I haven’t tried this trick yet, but I hear it works well.

I may just have to put together a few Book Soundtracks!

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By Marybeth on 08.18.09 7:28 am | Permalink

I love the idea of writing with music playing in the background, but the reality is harder for me. I’ve found I write well with non-vocal instrumental music–jazz, new age, and classical.

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

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By Elizabeth Spann Craig on 08.18.09 7:31 am | Permalink

If the ‘mood’ isn’t right, I simply can’t write. Easy as that. I can’t have music with English vocals (classical or foreign is fine), but mostly I need my surroundings to set the mood. My most productive location is the cafe – there’s so much noise that I can easily slip into a pocket of quiet, write for hours, and emerge to suddenly discover that everyone else has gone home and the baristas are closing up. I love it!

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By Faith on 08.18.09 7:52 am | Permalink

I can’t write without music. Although I don’t have to have music to edit, I do turn it on if there are kid noises in the background.

Oh, I found a new artist, Sonnet Simmons, who I adore. You should check her out on youtube, this is the start to her new song, What If. http://www.youtube.com/user/sonnetsings#play/all/uploads-all/1/PL9qjKyR_yc

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By Sarah on 08.18.09 12:46 pm | Permalink

I’ve used movie soundtracks for inspiration for years–mostly Hans Zimmer. The more dramatic the better! Great stuff!

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By Kathleen Cunningham Guler on 08.18.09 4:54 pm | Permalink

I can’t write if there are other words anywhere in the environment. Well, that’s not totally true—I can pop in a movie I’ve seen a zillion times for background noise because I know I won’t pay attention to it, but I sit and listen to the music and can’t write if it’s something I really like.
I’ve noticed that if I play any of The Lord of the Rings movies, that background music is good.
Unlike Sarah, I do better at editing when I have music on. Editing, to me, is a bit more mindless—it just comes even more naturally than writing, so I get in a zone and hack away at my work to the rhythm of the music lol
But to get the words out the first time, I can’t be distracted…
It’s odd how everyone is so different!! I like the idea of pictures—I might have to make a collage of some sort to put up with my notes.

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By Eden on 08.18.09 5:04 pm | Permalink

Yeah, I have tons of pictures for each book. Pictures of locations, of people, of houses. Anything to help me describe what’s real.

And in editing, if I’m writing new stuff, I turn the music on.

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By Sarah on 08.18.09 5:07 pm | Permalink

And when I edit, the music I listen to is usually classical. Or New Age. When I write, it tends to be Alternative, metal, or Emo.

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By Sarah on 08.18.09 5:10 pm | Permalink

I agree than instrumental works best. My 2 faves right now are the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack and the string tribute to Tool. Happy writing!

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By Annarkie on 08.18.09 5:23 pm | Permalink

tool is great! I love them. listen to them a lot while writing surviving. not the instrumental, but…

I love Enya and the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack.

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By Sarah on 08.18.09 5:29 pm | Permalink

I always write to music. It drowns out the screaming children in the background and does help set the tone. (I usually barricade myself in my bedroom when I write. It’s the only way to get my kids to leave me alone for more than 5 seconds at a time.) I also find it works like Pavlovian training. I play certain pieces of music and I’m right in a scene from one of my manuscripts.

Some good instrumental groups – Enya, Secret Garden, Giovanni, and others. I have whole playlists on iTunes. I have my first book coming out this fall. It’s a SF adventure story, I wrote most of it to Air Supply.

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By Jaleta Clegg on 08.18.09 9:03 pm | Permalink

Y’all have some great suggestions for music. I need to download some stuff and see how it goes.
I’m actually about to write my first article for another publication and I’ve had Secondhand Serenade playing on the xbox while packing and I think I’ll keep it on as I write. I’ve heard it so many times and it’s mellow so maybe the words won’t distract me — hopefully they’ll inspire =)
This is a great post with awesome comments!!

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By Eden on 08.18.09 11:29 pm | Permalink

Ooh, video game soundtracks would be great. I write fantasy, too, and I like Classical music – especially the kind that sounds like it could be a movie soundtrack, but isn’t (because I get distracted if pirates or hobbits keep popping into my head). When my dad gave me a CD of Rachmaninoff, he said, “You’ll like it – it sounds like soundtrack music!”

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By Anica Lewis on 08.21.09 1:32 pm | Permalink