Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion

I can't have music at all when writing. For me it's the worst distraction that can be. I find myself daydreaming listening to the music with not one word written.

I just put pandora on and put in my current favorite artist. I mostly favor R&B and Hip Hop type music. I do like some others also like Adele, KT Tunstall, Lorde, etc.. I don't switch it up based on the scene I'm writing. It's mostly background noise.

Always music. I have an iTunes playlist called "No Distractions" that's mostly instrumental songs, but I can write to anything. I have another playlist of songs related to one particular book that I've been working on forever, but mostly I'm not using music for inspiration—it just helps to block out the other random noises that get in the way of my concentration.

Brian wrote: "I just put pandora on and put in my current favorite artist. I mostly favor R&B and Hip Hop type music. I do like some others also like Adele, KT Tunstall, Lorde, etc.. I don't switch it up bas..."

Adele is my go to haha. It's just nice calm background music. Sometimes I switch it up…actually yeah I do, but not really depending on the scene i'm writing but if Im writing vs editing. When I write it's mostly like poppy Kesha-like music (hey, no judging here :p) or House Music, or if I'm editing then softer music like Adele. But I mainly keep everything super quiet just enough to distort the silence so I don't get anxious xp

Jessica wrote: "One thing that's very important to me while I'm writing is music... what kinds of music do you listen to while writing? Do you make playlists based on the theme of your novels?"

I almost always have music on while I write, it really helps me. I do have multiple playlists set up based on genre and tone, but I also have some lists of songs that I can put on repeat and write for hours. Sometimes just one song on a loop. I use soundracks for certain genres, but for my main listening I tend to use pop music bcs my mind tends to just drift away and stop listening to it after a while.

Usually it's Nature music (Nature Quest has a number of CD's), or Enya, sometimes Gordon Lightfoot, depending on how much concentration and focus I need.

I prefer to listen music when I write. My writing playlist currently has an overabundance of psychobilly but it also has a healthy mix of metal (all generations), punk, ska, rap (all generations), rock (classic and new), show tunes, pop (all generations, oldies, Celtic, and anything else you can imagine.

I've just fallen in love with the soundtracks for Game of Thrones ... will be doing my next stint of writing with these playing :)

I can only listen to soundtracks or instrumentals. Anything with words has me singing along.

Definitely. I even have songs tailored for each character and when I write scenes for them, I have to listen to a song from their playlist on repeat. It sets the mood. My faves for my recent novel are: The 1975, The Neighbourhood, OneRepublic, Kelly Clarkson, Garbage, Black Veil Brides, and Shinedown. A mix of everything. :)

Pretty sure I have some sort of auditory disorder. My concentration flies out the window when music is played. My writing partner is just the opposite. It's all music all the time for him. We work in separate rooms...

Music is a very big part of my writing. I will put on one song and play it over and over, or I will put on one of my playlists on repeat. I am writing a piece of fiction for one of my books. A kind of side story for a couple of my characters that a song I heard brought about. Right now I'm on the second half of the story and I have a completely different song than what I started with, and the words are flowing.

I have a playlist for projects and the music creates a mood within me whether I'm listening to it or not. For the novel ms. that's currently "on hiatus" I used Karla Bonoff's version of "The Water is Wide" to inform the first chapter. In fact, the narrator sings it to an ailing character. The current project set in space station features lots of Pink Floyd and NIN.

I've blogged about my music before but this week I'm listening to a lot of Trentemøller and a little Sia.

I can't do anything without music. It helps me focus :3

I too can't focus half so well when I'm writing without music ... and agree too on other comments that instrumentals are the best for me (lyrics pull me in too easily as well ... it must be something about the human voice) ... so funny @ Therese - writing in seperate rooms! Yeah, you would have to :D
This is such a lovely thread, seeing all the differences AND the similarities.
This whole group (huge thanks to Bisky)has helped to show me how abnormally normal I am - lol ! At least amongst writing folk :)
Another great soundtrack (instrumental) is Lord of the Rings ...

I always loved the soundtrack of The Man in the Iron Mask... Although I don't listen to it much anymore.

Harmony wrote: "I too can't focus half so well when I'm writing without music ... and agree too on other comments that instrumentals are the best for me (lyrics pull me in too easily as well ... it must be somethi..."

