I recently stumbled upon a tweet asking writers whether they listened to music while writing, and if so, what kind of music it was. There's much debate to be had about listening to music while writing/working. It can set the mood, but it can also distract, and at times even hinder the writer from finding their words. In the past, there have even been occasions where looking for the right soundtrack took longer than the writing session itself! So is it wrong to listen to music? Or can it actually help with writing elements such as consistency in voice? The simple answer is that everyone writes differently, so it depends. Even for a single person many factors can influence how helpful or unhelpful different music can be. I've seen people talk about how even the weather can influence their choice on whether or not to listen to music. So without further ado, let me tell you about all the music I've come across and used in the past! The music of my current project For the project I'm querying, I didn't listen to any specific music. For the one I'm currently working on, however, I really do have particular playlist. Over time, I've curated a playlist made up of mainly ABBA songs, simply because they fit the vibe of the novel. A lot of their songs, in my opinion, fit well to a relationship between two characters that love but also hate each other. And, as the novel I'm writing is an ✨ enemies-to-lovers ✨, the songs couldn't fit better. "The Winner Takes It All", "Angeleyes", "Lay All You Love On Me", the list of perfect songs goes on and on. I'm really glad I found an artist (very niche, may I add!) where I could just pick out so many songs and put them together and create a consistent feel, all while having a variety of songs to work with. In the past, for other projects, finding music that fit the 'vibe' has generally been much much more difficult! Love them or hate them, I also enjoy listening to songs that people use for tiktok edits. That's simply because most songs used for these types of edits have a sort of particular aesthetic. As such, they can help with visualizing scenes of the story, and, quite honestly, they help make the writing feel more epic. Songs I've been listening to a lot in this category are for example Hayloft by Mother Mother, Don't Blame Me by Taylor Swift, or Wannabe by why mona. Speaking of edits, I actually remember hoping to get published and have my novel(s) adapted just so that people would make these types of edits of my characters. This goal dates back to my days in high school but it remains something I'm looking forward to! 😂 Then you also have the classics (no pun intended): classical or soundtrack music that fits the mood of the novel or whatever specific scene you might be writing. Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones music is great for fantasy novels, Batman music for epic scenes, and Detroit Become Human soundtrack for sci-fi leaning stories, and those are just some of my favourite picks. Similarly, one can't forget ambient sounds and soundtracks. So many things are available on youtube these days, where you'll be able to find the most niche ambiences. From The Shire Ambience to Ancient Library Room Ambience, there are so many different sub-genres, you'll be able to find just about everything! Plus, most of the videos are long (over an hour, sometimes even eight hours long), so a video alone can be used for a whole writing session! When writing more specific scenes, it's also interesting to look for particular songs that fit the mood. Especially when writing sad, or 'rock bottom' scenes, there are some specific soundtrack songs that I always listen to. Classics such as Time by Hans Zimmer, or On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter never fail to set the tone. And of course I can't forget to mention my all time favourite sad soundtrack, Haunted Ocean, which is also by Max Richter. Similar to the ambient videos on youtube, an array of lofi-beats videos are available online. Most of these are also very long, or are simply livestreams. Lofi music can be helpful because it also has no singing (most of the time), and it's definitely interesting if you're looking for a more modern beat, rather than soundtrack music that can sometimes feel too 'classical', if you know what I mean. In any case, I'd definitely associate lofi music with more contemporary and YA novels for example. My one issue with lofi is that there seem to be a lot of lofi options to choose from on youtube, but you can still sometimes end up hearing similar sounding songs over and over again, even when you're looking for something new. TL;DR After having written specific scenes, or after wrapping it on a whole novel, it's also interesting to think about what music would accompany the reader, which is another story entirely. What song would play at which part? What soundtrack would accompany the novel's climax? After writing, it's good to go back and find the fitting music, especially when editing to check for consistency in tone. Additionally, there's also the question of diegetic music (yes, I am a film studies graduate, how could you tell?), meaning the music that plays in the novel itself. For example, what music would be playing at the high school party the main character goes to? What music is playing at the club? What playlist does the character listen to on the way to school/uni/work? This music, while associated with the novel itself, isn't necessarily the music you'd listen to while writing, but it's a fun exercice to think about afterwards. I have an example of a playlist I created which you can check out on the DREAMING page. It gives an idea as to what kind of music the character(s) might listen to. Well that's about it for the music, I'll see you all next week with a new topic. Until then, have a good weekend, and write well!
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