Does music inspire your writing?

[Inari Writer]

Hi all.

Was wondering if anyone else uses music to get their creativity flowing?

And if so, what sort of songs/artists inspire you?

Usually I like rock but for writing I like the more fantastical/etheral singers. E.g. Kyla La Grange, Florence and the Machine, Hozier, Bishop Briggs. Particularly songs with vaguely mystical lyrics.

Unless I'm writing a fight scene, in which case it's back to rock.

 

[Vaz]

Yes.

Check out the thread called "Music as a Writing Tool" you'll find tons of decent song recommendations on there

v

 

[Inari Writer]

Yes.

Check out the thread called "Music as a Writing Tool" you'll find tons of decent song recommendations on there

v

Thanks.

The very existence of such a thread pretty much answers my question.

Off to have a look at it now.

 

[NbDawn]

I generally listen to the soundtrack for Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, and various types of instrumental music without words. Music with words distracts me because I want to sing along.

 

[Inari Writer]

I generally listen to the soundtrack for Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, and various types of instrumental music without words. Music with words distracts me because I want to sing along.

I know what you mean about lyrics being distracting. Sometimes I can write with vocals in the background and sometimes I can't.

I do find that songs with the right lyrics help put me in a writing frame of mind though.

P. S. Recommend Lindsey Stirling for great upbeat background music when writing. She usually doesn't have vocals.

 

[mosaix]

Instrumental music only. That stimulates the right, non-verbal, side of the brain. Vocal stuff does the opposite.

 

[The Big Peat]

While I obviously believe in music as a way of powering writing (as per the other thread), I think I believe it in even more as a way of getting ideas to write about.

 

[J Riff]

No. What works here though, is those nature soundscapes, birds, water, strange animals calling in the distant jungle kind of thing. They run for hours and don't distract.

 

[Phyrebrat]

While I obviously believe in music as a way of powering writing (as per the other thread), I think I believe it in even more as a way of getting ideas to write about.

This, particularly:

Kate Bush

pH

 

[Vaz]

While I obviously believe in music as a way of powering writing (as per the other thread), I think I believe it in even more as a way of getting ideas to write about.

Agreed. My Novella in crits came from a Cult of Luna song you recommended.

 

[AlexH]

The atmosphere of certain music can help inspire my writing at times - which would usually be instrumental artists/post-rock e.g. Mono, God Is An Astronaut, Moonlit Sailor, Aural Method (whose titles from his first album actually make a poem), Collapse Under The Empire:

I can put that sort of music on and feel something.

I've also written song lyrics based off other music, titles or a lyric. For example, on the N64 soundtrack album for F Zero X, I love an instrumental rock track called "Decide in the Eyes" (it's from the Big Blue track in the games), so I wrote some lyrics entitled Decide in the Eyes. I've been to a couple of workshops where songs were used as inspiration too.

 

[Gawian]

I just have my mish-mash playlist on when I write, and I find it helps a lot more than any one type of music.

Rock, Country, OST, Club, Pop... just put it on shuffle and write because I know I like all the music and I just have it playing to keep my head busy while I write.

 

[Vaz]

@AlexH Mono & world's end girlfriend did a fantastic album together, have you heard it?

 

[AlexH]

@AlexH Mono & world's end girlfriend did a fantastic album together, have you heard it?

It rings a bell, but I don't have it on CD. I'll look it up, thanks. If you like Mono, I recommend Eupana and Yndi Halda.

I see you're in Liverpool - have you seen Mono live? I'm off to see a band called Slowdive in Liverpool soon, and live they create a similar sort of beautifully loud wall of sound (not in a Phil Spector kind of way) like Mono do. Yndi Halda are great live too, and as they're from the UK, tour here now and then.

 

[AlexH]

P. S. Recommend Lindsey Stirling for great upbeat background music when writing. She usually doesn't have vocals.

I thought that name was familiar, but I've only just clicked. I've listened to some of the computer game music she's covered, such as The Legend of Zelda. I'll have to check out some more of her work.

 

[GCJ]

Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) blows me away. I listen to Classic FM on my daily commute, which is a reasonably short drive, and by the time I get home I'm itching to write something.

 

[Scarfy]

I can't write in silence; it actually hinders my ability to get any work done, as I need some sort of atmosphere. I listen to 6 Music exclusively, and in the mornings I am dimly aware of the breakfast show going on in the background. In the evenings, I have the radio on, instead of the TV while I'm writing. I'm able to mostly tune it out, but still enjoy the music all the same.

 

[The Big Peat]

Agreed. My Novella in crits came from a Cult of Luna song you recommended.

I don't think I've read a sentence I've liked more on the entire site, nay, internet.

My work here is done just beginning.

 

[Inari Writer]

How about the theme tune to Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Does that work for anyone?

 

[Lafayette]

Right now I can't exactly give a reply concerning writing, but I can on being creative.

Years ago I became bedridden. I wasn't an invalid, however I couldn't run around as usual. There were things I could do: read (science-fiction and fantasy and comic books) play my guitar, watch tv, talk on the phone, listen to the radio, and draw pictures (usually super-heroes).

At that time I was into 50s and 60s rock'n'roll and country and western. When I was trying to do art I was distracted by this music. I found myself tapping my pencils to the beat or singing along.

One of the other things I did occasionally was explore the AM dial. I wasn't really into classical music, nonetheless I did have some liking for classical guitar or most importantly flamenco. Evidently, I heard one of these forms one day and because I had a pencil or pen in hand was disinclined to change the station so I kept listening.

After a while I a developed a liking for Scarlotti, Ravel, Perkovfia (pardon my spelling) Mahler, and Villa Lobos and a few others. Even though I'm not a great classical music lover it has filled a void of silence that I don't always desire.

A few years later after reading Gordon R. Dickinson's 'The Dragon and the George' and Bob Dylan's 'Sara' I wrote a song titled 'Let Me In'.