Young Writers Society

So, I've kinda decided to share with you guys a tool that helps me greatly when writing, and I hope this will help many of you when you're stuck

I don't know how many of you listen to something while writing - if that is the case, leave me a comment on what you listen and whether it helps you! It'd be great for all of us to share what music inspires us all!

Music is just awesome when writing, because not only (in my case) it helps me set the mood, but also envision the scene I'm writing. Sometimes when I feel like writing but the words don't flow right, I listen to music, and it all sorts itself out!
On that note, if anyone does need any songs for any story or inspiration, feel free to ask me, because my soundtrack database is something I'm seriously proud of. It is also true that music with words can be off-putting, so I wouldn't advise to listen to it while you're writing - the words may interfere with what you're writing at that moment.

There's a similar thread where Snoink talks about listening while editing, that's also a great place to go and see, I agree with her completely.

On that note, I'd like to share some of my personal favourites (in no particular order):

Two Steps From Hell - these guys create soundtracks for movies (they don't know which ones yet), and the amount that is out there is incredible. The styles of songs are sorted by albums, so 'Dynasty' has asian-themed soundtracks, 'All Drums Go To Hell' is primarily drum-based, etc. I really recommend this one! To get a good feel of their style, Google or iTunes 'Archangel' - that's a collection of their stuff.

Alistair Lindsay - the reason I chose him is because his songs are long, and serve much more as background songs - they are great for setting up a creepy atmosphere and they're nice to the ear. Try 'Fear' or 'Madness' - those are pretty good.

Hans Zimmer - can't talk about soundtracks without this guy. He is arguably the genius of soundtracks, and pretty much any you listen to will inspire you - guaranteed.

Howard Shore - LOTR and Hobbit soundtracks just make me really excited. Many are epic, many are creepy - plenty to choose from.

Ramin Djawadi - The guy who created 'Game of Thrones' soundtrack. Just as awesome as the show is, the soundtrack is really worth it, I think.

Miscellaneous soundtracks from random movies - plenty of those, too. For happy inspiring ones try 'Treasure Planet', there are epic ones like 'Requiem for A Dream', creepy and electronic like 'Tron' or 'Death Race'.

Instrumentals - surprisingly, it's easy to find the instrumental (no words) or acoustic version of a song that you like. I personally listen to 30 Seconds to Mars instrumentals - those are awesome, Linkin Park has some good ones, too. That's one for you all to explore.

Ethnic Music of The World - as weird as that sounds, ethnic music of different cultures can be very calming or inspiring (not too 'epic' but certainly worth hearing).

John Williams - Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Jurassic Park... 'nuff said.

One last note: I do advise you check out ones I've suggested if you want some good sounds to help you write! Also, a great place to find soundtracks is to go on 8tracks.com and type in 'soundtracks'. People put up great stuff there, too.
Phew, that's a lot of writing Nonetheless, keep writing, keep listening, enjoy! And, *shameless advertising*, if you do need suggestions, PM me!

Hope this helps!

I totally agree with you - music means so much when writing!

I listen to the ones with words too, as I sometimes connect some of my imagined dialogues to the lyrics.. not that I copy them, but when I hear the phrase in a song, I remember the scene/character/whatever that goes with it in some my way. Kind of strange, I guess, but my memory is really good thanks to those kinds of tricks xD

Your list of the instrumentals, however, will be very useful to me, as I just thought of how much I need atmosphere and scenery inspiration in the chapters I'm about to write, and soundtracks rule on that point ^_^
Thanks for posting this!

Listening to music vastly helps me elaborate on ideas for my writing. Even though songs with words can sometimes be off-putting, the lyrics can sometimes form new ideas for my characters, even inspire a whole new story. Lots of ideas in the story I'm currently writing have come from tracks by The Script, for their songs are very raw and emotional. It's funny, really - everyone else seems to sit there exclaiming about how a certain song fits their life perfectly, whereas I'm sat there thinking about how a certain song fits my character's life perfectly.
That said, I listen to instrumental music too - Hans Zimmer, who you mentioned, is one of my personal favourites. The Inception soundtrack is fabulous.

Yeah, I totally am kudos to music when writing. Not only can they stimulate the mind, but also get the writers into the mood. Thanks for sharing that Miscellaneous track list, I think it'll prove itself very useful.

You didn't share Adam Young, though! Hahaha! Nah, it's okay. He's actually my favorite singer/songwriter and one of my most favored poets.

Thanks for the post!