Young Writers discussion

Ah, music. So inspiring!

- Do you listen to music when you write?
- Are there any songs/artists that particularly inspire you?
- Do you have any playlists based on your stories, and/or playlists you like to listen to while writing?

Post about any music-related inspiration here!

I listen to the score of the movie Vertigo (yes, the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock one)! There are some really beautiful songs on it. Bernard Herrman film scores are beautiful in general and I'll listen to most of his stuff while I'm writing.

I listen to a lot of things, but mostly what fits my mood. I listen to Lindsey Stirling, Jenny Oaks Baker, and Piano Guys. I'll normally put a song on repeat if it describes the feeling of the scene or poem and listen to it until I'm done writing.

@Hayden - Yes, film scores are always good! :)

@Allison - Cool, I sometimes listen to Lindsey Stirling while writing; her music has a very "epic" feel to it. :D

I really love listening to her when I'm writing my more adventure-y novels. Puts me in the mood :)

Allison ~God's NOT dead~ wrote: "I really love listening to her when I'm writing my more adventure-y novels. Puts me in the mood :)"

Me too. :D

BTW, I posted a Wordless Writing Music playlist on 8tracks a while ago that I'm pretty proud of. I'll probably make more eventually.

I can't write unless I have music. Usually, I tend to skip around when it comes to composers and/or genres of songs; anything that fits the "mood" of whatever I'm working on is added to the appropriate playlist.

For my WiP, I've been listening to a lot of James Newton Howard, mainly his work from The Village and Lady in the Water. To be frank, I'm not sure I would have been able to finish the book if it weren't for the music.

I pretty much always listen to music when I write, but it has to match the style of whatever I'm writing (which is usually T2010NNWTCCT) or get in the way of my thoughts, otherwise I just find it gets on my nerves.
A good deal of the music I listen to is classical/instrumental, and so a lot of that I write too also. At the moment my favourite things are Grieg's works for piano (especially his lyric pieces, all ten books of which I have on my iPod because I am a loser) Chopin's waltzes and preludes, Paganini's caprices, and everything by Borodin and Liszt. I've also been listening to the soundtrack to the film La Reine Margot lately as it suits the tone and style I'm going for, i.e everything is very dark and...old (the score relies a lot upon traditional music/influences that give it a strange timeless quality). That said, there are some singers I listen to: Simone White, Ólöf Arnalds, Laura Marling, and Regina Spektor - for the latter I have a playlist specifically for T2010NN (as well as all her albums I have on my iPod loads of terrible low-quality recordings of her live performances and demos and other things, and quite a lot of them suit the things I write) as well as a more general playlist for the book.

(Brigid! I have just followed you on 8tracks! I use it often for writing also.)

Ah so that was you, Tesni! :D I will follow you back!

Tesni wrote: "I pretty much always listen to music when I write, but it has to match the style of whatever I'm writing (which is usually T2010NNWTCCT) or get in the way of my thoughts, otherwise I just find it g..."

Dude. And I thought I listened to a lot.

For when I write what I listen to is The Neighbourhood aka The NBHD. And yea, I know their songs are like totally depressing but they actuals really help me flow whilst writing. Like their music just opens up my mind, and it's sad since they're not even my favourite band, I don't think. Oh no!

I love The Neighbourhood! Got to see them last summer. :) And yes there is a nice dark mood to their music which is good for writing to!

What would you say is your favourite song from The Neighbourhood?

Bidemi wrote: "What would you say is your favourite song from The Neighbourhood?"

I think "Afraid" is my favorite. :) How about you?

Pooh that's a hard one I guess I like all their songs but especially Let it go which they used in The Originals and is the only reason I actually came to knowing them. Its between Let it go and Me and my bitch.

When I wrote my novel I listened to a lot of 50s music too, for obvious reasons. xP I made a playlist of 50s songs for Ben and Josh.

All the questions above: YES. I have a huge playlist of soundtracks and songs.

thread revival: since the spring I've been really, really into Corsican polyphony and I can't remember if I've ever mentioned it before but I really should have.
I was listening to Radio Three one lunchtime (as most lunchtimes) and there was a programme on about Napoléon: the music that was written for him, inspired by him, was of his day, etc. etc. Because he was Corsican, the first piece they played was the traditional song A Violetta as a demonstration of the sort of thing he would have heard growing up. It was so so beautiful I had to stop my cooking and just listen to it. One song led to another and now I listen to it very often when I write - usually I prefer instrumental things to write to because I get distracted by the words, but the sound of it is so lovely and has the same texture to a group of instruments.

There is a lot of variation because it's all a-capella and sometimes improvised so because I am a loser I have compiled my top five versions and you should listen to one or all of them and come to the dark side that is polyphony:

(ofc I do not speak any Corsican but from my French and some educated guesswork it's about a man called Peppì who asks a beautiful girl called Cecilia to accompany him to war and she refuses because she doesn't want to 'sleep in the earth' - that is, to die - but he tells her she'll sleep on a bed of flowers instead, and so in the end I'm p. sure she follows him)

this one, the master song,the song of songs, the definitive one

this one because it is quite mellow and darker than a lot of the others

this one which sounds really...grand and sweeping

I cannot find it online but #4 is a lovely version on the album Polyphonies Corses by Les Voix de l'Emotion.

this one (Voce di Corsica are one of the most famous polyphonic groups today).

Ooh thanks Tesni, I will have to check those out later!

And thanks for reviving this topic ... I kind of had forgotten it existed. :P I'll have to post some playlists I've made recently!

REQUIEM! WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART! Also nocturne op 9 no 2 by frederic chopin

I just discovered Imagine Dragons and I am hooked. It makes me want to write a post-apocalyptic or dystopian novel.