LOVE Lord of the Rings. Especially Fellowship. My new favorite is Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

I can't write unless i have music on. I've made more playlists for it then i can bring up here, but they basically fall into two categories, my version of slow, and my version of uptempo. I see a lot of people here like wordless soundtracks, but that's just not my thing, and if I put it on I'd be falling asleep quickly. My version of slow, which i put on in my quieter moods is filled with Paul Weller, Oasis, The Smiths, The Stereophonics, Kasabian, The Editors, and a few other English bands. My Rock Out mix, which gets me writing at twice the speed, and makes sense if you grew up in the Metal Driven Eighties, has AC/AD, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Fastway, Led Zeppelin, Rival Sons, Whitesnake, Gentlemen's Pistols, Black Spiders, Montrose, Iron Maiden, and anything else I can find that is completely fast and fun. But that's just right now, I go through phases, I'm always looking for good albums, and when i find a good one I throw it on and play it until I can't listen to it anymore. Sometimes i tune out the words, sometimes i sing along, sometimes i run into the other room and attempt to play my guitar, but I always have something on when I'm writing. But I never, ever, ever have the TV on, because that completely distracts me, no matter whats on. Music yes, TV no.

Rick wrote: "I can't write unless i have music on. I've made more playlists for it then i can bring up here, but they basically fall into two categories, my version of slow, and my version of uptempo. I see a..."

Rock on!

Chillstep, trance, house... I like to listen to electronic music when I'm writing. It get's me in that other-worldly zone. Pop songs (specifically those found on the radio) only pull me back into the real world.

@Kevin Mr.Suicidesheep? xD

When I was working on a rough draft for a paper for my literature class, I was listening to Pokemon game soundtracks---the battle music helped me imagine the typing as a Pokemon battle and my Professor as a tough gym leader or Team Flare/Rocket boss or someone. xD

For writing fiction, I usually don't have music playing--sometimes I play wordless soundtrack music. :3

Lindsey Sterling on Pandora has been my favorite lately, although this past week I've been writing in silence. For me, the music needs to be a part of the background and "move" the story for it to work for me instead of against me.

@Bisky, hell yeah! Usually I listen to my own playlists on my computer, but I also like checking out new stuff on MrSuicideSheep, Liquidity and OnlyChillstep via the Youtube. I also like SoundCloud, though they've got some pretty awful mixes you've got to wade through to get to the good stuff.

My spotify has started to recommend me some decent stuff recently. Which I'm happy about because its higher quality than YouTube xP *huggles super awesome headphones*

I don't know if this is right, but I believe most of the stuff on Suicide is more independant stuff? That just makes me want to listen to it more #IndieArtistsFTW ^-^

Grooveshark is a great site. You can listen to whatever you can find I'm search, favourite songs and build your own playlists without having to download or pay for the songs. You leave it to run in the background while you work. Only problem is it requires an internet connection, so if you're in a place where you don't have one, you can't use it.

Aye, that's why I have spotify for the offline function. I have an 'anime openings' playlist on Grooveshark just because everyone needs alittle anime music in their life :p

@Bisky - I second that. :3 I probably said this before, but I like to listen to anime music because I don't understand the words, so I don't get distracted by the words---though I usually listen to anime music when drawing rather than writing. :3

Well now if you are talking about music and drawing, then YES, I need my music to draw!

Breaking Benjamin!? Saw them twice in Toledo & have a tour shirt. Great songs & band. My daughter says Ben's playing again after health hiatus.

I have to have classical music playing while I'm working. You do know that listening to Mozart is supposed to stimulate the little grey cells, don't you? I either have on Classic FM (not too high-brow so it doesn't require massive concentration) or one of my CDs. When away from home I have my I-Pod which is LOADED with all my favourite pieces of music.

@Bisky, that's the great thing about electronic music. There are a lot more indie artists out there, because all you need is some basic audio software to make it... and talent. Can't forget that.

@Josh, anime music, huh? I never got into that, though I listen to a little J-pop every now and then. I'm half-Japanese, so it's kind of a requirement in my family, and it does make for decent background music. I do understand the language a little, but I've got to be paying close attention for that to distract me.

Hurray for semi-distracting, but not totally-distracting music! It's a hard balance to find.

Willow, yes to angst.

@Josh & Kevin. You don't know how annoyed I was that the opening for Deadman Wonderland was in English. Such a great song but I can't use it without wanting to sing along, haha.

Not that I don't sing along sometimes anyway and murder the language :|

I love to buy indie music becuase I feel like I'm investing in talent other than some singer's diamond teeth implants.

