Music To Write To

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Blogging 101 Assignment #9

I am building a post from a comment I made yesterday.  The strange thing is, it’s a comment that I made to a blogger who commented on the post I created to show the sites I had commented on for homework.  Did you get all that?  Good, because there is a test at the end.

The comment was about a song lyric she had posted on her about page.  It got me thinking about how music can spark memory and also, as a writer, how I use it to fuel moments of my writing.

So I thought I would share a short list of songs and soundtracks that I listen to while writing and why I use them. 


Most of the music I listen to comes from soundtracks.  Songs with lyrics tend to distract me while composed music from orchestras gets me into the moods and moments of the films they were created for and I find that can help stoke the fire. 

For intense battle scenes with buildup: Battlestar Galactica  – Kara Remembers

Galactica is awesome for several reasons.  I love taiko drums, bagpipes, and the piano.  The combination of these things is more amazing than I could ever have imagined. 

For betrayal, anguish, and death scenes:  Braveheart – Betrayal and Desolation

This whole score is amazing, but the use of drums is also what gets me.  Awesome. 

For going on a mission or traveling and revelation scenes: Lost – Hollywood and Vines

I love Michael Giacchino’s work.  Again, he makes great use of the piano and strings.  Locke’d Out Again is another one of my favourites of his: 

My list of favourite soundtracks to write to are:

Battlestar Gallactica

Braveheart

Lord of the Rings

The Last Samurai

Lost

Avatar: The Last Airbender (again, the taiko drums are awesome)

So, what music do you use when you are writing?  What inspires you?  What helps get you into different moods or moments? 

9 thoughts on “Music To Write To”

  1. For me, it really depends. I recently heard a song by Chris Stapleton & now I’m hooked on his music. The style is so soulful – like a local band my husband turned me on to (he is close friends with the lead singer – their band is called Ol’ Jug of Whiskey). Sometimes (especially when working out) I want to rock out to Five Finger Death Punch. When I’m working (pulling stats or writing policies), I like old country music or classical and of course, me & the girls like silly pop music in the truck. Music has the power to transform your mood & transport you to another time & place. I love it!

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  2. I need the music of pure and absolute silence. Ideally, I would have a hermetically-sealed study with a plush leather chair and lots of books and a fireplace and nothing else. But that’s just me, I’m the worst at multitasking and focusing. I love your soundtrack choices just for inspiration… maybe to listen to BEFORE I sit and start writing, to get me pumped and in the mood? =)

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    • I do that sometimes too. It can throw you if it’s in a playlist and the songs shuffle. The mood can be killed as easily as it was built.

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  3. For me music is a distraction unless it’s meditation music. I do my best writing at 4 a.m. in the morning. It’s the best, most quiet and undisturbed by part of the day. After reading this, I am interested in listening to those sound tracks.

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  4. Being a musician… I can get very distracted as my musical mind can become very analytical but I do like it for inspiration. I generally find myself listening to the masters and the pioneers across all genres. Everything from Aboriginal music to Frank Zappa music.

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    • Right before writing something I have to listen to music to get the gears turning. Music triggers very raw emotion and can alter a mood more powerfully than simple dialogue. That is why the score of a film should be as important if not more so than the content.

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  5. I love listening to and singing all different types of music. I actually sing in a large Community Chorus and were singing all Irish music right now for our concert in March. However when I write I need quiet. I sometimes think I have learn to manage undiagnosed attention deficit disorder! I don’t type my stories. I dictate them and go back and clean them up. I lose my flow and expression because I type too slowly. Love Braveheart

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