I almost always write to music. Music helps me get into the writing zone and stay there, and also with creating a particular mood in myself while working. I have a wide variety of music playlists. When I am drafting, I can play songs, but when I am revising, it needs to be instrumental—movie scores, electronica, synth-wave, even classical music at times.
Sue’s post this past Tuesday about using ringtones for characterization and Kris’s on Wednesday discussing a story’s soundtrack inspired me to search the KZB archives for posts dealing with using music, to hopefully start a discussion and share insights.
The first excerpt is from a 2010 Joe Moore post about film scores. The full post provides a list of film scores he liked. The second excerpt is from author Robert Liparulo, and is a fine follow-up, discussing how he uses film scores to create his fiction. Our final excerpt today is from Kelli Stanley, talking about how a soundtrack can help you mentally recreate another era.
As always, the original posts are date-linked at the bottom of their respective excerpts.
Lets start by looking at the cinema. Arguably, a movie would lose its impact without music. Even in the days of silent movies, there was a live piano player in the theater whose job was to add drama to each scene. You can have the greatest photography, acting, direction, set design and script, but without music, the movie would probably fall flat. Not to be confused with what some call movie soundtracks–usually a collection contemporary tunes–movie scores are written and orchestrated pieces of original music specifically designed for a particular scene. They enhance and support the visual images. If you listen to a movie score isolated from the visuals, it can verge on being classical in nature. As a matter of fact, I consider names like Trevor Jones, Randy Edelman, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, James Horner, John Williams, Howard Shore, and many others to be our modern day classical composers.
I discovered many years ago that I could also use the element of music to help me write. Someone gave me the CD score to THE MISSION with Robert De Niro. It happened to be playing on my stereo as I started a new chapter, and I realized that the music set exactly the same mood as the scene on which I was working. So from then on, as I watched movies I would pay particular attention to the scores. If they evoked the type of mood I sought in my WIP, or just set a very cool, dramatic, romantic or spooky mood, I would order the CD and rip it to MP3.
I now have a huge collection of scores on my computer and rarely sit down to write without my MP3 player on “shuffle”. I don’t use any music with lyrics since I find that other people’s words distract me. That’s why scores work so well—in most cases they are instrumental.
So if you’d like to try writing dramatic scenes to music, here’s a short list of my favorite CDs that seem to have it all when it comes to creating a mood found in most mysteries and thrillers.
Joe Moore—December 9, 2009
For as long as I can remember, I’ve listened to music as I wrote—through years of writing magazine articles and intermittent screenplays. It started as a way of deadening the sounds of screaming kids, vacuum cleaners, and when I rented an outside office, the shouts coming from the divorce attorney’s office next door. Then I started writing novels, and the type of music I played suddenly mattered.
Faster tempos do help keep the pace up—if not within the story, then at least with how fast my fingers move over a keyboard; but then, volume helps with that as well. The louder, the better. More important than tempo is how a piece of music makes me feel. A cue that starts off slow and builds to a triumphant crescendo can carry me through a fast-paced action sequence as well as any nonstop, staccato rhythm. “Chevaliers de Sangreal” from The Da Vinci Code, for example: a hero’s theme if ever there was one.
Over time, I’ve built a library of music categorized by the mood it puts me in when I write. Take, for instance, Clint Mansell’s haunting music for Requiem for a Dream. Its cues seem to be teetering on the edge of something, without relief or execution. No wonder several of the titles have the word “Tense” in them. When I launch into a suspenseful scene, I’ll often queue up my Requiem playlist.
Here’s a specific example of a partial scene and the music I was listening to when I wrote it:
“With the speed and fluidity he had practiced a thousand times, Hutch drew back on the bowstring and released it, all in one, smooth two-second motion. He held still for another beat to make sure the arrow cleared the bow. Then he dropped his right arm to a second arrow rising from the ground beside him. His bow arm never moved. His head never moved. His eyes never came off of Bad. As the arrow sliced a groove through Bad’s skin at the temple, Hutch was already nocking the next arrow.”
Most likely, Quentin Tarantino would go with something fast and exotic, like NEU!’s “Super 16” from Kill Bill. Because the scene is a mix of suspense and action, I powered up “Betrayal” from Enemy at the Gates—from the scene in which they discover a young boy murdered and hanging from a crane. It’s emotive and heart-wrenching, and prior to the “discovery” almost painful in its anticipation.
My writing-music of choice is almost always film scores. It seems to me that movie moguls are the benefactors of today’s great composers, Hollywood the new Vienna. I also like that the structure of a good story—with its cycle of tension and relief, despair and triumph—forces a wide variation in music within one recording. I used to think the strong bond between a movie’s images and its music would cause me to think only of those images while listening to the score—Russell Crowe plucking his violin in Master and Commander. However, I’ve found that the spirit of the music takes over and I can claim it for my own. That’s why filmmakers often listen to other movies’ scores while on set. They’re not trying to imitate another movie’s scene; they’re letting the music help them get in the mood for their own scene. The director Ridley Scott is known for doing this.