Brian wrote: "I just put pandora on ..."

Me, too! I have a Writing Playlist on Pandora based on a selection of songs that I think suit the mood I'm after... Because some of the artists I like might only have one or two songs that suit the mood (like Lene Marlin and Outlandish), the playlist has a few odd entries come up now and then, but most of the time it's great. And then I have my own local playlist if Pandora isn't getting it right (I just like Pandora for introducing me to new muslc that might also suit).

I keep a similar playlist in my car so I can try to get in the mood for writing when driving home from work... just a shame I have to collect the toddler from Kindy and put Michael Jackson on to please him for the last leg of the trip... don't get me wrong, MJ rocks, but, for writing... not so much...

So, the kind of music I listen to would tend to fit under "angst", like many of the rest of you... I like: Sixx a.m., Deftones, Rob Zombie, Our Lady Peace, Candlebox, some Radiohead, dEUS, Niaz Diasamidze, Silversun Pickups, Vad Fruttik, Tool, The Feelers, Anika Moa, Heather Nova, Florence and the Machine, the entire "The Crow" soundtrack... All sorts.

Why can't we get pandora in europe >_>

@Kevin/Bisky - Sometimes I get tired of anime music like with any music xD

I like the Deadman Wonderland song, but hearing bits of English is a tad strange in some songs--I'm guessing it's weird to Japanese folks hearing Japanese bits in English songs or Spanish/Mexican/South American folks hearing Spanish bits in English/whatever songs. The singers of the Deadman Wonderland song pull of English pretty well, though. :3

Do you have any indie artists to recommend? :3

@Deb Sixx A.M. *high five*

Bisky wrote: "Why can't we get pandora in europe >_>"

Oh, that sucks. We get it here in New Zealand... Must be some sort of licencing laws, or something. I really wish that mechanisms for artists (musicians, visual artists, writers, etc) sharing their work with the public (and earning from it) was simple!

The Singers of the dead man wonderland song are american but their guitarist is Japanese :p I looked it up.

I have to deal with spotify :[

I like to listen to stuff that's relatively soft, slow, and not overly mainstream, I guess because I'm writing a historical and thus want to feel like I'm leaving the modern age behind for a while.

I listen to a lot of New Age-y stuff (e.g. Secret Garden, Ah Nee Mah, or this awesome German group I discovered called Elane) and epic movie scores (e.g. Transformers, Gravity), or at least those tracks from the scores that are mellow. I like listening to movie scores in general, but if it's got a lot of brass or strong beats to it (e.g. Pacific Rim), I can't write to it.

We don't get Spotify or Pandora in Canada.

I wish I could listen to music and write! Alas, the only music I can tolerate when writing is soft instrumental or new age.

@Debbie why not both? #Chillstep

New song I am currently writing to (which means I'm listening to it over and over and over) is Say Something by Big World and Christina Agularia (sp). For some reason on this particular story the song just speaks to me.

Chillstep? Will have to check that out.

Janna G. Noelle wrote: "I like to listen to stuff that's relatively soft, slow, and not overly mainstream, I guess because I'm writing a historical and thus want to feel like I'm leaving the modern age behind for a while...."

@Janna - thanks for some specific new age music suggestions!

@Debbie I hope you love them as much as I do!

I have a playlist of instrumental music on my PC (72 hours long, so I don't get bored of it!) that I write to - mostly 'classical' (actually, technically mostly 'Romantic'), but it also includes stuff like Mike Oldfield, Carthy & Swarbrick, Focus, Joe Satriani, Ozric Tentacles, Chimp Spanner, Nightwish (the extra instrumental-version-of-the-album CDs do come in handy!) and quite a bit of bagpipe music. I like all kinds of stuff really (although metal is very much my main 'thing'), and can listen to pretty much anything when I'm writing (OK, not electronic dance stuff - can't be doing with that!), as long as there are no words - it's only words that put me right off.

Hah eletronic dance stuff makes up most of my playlist :p except the soundtrack to Sharpe, that's got bag pipes :p

I also have the Sharpe soundtrack, as it happens. John Tams has one of my favourite singing voices of all time (I'm a sucker for singers who sing in their own accent).

Hehehe, this is an interesting topic. :D

There isn't a particular playlist or song my Winamp is playing when I write, but I spend tons of time to find a song at that very moment that will get me that needed vibe so I could express myself in best possible way. I know it is kinda strange and a bit wasting of creative time, but that works for me. xD