Other Using Music as a tool for writing

[-Emilia-]

hellooo o/

Does anyone else create an ridicolous amount of spotify playlists for stuff you're working on?

Here's my experience and I'm just curious if anyone else does something similiar.

Scrolling endlessly through lyrics, trying to find that one very specific song that captures the scene you've been trying to write for hours. I used to go on busrides, stare intensely out my window with those themed playlists in my headphones and then write down ideas like a mad man. It's like I press play and then just scribble down what I see like a director watching actors perform. Sometimes I put the song on repeat and just go through the scene multiple times for the best possible version.

Does this make sense to anyone? It doesn't even have to be music that I listen to for enjoyment. The songs sole purpose could just be to fit the a character or an emotional beat. I'm really curious if anyone else uses music like this while writing or if I'm just wierd. Or both, could definetly be both.

 

[Dreamtique]

Definitely. I do this all the time. I do this to a point that sometimes it is hard for me to enjoy a song/music without assigning some stories/scenes/meaning to it.

 

[StuartAnderson]

100%.
music is my biggest muse and inspiration to write

 

[Hokma]

Music helps out so much when I'm at a blank point or need to make a scene.
However, I interpret songs much differently than what others do, so my ideas get wacky.

 

[StuartAnderson]

I love making playlists and would love a partner who does too but I don't want to come across as creepy, writing playlists for characters and stuff aha

 

[-Emilia-]

I love making playlists and would love a partner who does too but I don't want to come across as creepy, writing playlists for characters and stuff aha

Samee! It feels like you come up to them and ask "so, you like jazz?" and awkwardly slams the character playlist on the table. It's pretty likely that they don't have the same music taste or interprets it differently than me.

Although, if someone showed me theirs I'd just be really happy that they're passionate about what we're writing, no matter if I like the songs myself or not. I'm gonna try to be brave and share my playlist more often \o/

 

[StuartAnderson]

Samee! It feels like you come up to them and ask "so, you like jazz?" and awkwardly slams the character playlist on the table. It's pretty likely that they don't have the same music taste or interprets it differently than me.

Although, if someone showed me theirs I'd just be really happy that they're passionate about what we're writing, no matter if I like the songs myself or not. I'm gonna try to be brave and share my playlist more often \o/

I agree. it shows they are genuiely invested in the roleplay which is really nice

me too!

 

[iibrixar]

Music has its own affective ways with bringing a particular character, scene, & story come to life. Sometimes when it comes to being stuck on what to write, I find that background music, whether it's classical pieces or more modern styles really plays an assisting role to put me on track. It especially helps further connecting with the meaning of my characters and at some point, I'll even take inspiration if I find a specific melody I enjoy.

 

[Shawdios]

I’m a animatic maker/animator, so I feel the whole “always pictures characters and scenes to music” I love making character playlists, and hunting though lyrics so that each song fits the character

I LIVE through music, music is always in one of my ears or at least in my head

 

[Shawdios]

Just gonna, drop this here for those who make character playlists: Music - Share your OC playlists!

 

[Onmyoji]

Weirdly enough, despite that I'm (sort of) a musician myself, I listen to music a lot and play it too, music doesn't inspire me for writing. I can think about a soundtrack for a scene that is already written but rarely music inspires me to write a scene.

But after reading the thread, I thought that maybe it's because I usually listen to the pieces that I enjoy listening normally. And maybe what I enjoy doesn't fit the character I'm writing about, so of course I'm not inspired for writing. I might need to make an effort to listen to music I don't enjoy if it fits the characters and then it'll work out!

 

[-Emilia-]

I’m a animatic maker/animator, so I feel the whole “always pictures characters and scenes to music” I love making character playlists, and hunting though lyrics so that each song fits the character

I LIVE through music, music is always in one of my ears or at least in my head

I think that's where my inspiration from music comes from originally too. I LOVE animation and have spent an ungodly amount of watching animated movies and shows, so it's probably why I find music so great for storytelling. I've always wanted to improve my drawingskill, but if you look at my profile pic, then that's usually how I end up when it doesn't turn out well pff!

 

[-Emilia-]

Weirdly enough, despite that I'm (sort of) a musician myself, I listen to music a lot and play it too, music doesn't inspire me for writing. I can think about a soundtrack for a scene that is already written but rarely music inspires me to write a scene.

