Right? Just sets such a vibe. I like listening while reading too, finding a good soundtrack for a book is great. Everything you listed for Pallas is so fuckin perfect 🤘
I love writing and illustrating to music. But I usually cannot edit with music that I Ike too much. I need more atmospheric sounds or chill classical music for editing. Brains are weird
Despite loving like 90% of the songs you listed, I couldn't possibly work to them because I'd be too busy table drumming or singing along or recalling memories associated with them. It has to be something continuous and repetive like binaural beats to calm my ADHD brain. Otherwise everyone around me stfu and lmtfa
I listen to music while planning what to write, get the vibes going. There are scenes and characters - and even an entire novel - current serial - started off that way.
This is fun because I've been thinking about adding songs to my stories on here since they're a huge inspiration.
I need silence in the writing, but music in the development for the vibes. I'm learning to embrace tv-in-the-brain writing; part of that is imagining my chapters/scenes ending with a fade to black and then bad ass music. It really helps me focus on character or theme--a character will start with a song, particularly if there's a sentiment I think is novel; or a song has a vibe or message I'm going for. I've seen quite a few fantasy authors share writing playlists and they tend toward metal and instrumental, it seems. I love Jeremy Soule and the Skyrim soundtrack... to sleep to. I like to believe I'm stretching the typical influences of fantasy with some Jeff Buckley or classic soul; and that it shows up in the work.
I love music. I live and breathe music. There’s not a day in my life that goes by where I’m not listening to, singing, or even just humming music. There’s an endless playlist going in my head nonstop, every moment of every day and night. Even in my dreams.
That being said, I find it very hard to write with music. And it’s not just about the lyrics, it’s the tone, including instrumental. If it sounds too melancholic or upbeat, angry or soft for the scene I’m working on, I just can’t focus.
I can’t do silence either because, at least in my world, there is no such thing.
Where I’ve come to a workable compromise is rain sounds. It’s a bit white noise ish but it’s soothing, rhythmic without tone and it drowns everything else out.
Absolutely. I wear headphones with noise cancelling and listen to whatever moves me. Usually rock and popular music, but sometimes soundtracks; The Mission, Braveheart, etc. Hot to get into the creative flow. Same for drawing and painting. 😎
It's so interesting to see other people's processes in combination with music.
I also need music to write, but prefer something instrumental that will drown out any background noise and let my mind go bananas. But then, I also love to sing and will get distracted by the song if it's too catchy.
My need for music when I write is a wildly contradictory thing in that whether I must have music or absolute silence is entirely dependent on what I'm writing. I'm not talking stories or chapters, either. I'm talking down to the scenes, the paragraphs, the individual lines. My mind works in really weird ways with that sometimes.
Two great examples of that, (both available right here on Substack, conveniently) are my stories "The Lady and the Lake," and the one I just finished last weekend, "La Bella Morte." "Lady" demanded music from me, something instrumental that not only fit with the whimsical, fantastical, and slightly eerie feeling I wanted that story to have, but that would also fit the meter of the poem at the heart of the story.
"La Bella Morte" was a very different beast that demanded music for some scenes, dead silence or others, and if I didn't have what fit then the writing always felt off. (A big part of the reason completing that story took almost three months.) The result was a blend of music every bit as eclectic as the genres I bent for that story, with me leaning on synthwave, classical piano, opera, Japanese folk music, 60's rock, and dead silence depending on what I felt each scene demanded of me. Weird, but so am I, so it worked out in the end.
It's always a pleasure to meet another prog snob! "Close to the Edge" is a unparalleled masterpiece. Another metal album you might like is "Let the Truth Speak" by Earthside. It'll rock your world. Both heavy, atmospheric, and cinematic as all get out.
So many good recs here 😍😍 I listen to music when I write too, it gets the creative juice going so well!
It's like I'm in a little creativity bubble!
Right? Just sets such a vibe. I like listening while reading too, finding a good soundtrack for a book is great. Everything you listed for Pallas is so fuckin perfect 🤘
I love writing and illustrating to music. But I usually cannot edit with music that I Ike too much. I need more atmospheric sounds or chill classical music for editing. Brains are weird
Brains certainly are weird!
