Lately I've been listening to DJ Okawari- I found him through a Youtube recommendation, haha. I've only listened to a couple of his songs so far, but they're pretty good.
Otherwise, I've been listening to Joe Hisaishi, the Narnia soundtrack, or other instrumental stuff. Songs with lyrics usually distract me.
To be honest, I don't really listen to any music, if you must know. Mostly, I just listen to peaceful sounds, ya know? Like birds chirping, or a river flowing, or trees swishing, or horses whinnying. Yeah, that sorta stuff. I really like it and it helps me concentrate really nicely.
Also, just like @AlyTheBookworm said, songs with lyrics distract me. Even if it's my favorite one, I'll just shut it off right there and then if it starts bugging me. Because the singer is saying words, and I'm trying to think of words. So then it just gets annoying and distracts me a whole lot.
I never used to be able to listen to music because I found it distracting. Now it depends on the project.
For Liz + Zac I listened to classical because Liz is a big fan of classical. For When I was Anna I listened to orchestral Disney music because Disney music is part of that story. For my newest project, Butterfly Chasers, I listened to contemporary Christian because that's important to the plot. I'm thinking my next novel will be movie scores.
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
@Carlito : ohhh that sounds like a cool idea! I normally don't listen to music while writing (unless my family happened to have some playing in the background) but I might try that some time.
It kind of depends on the project. For my current project I've listened to a lot of country music. Specifically love songs because it's a paranormal romance.
“wanting what you could not have led to misery and madness” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince
I usually listen to instrumental music when I'm writing - the words end up distracting me if they're there. My favorite background music channel used to be The Soul of Wind, but I've listened to their playlists so many times that I've begun to recognize the songs. Theoretically, I could use songs I've already heard, but I get more into writing when the songs are relatively new.
I also like matching the song's tone to the mood of the piece I'm writing.
Certain songs clog up my writing flow. Like writing cramps, you know? I can't place my finger on a certain type of music, specifically, but it tends to be the more... Sound based variety? I don't know what it's called, really. Though, a funny thing is, I do also like listening to intense, battle music. Even when I'm writing a calmer scene...
I can't listen to music much while I write! If it's music with lyrics, I'm going to sing along, 100% guaranteed, no way out of it. Even if it doesn't have lyrics, I'm probably going to sit there and listen to how pretty it is instead of writing.
Usually I either write with some dumb sitcom I've seen a thousand times on in the background - because I don't need to pay attention to it - or I like writing in a coffeeshop or something where there are the sounds of other people and I don't feel isolated while writing.
I don't listen to music with lyrics because it distracts me; I find that listening to sounds like a fan running or other white noise is the best option for me. If I'm being honest, though, I much prefer silence so I tend to write in the library or wherever I know there isn't going to be any background noise most of the time.
"Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there.'" -- Jef Mallett
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