NanoPlaylist

I discovered Disturbed was quite good for making me write. It's loud, fast and mostly indistinguishable lyrics. Sarah Harmer, on the other hand, was not good motivation for making me write. It's too slow and soft.

In general, I put on my mix of pretty much everything as background noise. It's only in desparate situations that I resort to specific music. The Disturbed came out when I absolutely could not find the motivation to do anything beyond reread a different novel. Arrogant Worms usually gets banished for the month, as their comedy always pulls me in to listen to the words.

"You can get away with stuff in real life that you can’t get away with in fiction." -Robin McKinley

I really like listening to movie sound tracks when I write. My current playlist has Lord of the RIngs (all 3), Princess Mononoke, Prince of Egypt, Last of the Mohicans, and a CD with theme songs from the Olympics.

Last year, parts of my novel were based on Decemberists songs, so I was listening to them a lot. This year, my title is based on a Rufus Wainwright song. I guess for me, as long as the music's kinda mellow, it's perfect to write to.

Perennial favorites:
John Mayer's Continuum and John Mayer Trio's Try!
The Decemberists
instrumental jazz
Cities 97 Samplers

It has to be something that can exist in the background, and doesn't demand participation or too much attention. Though listening to Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell" might be a good experiment to see if it makes me write faster, or stop writing and air drum!

http://www.bymaggie.com/

"All good writing is swimming underwater and holding your breath."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read."
- Mitch Hedberg

I create a playlist full of music that flows with the story I'm writing. Each year, the playlist has been very different.

Excerpts from this year's playlist:

"My Skin" by Natalie Merchant
"Goodbye Milky Way" by Enigma
"Here With Me" by Dido
"Storm" by SJ Tucker
"Carnival" by Natalie Merchant

Emily W.

2007: Deep In The Dark
2008: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast
2009: Twelve China Cups

I've been giving my characters a theme song. Sometimes it's purposedly assigned, but mostly it's been assigned from putting my iPod on random. I have an idea for a character and then let the iPod selects another song and it gives the person a depth or history that I wouldn't have thought of.

Protagonist 1: Tanya Donnelly "Pretty Deep"/Laura Love "Come as You Are"
Protagonist 2: PJ Harvey "Down by the Water"/Anne McCue "Stupid"
Main antagonist: Jim White "A Perfect Day to Chase Tornadoes"/ James "Mother"
Sheriff: Pascal Roge "Gymnopedie No. 1"/Bob Schneider "Metal and Steel"
Aux character 1 (mom): Nina Simone "Feelin' Good"/Sarah McLachlan "Into the Fire"
Aux character 2 (dad): Ryan Adams "My Love for You is Real"/The Mountain Goats "Dilaudid"
Aux character 3 (helper): Kings of Convenience "Winning a Battle, Losing the War"/American Music Club "Song of the Rats Leaving the Sinking Ship"

side note: Meatloaf is THE BEST. hehe.

So far I haven't been listening to as much music as I probably should. I've got a couple playlists set up on grooveshark com you can see here.

Also I've been listening to a bad ass girl band called Bitch & Animal. Hard to find their music these days, I saw them open for Ani Difranco in '01 and they disbanded sometime after that. BUT the title I'm currently using for my novel is one of their song titles. Yay.

Kaki King is also fantastic writing music. No words really, she is a master on the guitar and the way she plays it.. it's like listening to a story.

Aphex Twin is also really good.

and I've had a few songs stuck in my head for weeks that invariably end up affecting me. Black Eyed Peas' "Simple Little Melody", Whitetown's "Your Woman" (a blast from the past song) and The Guild's "Do You Want To Date My Avatar?" which is currently competing with Richard Swift's "The Bully" for the best song of all time.

here your poems still warm me when memory drains

I write to Ruoska - "Sika" which means Dirty pig in English, in extreme Repeat when I need to space out and write.
Disturbed, In Extremo, Rammstein, Tanzwut, Subway to Sally, Ensiferum, Termion Katilot, Sturm Cafe`, Sonata Arctica, Samael, Letzte Instanz, Shandmaul, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, KORN, Finntroll and Ensiferum are faves, in no particular order. Then when the characters are out in the forest, I'll play "Celtic Landscapes" where you have nature sounds of Ireland.

:wumpscut: 's "March of the Dead Men" or "Funeral Diner" is perfect for those running scenes where everythings intense. Sometimes I play Serj Tankian, System of a Down.

Piano. Yep. Chopin, Yann Tiersen, Debussy, Danny Elfman, and a few other artists.

"I'm just a musical prostitute, my dear." -Freddie Mercury

Danny Elfman is awesome. Have you ever listened to Skeleton Key? Good band he was a part of.

here your poems still warm me when memory drains

Oh my goodness, yes. Danny Elfman has an amazing voice, not to mention he writes great soundtracks. And what about Oingo Boingo? *will have to look up Skeleton Key*

Lol, this novel attempt will be fueled by Maddy Prior, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and more Beatles music than is strictly healthy.

...on the plus side, my roommate thinks I'm a crazy throwback to the 60's and 70's.

Every word written is a victory against death. (Edward Gibbons)

I have tended toward instrumental music, mostly classical or folk, either from my iTunes library or internet sources. For the last couple days I have been using cinemix, an internet radio station that plays a mix of film scores. It is generally unobtrusive background music but the wide variety and frequent changes in mood and tempo seem to help stimulate the creative process. Some of it is pretty cheesy, but so is a lot of my writing.