There have been several threads about music everyone listens to, but ...

...what music inspires you, story wise.

For me it varies. A lot of my writing is to classical music, particularly requiem masses (Berlioz, Brahms, Duruffle, and Faure) but today two songs have got under my skin...

(Mumford and sons - Awake my soul, and Lana del ray - video games)

....and as they do, stories just appear. It's wonderful when that happens. If only i could keep in that moment for longer, to record all that flows.

So...What Music Inspires You To Write?

It really depends on the script I'm working on and where I'm at in the script.

For instance, the other night I was writing a suicide scene of a man who lost his three daughters.

It was PINK FLOYD all night. One album after another.

I'm writing murder scene tonight and it is BLACK SABBATH and believe it or not, FRANK ZAPPA.

When I write comedy, I don't listen to anything. It distracts me.

Shawn.....><

I agree with Shawn's first line. You (meaning me) can't have uniformed music for every writing style.

I usually do best with '60s/'70s rock and '80s pop but I have to throw it certain particular songs when the story calls for it.

Oh and this is a bit unrelated but here in America, we have a Twilight Zone marathon going on for those who are interested. It's on SiFi channel.  For my money, it just doesn't get much better than 24 hours of The Zone.

They just showed my all time fav. The one where the devil was locked up in the monastery by the monks.

I love that one.

Shawn.....><

Oh, god... My mom likes that one, too.

My favorite's actually on right now; "The Midnight Sun".

P.S. I remember when the TZ marathon was three days, minimum. My, how times have changed...

Yeah, agree with the chaps above. All depends on what script I'm working on but like you Bill, I do have a tendency to listen to classical music as well as movie scores alot.

If it ever takes place in a desert or a gypsy camp, I stick to DeVotchKa.  A little more Balkan?  Beirut.

Quoted from Ledbetter When I write comedy, I don't listen to anything. It distracts me. Shawn.....><

Interesting. When i was first writing Pagan i enjoyed the music as a guide to creating new scenes/dynamics, but when it went into the fine tuning phase i couldn't do it with music.

I suppose the music helps me at that initial "spark" phase.

I develop playlists for individual screenplays.
And there's no overlap... one song becomes part of that story, etc.

For instance, my latest feature is an action/thriller with international intrigue, etc.
So, I zeroed in on scores that would help immerse me in that genre...



There are songs and scores for each script.
Listening to music helps me capture the tone I'm after.

Regards,
E.D.

Yeah depends on the script. Narrative songwriters always inspire; Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, to name a few.

I use Pandora. I write action, so I tend to listen to faster-paced music. Rock, metal, and rap, mostly.

I create a channel with an artist or song that I think fits the mood that I'm writing.

I'm all about incorporating music with screenplays, music can always get me in the right frame of mind. Weirdly, I can't write while listening to music, I need complete silence and then when I get stuck, I take a break, listen to music, and brainstorm away. The music does depend on the screenplay but I usually take the time to find music for each scene, I have a few iTunes playlists of dream soundtracks for my scripts. I grew up watching John Hughes and The O.C., those music moments are movie magic to me, although in film school I was taught against it, it's not stopping me!