Wrestling the Angel: Soundtrack

April 05, 2006

Soundtrack

This week I came across three writers talking about the music that they write by, so I had to put them together:

I love creating my own playlists because even my favorite albums always seem to have two or three songs I'd just as soon skip. One of my playlists, which I call "Rainy Day Tunes," has been extremely effective in nudging me into a romance-writing mood. The list gets updated frequently, but just in case you're curious, right now the first few songs are:

Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie
Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen
Ghost,Howie Day
Passing Afternoon, Iron and Wine
Caledonia, Dougie MacLean
Colorblind, Counting Crows
Boston, Augustana
Always on my Mind, Willie Nelson

Gwenda Bond:

Anyway, I often pick out a working soundtrack when I start a new project. I choose songs that capture the feeling or theme of certain incidents or moments I think will be in the book, or sometimes it's a song that I associate with a character and what they're experiencing in the book. It helps.

Colleen Mondor:

The new book, the YA urban fantasy that sadly has no hint of a title, has not been written to a soundtrack although there are already songs that are jumping into my head. I know that the Blind Boys of Alabama will be present with "Amazing Grace", and I keep hearing "Eli's Coming" from Three Dog Night. (I'm blaming Sports Night for that one.) There's also a Tori Amos song I need to get the title of and a Beth Hart song.

I'd never thought of listening to music that put me in the mood of the characters. I fear the music of my current characters would drive me batty. I certainly don't own any inspirational Christian 80s music, although I've got a great store of Second Chapter of Acts and Sandi Patti in my head. But maybe when I'm home for Easter I'll raid my parents' CD collection.

Do you listen to music while you write, or does it just distract you?

Posted by Alison at April 5, 2006 09:40 AM | This entry posted in: Getting the Writing Done

Comments

A very interesting topic... and I do agree with ehat these people write about the music inspiring certain moods and states of mind. That's one of the reasons I usually shy away from music when actually writing a specific mood. I fear the mood of the music might dilute or over-tome the actual mood that wants to be written. But I have always been notoriously bad at putting together working playlists. I either listen to an album (skipping some songs), or I pick single songs one after each other.
Lately I have taken a completly different road though: I started writing my own soundtracks. What started as a project to have suiteable ambient background music for role playing sessions has now evolved into a stand alone thing. I have started to record my own radio-play like set of audio tracks. And those are everything BUT suiteable for background listening :)
(http://traumwind.de/music/)
So this is writing for a soundtrack, not to one...

Posted by: Martin at April 7, 2006 12:31 PM


Get Blog Posts by E-mail Enter your e-mail address Powered by FeedBlitz RSS Feeds Recent Entries Interview: Annette Gilson Interview: Justine Larbalestier The Elusive Agent Will Write for Chocolate Jane Jeong Trenka: Why She Writes Will You Quit? 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel Profile: Stanley Kunitz Writing from the Heart Memoir: Eat Pray Love Articles From the Stage to the Page An Interview with Annette Gilson	« Death in the Family \| Main \| Beginning to Practice » April 05, 2006 Soundtrack This week I came across three writers talking about the music that they write by, so I had to put them together: Brenda Coulter: I love creating my own playlists because even my favorite albums always seem to have two or three songs I'd just as soon skip. One of my playlists, which I call "Rainy Day Tunes," has been extremely effective in nudging me into a romance-writing mood. The list gets updated frequently, but just in case you're curious, right now the first few songs are: Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie Secret Garden, Bruce Springsteen Ghost,Howie Day Passing Afternoon, Iron and Wine Caledonia, Dougie MacLean Colorblind, Counting Crows Boston, Augustana Always on my Mind, Willie Nelson Gwenda Bond: Anyway, I often pick out a working soundtrack when I start a new project. I choose songs that capture the feeling or theme of certain incidents or moments I think will be in the book, or sometimes it's a song that I associate with a character and what they're experiencing in the book. It helps. Colleen Mondor: The new book, the YA urban fantasy that sadly has no hint of a title, has not been written to a soundtrack although there are already songs that are jumping into my head. I know that the Blind Boys of Alabama will be present with "Amazing Grace", and I keep hearing "Eli's Coming" from Three Dog Night. (I'm blaming Sports Night for that one.) There's also a Tori Amos song I need to get the title of and a Beth Hart song. I'd never thought of listening to music that put me in the mood of the characters. I fear the music of my current characters would drive me batty. I certainly don't own any inspirational Christian 80s music, although I've got a great store of Second Chapter of Acts and Sandi Patti in my head. But maybe when I'm home for Easter I'll raid my parents' CD collection. Do you listen to music while you write, or does it just distract you? Posted by Alison at April 5, 2006 09:40 AM \| This entry posted in: Getting the Writing Done Comments A very interesting topic... and I do agree with ehat these people write about the music inspiring certain moods and states of mind. That's one of the reasons I usually shy away from music when actually writing a specific mood. I fear the mood of the music might dilute or over-tome the actual mood that wants to be written. But I have always been notoriously bad at putting together working playlists. I either listen to an album (skipping some songs), or I pick single songs one after each other. Lately I have taken a completly different road though: I started writing my own soundtracks. What started as a project to have suiteable ambient background music for role playing sessions has now evolved into a stand alone thing. I have started to record my own radio-play like set of audio tracks. And those are everything BUT suiteable for background listening :) (http://traumwind.de/music/) So this is writing for a soundtrack, not to one... Posted by: Martin at April 7, 2006 12:31 PM	What is Wrestling the Angel? Your Host Alison Gresik has been crafting her writing life for the last fourteen years. She is the author of Brick and Mortar, a collection of linked stories. Visit her author blog at www.gresik.ca. Categories Apprenticeship Biography and Memoir Building a Writing Career Family and Friends Feeling Good Fiction about Writers Finding Your Material Getting the Writing Done Interviews and Profiles Making a Living Why Write? Writing Community Search this site:
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