Robert Liparulo—June 28, 2009
Y’ see, listening is particularly helpful when you’re trying to lose yourself in time. Because City of Dragons is set in 1940, I immersed myself in a lot of music from the era—and had to be very careful to not access something anachronistic. I wanted to hear what my characters did, and I was writing about a period in American culture when music was truly a mass medium of popular entertainment … and when our entertainment—thanks to radio drama—was more audio than visual.
The music was key to me feeling like I could capture the past. And then it became about character, too, about my protagonist reacting to that world, particularly the irony of achingly romantic big band swing juxtaposed to the atrocities of war.
So I found myself becoming immersed in the music, actually using it in the book. And I felt confident about being able to, since some writers I greatly admire—like George Pelecanos and Ken Bruen—reference music and lyrics in their works.
The rub, of course, is the permissions phase … something I didn’t know much about. But warning, all you Springsteen fans who want to include “The River” in your latest novel … the author is responsible for either acquiring permission or rewriting the scene.
In my case, I found out too late and had to rewrite certain scenes, retaining a line of lyric and hopefully the flow and rhythm and emotion of the original draft. But—like a DVD director’s cut—I was able to link up a City of Dragons playlist on my website, so that, whenever possible, you can listen to the music my characters do.
It’s a cool way of sharing not just what I like to listen to, but what became an intrinsic element of the book, and a kind of instant time machine back to February, 1940.
Kelli Stanley–January 28, 2010
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Now it’s your turn to weigh on using music when creating fiction.
Do you listen to music when drafting? When revising?
If you do, is there a certain genre or style of music you prefer listening to?
If you don’t listen to music during your actual writing session, do you ever listen to it “get into the mood” before writing?
Since I need quiet to write, I found these posts interesting insights into the processes of authors who work differently than I do. Speaking in broad generalities, seemed the majority of comments came from males who listen to music while most females who commented preferred quiet. Not sure what that means, if anything.
Thanks for showing another dimension in creativity, Dale.
Interesting observation, Debbie. I don’t know if it means anything, either. I’m glad you found these posts insightful. Have a wonderful weekend!
Interesting, indeed, Debbie.
I would have thought it would be the other way around with men and women. Women are supposed to be able to multi-task; men are focused (the thesis of John Gray’s Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.) Maybe the music helps block out all other surrounding stimuli?
I am fortunate to have an office on one end of the house, and no extraneous noise. I love the silence for writing. I’ve also found that it is easier to stay focused if I keep the curtains closed, blocking out the beauty of a wooded lot that surrounds the house. Too tempting to think about outside chores.
I’ll be interested in learning today the most efficient way writers dial in music for a specific tone and mood. Which online sources work the best for selecting mood and tone, etc.
Great post, Dale. And thanks for pulling these excerpts together for our discussion!
Thanks, Steve! For me the music definitely helps block outside stimuli. We live in a small, 1100 square foot house, in a 1970s era sub-division. Our street isn’t particularly busy, but we aren’t far from several other streets, so there’s often a certain amount of noise which music can block out.
I love that you have a quiet corner of your house. I’d also love to learn more about how various writers “dial in music for a specific tone and mode,” as you put it. Well-said.
…[T]he majority of comments came from males who listen to music while most females who commented preferred quiet. Not sure what that means, if anything.
The male brain may be different–slightly larger in some crucial area having to do with the hunt. A study of this propensity, if real, may yield interesting results.
Thanks, Dale. Great work, as always, on panning for gold in the sands of the TKZ archives.
Have a terrific weekend!
Thanks, Joe! Hope you have a wonderful weekend, too!
Always so interesting to see the different ways that authors work. For me personally, I can’t have any distractions while I write or revise. I’ve tried more than once to have music playing while I write & revise and it very rapidly becomes an annoyance and I shut it off.
And interesting question about whether I listen to music before I start–the answer is no. I feel no need to connect listening to music to prepping for writing time.
Music is what I listen to while I clean house or surf the net or do some other idle thing that doesn’t require much focus. This is not surprising though–generally I’m a ‘focus on one thing at a time’ sort of person.
Thanks for commenting, BK. I agree, always interesting to see the different approaches writers take. It could be that focus is a big part of it–that’s something I struggle with, being a high input person who can readily distract himself from the task at hand.
Have a great weekend!
This is a great post, Dale!
I use music at times when I write. I like the scores from Braveheart, Gladiator, LOTR, The Hobbit movies, Last of the Mohicans . . .
When writing a particular scene in my newest novel, I listened to The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd from The Hobbit-The Battle of the Five Armies over and over. Beautiful song.
