an action scene, I turn on some of my instrumental stuff. I don't know why music gets the story flowing for me. It just works. I don't know why I suddenly changed either. From silence to music? Beats me! :)

Anyway, I think music is so inspiring. I love it. It makes me happy. If you haven't ever tried writing with music, you should try it sometime. I never thought I'd like it, but now I can't write without it.

Some of my favorites?
Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Sherlock Holmes, Taylor Swift, Paramore, and a TON of others.

What are your favorite tunes to write to? Any suggestions on some great soundtracks?

Don't forget to enter my contest here. Have a great weekend!

9 comments:

Michelle Merrill said...

I used to need silence. Then I wrote a book in a month and had to get over the silence thing so I could write when my kids were awake. I still can't write to music but I suspect the time will come. I do think music is inspirational!

Kayeleen Hamblin said...

I wish I could write to music. Usually, what I'm writing to us Dora the Exolorer, Go Diego Go, Wonderpets, Thomas and Friends, or Caillou. The joys of toddlers at home.

Lindz Pagel said...

I love all the soundtracks you mentioned, my only issue with them is that they are so iconic that I cannot associate them with my story. It feels wrong trying to write my story while listening to LOTR (despite how amazing it really is). I like to challenge myself to find less recognizable scores to write to, some of my favorites are:
Gattaca, The Fountain, Defiance, A Very Long Engagement, The Tudors, and The Last Samurai... The list could go on. :)

Trisha said...

I definitely can't narrow my music down to just the one song. Heck, I've got not just hundreds but thousands to choose from! I have always been one who listened to music while writing - whether it was a uni essay or something for my own writing fun.

KM Nalle said...

I can listen to music before I start writing - to get me into the mood, but I prefer to do tha actual writing in silence. Even when I play music, as soon as I get into the writing, I stop listening.

Anonymous said...

I love the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack! My iPod is a mess. I've got everything from metal, grunge, electronic, piano and ambient. I guess I'm just cool like that. ;) I've recently realized I can't write my WIP to music, but Bleeding Me by Metallica (and other lonely ideas) inspired one of my novels, so music is a huge factor in my writing.

Chantele Sedgwick said...

@Kayeleen Hamblin I know the feeling. Toddlers make writing so hard!! I'm surprised my books aren't filled with characters named Diego or Dora! lol
@Lindz Pagel I agree with the soundtracks being iconic. I have to switch it up a lot. Find soundtracks on the internet that I can't associate to a movie. Thanks for the suggestions!!

Chantele Sedgwick said...

@Michelle MerrillI used to need silence as well. Now with the kids...not so much. :)
@Trisha I agree. I have a ton of music on my mp3 player. Whatever kind of scene I'm writing, I definitely have something to write to! :)
@Kari Marie I used to do that, but now I have to have music going while I write as well. :)
@Madeline Bartos I like a little of everything as well. Metallica is awesome! :D

Melanie Stanford said...

I HAVE to write to music. It's a must. I like classical most of the time but love songs for love scenes aand I found Simple Plan to be excellent for my battle scenes. Music is so inspiring!