So, what's everyone listen to while punching the keys?
I usually fluctuate between a movie or tv show (99% of the time via Netflix or Hulu) and music that sort of fits what I'm writing. I usually change things up musically so no one playlist is the same. Right now, in heavy rotation, is Snow Patrol, Death Cab for Cutie, Sufjan Stevens and U2. If I want a real mind blowing art explosion, I'll listen to Daniel Johnston or the Danielson Famile. The latter two usually work best when I am losing my creative nerve.
What about you all?
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twitter: www.twitter.com/jszehr
blog: http://blog.jeremyszehr.com




35,432 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 12
I can't do anything visual while I'm writing, too distracting.
I like to start off with something pretty kicking, like Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" or Queen's "Keep Yourself Alive," then it's usually Radiohead or Pink Floyd. I like albums that have a lot of open space in them, I feel like it gives my mind a chance to try to fill it.
28,475 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 23
I've been trying to figure out some good music to go with for playlists, so that I can think of something that will work.... lately I've been running through my amalgam of Bob Dylan CDs, because most of the songs I enjoy the sound of, but I don't know the lyrics, so I can just listen to it, and enjoy the music without getting distracted by the lyrics... If I'm someplace random without my music, I play Pandora Radio... I'd be open to hearing what people listen to, to give me some ideas.... I'm a fan of pretty much anything from video game music, to Bob Dylan, to Tim McGraw, to Backstreet Boys... yes.. I'm 25 years old, and I still like Backstreet Boys :P
2,276 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 20 18
Sometimes I pop a DVD into the player and use that as background noise, though that runs the risk of me paying more attention to the movie/tv show/cartoon than whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing. :P
Usually, it's either quiet because I forget to put on some music (and I haven't been writing nearly enough yet), or else the radio, which is set to 98.9 The Buzz. Since I don't have an easy way to switch between stations during the boring parts, that's when my CDs come in to play: The ones I grab most often when I'm working are Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Twarres, and the .back//SIGN soundtracks. Mum just bought the first Glee soundtrack, so that'll probably get added to my pile soon. :)
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Title: N/A (Don't even have a working title!)
Actual Research Done: None! (I have the feeling I should be ashamed of that...)
Words Written: Not Enough
Lame Plot Devices: 1 (How it starts)
6,928 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 21 51
The iPod is on shuffle, but at the moment, I am listening to my old standbys of Pink Floyd, Lacuna Coil, and Emilie Autumn. Also in rotation are the Repo! soundtrack, Einsturzende Neubauten, Bright Eyes, and Stabilo.
----------~*Defy Gravity*~
8,028 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 03 32
It's been a lot of americana/folk/alt-country: Wilco, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, that sort of thing. It's not just that I enjoy listening to it (I really listen to pretty much any genre) but I also figure that it'd be the sort of music that my main character would be listening to in the background of his daily life in the setting I've got him in.
12,911 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 18 36
Depending on my mood I listen to a few different pandora stations. I like my Decemberists station which plays mostly Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, and Belle & Sebastian, Amanda Palmer station which plays AFP, Birthday Massacre, Regina Spektor, and Kate Nash, also my Emilie Autumn station which plays Emilie Autumn, Nightwish, Within Temptation, and the like. <3 My music. I also tend to listen to industrial during the more intense parts of my novels (NIN, Neurotic Fish, Gary Numan, KMFDM, etc)
----------37,311 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 04 56
My playlist varies, but it's generally European metal - , melodic/gothic, symphonic power, classical, viking, doom/black, avante garde, and folk/pagan/medieval, and progressive. Right now I'm in a yoik/folk/viking kind of mood, so I'm listening to Shaman/Korpiklaani, Cruachan, Butterfly Temple, Lumsk, Ensiferum, Fintroll, Trollech, Turisas, Schandmaul, SuiDakra, Tyr, and Wolfsblood, with some Moonspell thrown in.
5,005 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 08 30
I just finished putting mine together - although it's not as organized as I thought, and the more songs I add the less focused I've become on my original plot...
I decided to just fill up my iPod with songs that might fit in and I'll stick it on shuffle unless I'm writing specific scenes where I already had songs in mind. I mostly filled it with instrumental stuff + a lot of VNV Nation, Dead Can Dance, and Tanya Donelly/Belly.