I also have some music from Debussy that’s perfect, and James Newton Howard.
When I’m revising/editing, I need quiet. But when I’m chasing after the characters, just trying to see what they’re up to, I like music.
Thanks, Deb! Those are terrific scores in my book, too. I liked how you put it, “when I’m chasing after the characters, just trying to see what they’re up to, I like music.”
I hope you have a great weekend!
I listen to music sometimes…my problem is remembering to do it. I don’t listen to anything with words in it since I’d probably start writing whatever the song is. I always listen to classical music as I drive.
Classic music would a wonderful salve to any driving related stress, Patricia.
I work with headphones on, music cranked, while I write. I used to create a soundtrack for each book, but now that I’m concentrating on my Mayhem Series, I’ve compiled a series of songs on Pandora. Mostly, they stick to my “liked” songs. Every once in a while they throw a new song at me. If it fits, I give it a thumbs-up. If not, thumbs-down. All have lyrics. Doesn’t bother me, because the music becomes white noise after a while. I’ve tried writing in the quiet, but I can’t get deep into the zone if I’m listening to the outside world. Once in a while I may edit in quiet, but it’s not nearly as fun. 😉
You and I are kindred spirits in music while writing, as well as crows and Luna, Sue 🙂 I love how you create and curate a playlist on Pandora.
I know what you mean about quiet not being nearly as fun while editing, either. I’ve been leaning into Marvel ’83s synth wave music while I rewrite.
We are, Dale. 😀
This week has been refreshing with all the writers who listen to music. For the longest time, I was the only one I knew who did.
I listen to music all the time, and usually it doesn’t matter what I listen to. In high school and university, I would do all my work with music cranked up. I need the noise to keep my “inner critic” occupied, and that works best with music and lyrics.
That’s a great insight, Azali, about musical “noise” keeping the inner c critic busy while writing. I’ve found that to be true, as well.
Never considered that before, Azali. You’re right. Music does keep the inner critic occupied.
I don’t write to music, but I recently got on TikTok and I love finding a tune that promotes or expresses the atmosphere of my books.
Another great way to use music, Alec. I recently shared my current playlist with my newsletter, and received a nice response.
This is fascinating. For years I needed (or thought I needed) absolute quiet to write. Then I came across a piece of music that had me thinking about a series I wanted to write every time I heard it. So I tried playing it as I wrote and…my production increased dramatically. And now, if I forget to turn on the “theme” for the WIP I notice I get distracted more easily. Turn it on, and boom, here come the pages.
The problem is each individual piece that becomes the theme of a book is from then on inextricably linked to that book or series and I can’t use it for anything else!
And by the way, for anyone who doesn’t know about it, all this started when I stumbled across a blog/website designed for just this. Haven’t seen it mentioned here, so I’ll post it: https://soundfuel.blogspot.com
Give a listen to the curator’s own work/playing, too, she’s quite good.
Thx!
Great point, Justine. I could see where a particular theme could become so associated with a particular book you’ve written that you’d always see the book when you heard that theme. Thanks for the link!
Only because you mentioned instrumentals: I haven’t been able to listen to music for a very long time – auditory processing problems related to the ME/CFS I’ve lived with for decades made it difficult for me to parse a lot of my favorite albums, the ones I used to sing along with all the time (though not while writing).
And then I found Cascade, a duo of Mark White and Steffi Barthel on Chapman sticks (they’re all over Youtube if you’d like to take a listen) – the unique instruments (sort of like the fretboard of a 12-string guitar with no guitar attached, but played by tapping, not plucking or strumming) and many completely original instrumentals allowed me to listen to lovely music again without developing crippling earworms.
Here’s a short example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XpNTFX1rdLQ
It’s good to have music again.
I’m so glad you have music again, Alicia! Thanks so much for sharing that link.
“Do you listen to music when drafting? When revising?”
Nope. Nope. I’ve considered doing so, but I can see myself getting lost in the process and not doing as much writing. I don’t need silence to write; I wrote three books with the TV on and my wife making dinner in the adjacent kitchen. Once, while walking with friends, one said, “Gee, the park is noisy today.” I suddenly became aware of all the noise I’d blocked.
“If you don’t listen to music during your actual writing session, do you ever listen to “get into the mood” before writing?”
I’ve done so, a few times. I’ll have to try that more often.
Thanks, JG for commenting. I envy you the ability to write with the TV on and block other noises. I want to try listening to music to “get into the mood” to write more often as well.
This is very interesting, Dale. I usually write in silence, but have put on classical music a few times. I can’t really tell the difference in the effect it has on me.
But you and others have convinced me to be more creative with sound when I write.
I’m glad this WoW gave you food for thought, Kay. Being “more creative with sound” is an excellent thing to experiment with, in my book at least 🙂