Writing Music Survey follow-up

Yesterday, I asked: “Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what’s your favourite work music these days?”

Thanks to everyone who replied yesterday! I gave you credit under my latest Will Write For Chocolate strip.

Here’s a selection of the responses:

Mel: “Absolutely! I find it difficult to write without it. There’s one local artist that I favor named KC Clifford because so many of her songs mirrored the experiences of one of my characters. While editing one novel, I created a playlist for each of the major characters made up of music that related to their story and music that they would listen to.”

Ana: “I listen to Kenny G. when I write. I find it relaxing and condusive to writing. I like Mel’s idea to make a playlist for each character.”

HWPetty: “I have to write to music. It’s a compulsion. Right now my favorites are the new Twilight Movie Score, Lead Us Not Into Temptation by David Byrne, and then some of my favorite Indie artists like Bon Iver, Vega 4, Sia, Emma Ejwertz, and Lisa Germano. But Radiohead and Coldplay are the old standbys. And really if I listed all the major players on my playlists it would get long, involved, and only entertain me.”

Jenna W: “I always have music on when I’m writing. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Katatonia, Skillet, and Opeth. A lot of symphonic metal and hard rock. I actually have playlists for all of my projects, but I’ve been doing a lot of freewriting lately.”

Linda: “I listen to music when I write – honestly, though, it’s mostly to drown out my Himself who can’t seem to understand that I am trying to concentrate when I write. I like “mood” music depending on the scene that I’m trying to write.”

LisaQuing: “I have an 80’s playlist for my novel that is set in the 80’s. Other than that, I usually like instrumental music or new age-y nature sounds music.”

Benjamin Solah: “Sometimes. Music certainly inspires me and helps to shape a mood for a certain story so writing almost always comes after listening to music. But whether or not listening to music happens during writing depends on the situation I’m in. If I’m at work for instance, I can’t coz I’m always looking over my shoulder to see if a manager is noticing I’m writing about killing bosses and not doing some useless report ”