But after reading the thread, I thought that maybe it's because I usually listen to the pieces that I enjoy listening normally. And maybe what I enjoy doesn't fit the character I'm writing about, so of course I'm not inspired for writing. I might need to make an effort to listen to music I don't enjoy if it fits the characters and then it'll work out!

Yess! I've found that music, like coffee, can be a bit of an aquired taste. Some genres you'll never like and therefore never feel inspired by even if you listen to it 10000 times. But some indie music may be somewhat close to what you already enjoy and then you might find some inspiration in there. I listen a lot to acoustic music when I need to figure out a scene, one with a lot of emphasis on the lyrics.

The lyrics tab on spotify is gods gift to earth. Some musicians treat their music more like sung poetry, and there I sometimes find just the perfect song that captures the emotion I want to convey. Sometimes, I even learn something new about my character that I hadn't even considered yet.

 

[eveningfall]

Yep. Especially if it's not some short post I'm replying to either. If it's something that absolutely requires my attention, I need to be zoned. SIlent Hill 2's OST, the more calm tracks (not the industrial banging) is my go to. I try to to go for music that will fit the theme/mood. I tend to choose lyricless music as the song lyrics can be somewhat distracting.

 

[Zariah Turner]

Totally makes sense! I'll admit, I've never made playlists before (mainly because I lack knowledge of a wide variety of music.) However, I've gotten inspiration from various songs countless times. It mainly helps me imagine the overall idea, and less of a specific scene, though - at least with music that contains lyrics. When listening to instrumental music (mainly movie soundtracks), I'm able to get more of a "vibe" for the scene I'm trying to come up with, if that makes sense. Still not perfect, though.

 

[Paper Darling]

For as long as I have roleplayed, I found that music was always very important when I write. I have numerous playlists for characters, situations, etc. ^^

 

[Sylvio]

One thing I found out about myself that made writing rp’s easier was browsing Pinterest and Spotify. I find that coming up with plots is so much easier when you have the aesthetics to base your writing on like music or images. Can’t count how many times I’ve listened to a song and thought ‘damn I can write 2000 words for this’

 

[StarryNights17]

I use music all the time! Generally, if I want to get some initial inspiration, it'll end up being songs with lyrics. But on the occasion that I listen to music while in the actual act of writing, then I listen to instrumental/ambience music.

 

[CrimsonDawn]

I have a YouTube playlist instead of a Spotify playlist, but depending on how I'm feeling I may or may not put it on while I'm writing. And, if not, I'll play it before I write, use it to come up with the story, and then settle down to write the scene I thought up listening to a song.

However, it has to be a song I like listening to on its own as well. Otherwise, it'd just make me uncomfortable and then I'd rather write in silence.

---

I think I might separate out the songs into more lists though, because my list is getting long and they're all very different types of songs, so...

 

[dustwatcher]

i'm almost jealous of people who can use music for writing, just can't focus on the words properly if i listen to anything while writing
it's kind of an odd thing because pretty much every writer i know listens to music while writing and i have a fair few friends who have playlists for literally everything, the idea of it fascinates me

 

[WhichSwampWitch]

A writing game a friend of mine and I used to play was to put the iPod(lmao) on shuffle for ten songs. Write the length of the song using a character/pairing of your choosing. Then share with each other - it was a great builder for muse! And super fun too!

 

[Neferteri]

I use it to write. However when I listen to some of the songs that come on my youtube music. I hear what the song is saying/telling in its own story and often times I do visualize either the songs story or what I make of it or make it into. And it has contributed a lot to my stories, characters I developed and added into the story and more!

 

[-lex-]

Yeah but soundcloud

 

[Hral]

I find it distracting to put on music when I'm in the act of writing, but I have written stories that are based on a single scene that is set to a song, usually one I'm listening to while doing something else, because my brain is always doing two things at once. The amount of words I've written based on scenes set to songs I'm listening to while cycling would astound you.

 

[thorsayingyeet]

I don't do it all the time, but it's a real fun thing to do when envisioning/writing scenes or characters
Most of the time, it's usually in the background and it doesn't really matter what kind of song it is, it'll get me writing
I could be listening to the saddest song in my playlist while writing a comedic scene and y'know, what a vibe clash

I make music on the side apart from my day job, and ironically, I have not once achieved to create a theme song for my characters (but I have tried LMAO)