Despite loving like 90% of the songs you listed, I couldn't possibly work to them because I'd be too busy table drumming or singing along or recalling memories associated with them. It has to be something continuous and repetive like binaural beats to calm my ADHD brain. Otherwise everyone around me stfu and lmtfa
There are so many fun varieties of ADHD!
We're all a little mad in here
I like to read dune while listening to 2112
I listen to music while planning what to write, get the vibes going. There are scenes and characters - and even an entire novel - current serial - started off that way.
This is fun because I've been thinking about adding songs to my stories on here since they're a huge inspiration.
I need silence in the writing, but music in the development for the vibes. I'm learning to embrace tv-in-the-brain writing; part of that is imagining my chapters/scenes ending with a fade to black and then bad ass music. It really helps me focus on character or theme--a character will start with a song, particularly if there's a sentiment I think is novel; or a song has a vibe or message I'm going for. I've seen quite a few fantasy authors share writing playlists and they tend toward metal and instrumental, it seems. I love Jeremy Soule and the Skyrim soundtrack... to sleep to. I like to believe I'm stretching the typical influences of fantasy with some Jeff Buckley or classic soul; and that it shows up in the work.
I love music. I live and breathe music. There’s not a day in my life that goes by where I’m not listening to, singing, or even just humming music. There’s an endless playlist going in my head nonstop, every moment of every day and night. Even in my dreams.
That being said, I find it very hard to write with music. And it’s not just about the lyrics, it’s the tone, including instrumental. If it sounds too melancholic or upbeat, angry or soft for the scene I’m working on, I just can’t focus.
I can’t do silence either because, at least in my world, there is no such thing.
Where I’ve come to a workable compromise is rain sounds. It’s a bit white noise ish but it’s soothing, rhythmic without tone and it drowns everything else out.
Now, that isn’t without exception but it’s rare.
Absolutely. I wear headphones with noise cancelling and listen to whatever moves me. Usually rock and popular music, but sometimes soundtracks; The Mission, Braveheart, etc. Hot to get into the creative flow. Same for drawing and painting. 😎
It's so interesting to see other people's processes in combination with music.
I also need music to write, but prefer something instrumental that will drown out any background noise and let my mind go bananas. But then, I also love to sing and will get distracted by the song if it's too catchy.
When I achieve flow, the vocals almost don't matter. I hear the words but it's just part of the music.
Fascinating. I almost wish my brain worked like that.
One time my shuffle edged away from whatever lofi I was listening to and onto Dolly Parton... Illusion shatter. Workin' 9 to 5 now.
My need for music when I write is a wildly contradictory thing in that whether I must have music or absolute silence is entirely dependent on what I'm writing. I'm not talking stories or chapters, either. I'm talking down to the scenes, the paragraphs, the individual lines. My mind works in really weird ways with that sometimes.
Two great examples of that, (both available right here on Substack, conveniently) are my stories "The Lady and the Lake," and the one I just finished last weekend, "La Bella Morte." "Lady" demanded music from me, something instrumental that not only fit with the whimsical, fantastical, and slightly eerie feeling I wanted that story to have, but that would also fit the meter of the poem at the heart of the story.
"La Bella Morte" was a very different beast that demanded music for some scenes, dead silence or others, and if I didn't have what fit then the writing always felt off. (A big part of the reason completing that story took almost three months.) The result was a blend of music every bit as eclectic as the genres I bent for that story, with me leaning on synthwave, classical piano, opera, Japanese folk music, 60's rock, and dead silence depending on what I felt each scene demanded of me. Weird, but so am I, so it worked out in the end.
It's always a pleasure to meet another prog snob! "Close to the Edge" is a unparalleled masterpiece. Another metal album you might like is "Let the Truth Speak" by Earthside. It'll rock your world. Both heavy, atmospheric, and cinematic as all get out.
Thanks for the rec, I'll check it out!
Songs are wonderful writing inspiration- even the titles alone!
Yup!