When I'm struggling to finish a chapter, I'll usually get on youtube and put on some music to get my head in the right place. I find it really helps with writer's block, and gets me in the mood to put more words down. I usually look for something that fits the moods of my story, so when I'm writing fantasy for example, I'll listen to soundtracks from LOTR or a video game. I'm a massive nerd that way. I'll also sometimes put on some classical music if I'm feeling more cultured. For a sci-fi story, I'll find some synthy dance music instead. Does anyone else listen to music while writing? What kind do you prefer?
AHHH, a topic I have and gone on for a LONG period of time about. I listen to a lot of 80s, Power Metal, punk rock, Bluegrass, Film Scores preferring Alan Silevestri and James Horner although I LOVE me some Mancini, Classical when I'm looking to get epic, usually Verdi or Beethoven even though I know that means that if they ever make a movie of my life I'm guaranteed to be a villain. Occasional old school 80's rap, specifically Run DMC and that ilk when I'm feeling weird, Weird Al and Ray Stevens when I'm looking to just TOTALLY weird out, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, George Harrison and the Traveling wilburys are great for road scenes... aaaand anything Muppets pre-Disney corporate Buyout.
It's just a grab-bag for me, either Youtube or Spotify. I get pretty lucky with Spotify's Discover list sometimes! The Umineko No Naku Koro Ni complete OST on Youtube is two-hundred tracks and several hours long, if you ever need something for a long writing spell... Just saying...
Only the best music for me: Okay, but for real, I normally just jam a variety of post-hardcore bands like The Blood Brothers, Dance Gavin Dance, Thrice, Thursday etc. If I feel I need something a little more relaxed and non-vocal I either reach for some Strawberry Girls or the Max Payne 3 soundtrack composed by Health.
I also tend to prefer music without singing is I’m doing something I need to focus on. Sometimes I’ll listen to music from my youth like Britpop that I can enjoy in the background because it’s so familiar. But normally it’s ambient music like Brian Eno (his Ambient 1 Music for Airports basically created the genre and is still incredible). I also dabble in movie and video game scores and soundtracks.
Film and tv soundtracks for me too. Tron Legacy and Dredd (2012) are the ones I keep coming back too. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA0297420F2C5554C https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8BoJZoO5JxKpA9kWFugZb_HUxVDBeBzM The Westworld soundtrack is pretty good too
