Do you listen to music when reading/writing fanfiction?

Just want to raise this question since I find that some fanfic readers and writers like to do this to put them in the mood or to jog up some inspiration.

I'm doing this much lately. Not only that I like listening to some music when I read/write fanfiction, I use them to set the mood too in the stories.

Thoughts?

Oh, yes.

In particular, I tend to "theme" the music if I can - that is, if I'm writing "Legend of Zelda" fic, it's good to listen to one of the Lo Z soundtracks. The last time I was writing fic, it was a Skyward Sword piece, so I listened to Skyward Sword instrumentals.

I listen to music when writing anything, or really, doing any task that doesn't come with sound of its own.

Not always when reading fic, but constantly when writing it. I don't often listen to music from the media in question though, I listen to music that suits what I want for the fic.

Like when writing my Evangelion/Elfen Lied crossover, I'll put "Ai wo Torimodose!!" on loop, barring certain scenes where "Overpowering" would be more appropriate (like Lucy versus an Evangelion).

I do listen to music both when reading and writing fanfic.

That said I generally leave myself at the mercy of my randomiser which can result in some weird combinations and juxtapositions.

Glad to hear some of your replies. Guess it's getting common now.

I don't blame ya for thinking that.

Depends. Most of the time I find listening to music distracting. Some authors, however, like to include links to songs with their fanfiction that fit the mood of the scene and can actually increase immersion.

All of the big dogfights in Wings To Fly were written under the influence of a particular song, but I only actually name one of them. (For the simple reason Noin quotes a few lines.)

edited 1st Apr '14 7:03:09 PM by Night

When am I NOT listening to music?

@Zennistrad

- I get your position. I sometimes do that to my fanfics so that the reader won't get bored. Of course, there may be others who don't agree with my music choices.

You bet! It helps me concentrate, and occasionally I had a song that inspired an entire fic.

"heard a song that inspired an entire fic"

<nods> Yep. I know that feeling. Had it happen several times.

I tend to no listen to anything if I'm seriously reading. But if I'm browsing lots of fics, especially if their mostly one shots I'll listen to music while doing so.

Not when I'm reading it. Sometimes when I'm writing, though.

Often. And I have a list of songs to make into a playlist when I get to writing a certain other fic.

Yes. I listen to music when reading or writing fanfiction, but most often when writing it.

I hate the kind of songfic where they just copy-paste the lyrics for an entire block of the fanfiction. If the lyrics are all at the end or beginning, or at least they keep it to a link, it's much less likely to piss me off because it's essentially the same as poetry/quotes that set the tone, but the first kind of songfic is often a sign of laziness, newness, or both.

Usually I use music to set the mood/feel of the writing.

edited 21st Aug '14 10:29:03 AM by Sharysa

I listen to music all the damn time, and writing is no exception. Only rarely do I come up with a specific "soundtrack" for the the story I'm writing, and the one time I did, I didn't actually finish the story.

If I'm going to work a real song into the fic itself, I do it as source music rather than non-diagetic music.

Occasionally I do. I mostly write on my tablet nowadays (with a keyboard of course, thank you bluetooth) so I'm limited to what I have on my cloud/device.

I might try the theme idea. Pokemon has a lot of good tracks in it.

Never when I read; it drowns out the character's voices. :P

Nearly always when I write. It helps keep my thoughts flowing.

Same here, never when I read but almost always while I write. I tend to pick songs based on the mood of what I'm writing.

Happy or warm? Love songs, alternative, or pop. Fight scenes? Rock. Something scary? Grunge. Something sad? Love songs or rock.

Almost always when I write, and if I'm writing a story Inspired by a particular song I have said song on repeat. (Fortunately, I never include the lyrics to said song.)

Sometimes when I'm reading, especially if the person in question provides a soundtrack list for the story. I only listen to music sometimes when I'm writing though. Particularly my Evangelion story

Music very frequently inspires me, but I don't listen to it while I'm actually writing; it tends to be a distraction.

Sometimes if a writer suggests listening to a certain song at a certain point in the story, I'll do so. I've read at least one fic where it worked very well.

Always, but mostly because I am always listening to music.

I hate absolute silence, so I usually put music to drown it out.

Furthermore, music can serve as very good inspiration for scenes and even entire characters for me, and in my mind I've got characters who're tied to specific songs and I can remember their characterization, personality and backstory better when I'm listening to the song that inspired them or large parts of their character.

Given that I'm juggling over a dozen different stories at any given time, usually with wildly different characters, it's more useful than you'd think.

I'll even sometimes include part of the lyrics of a song, or adapt chunks of the song as a shout out (and when I do, I'll also give credit for it). Or even have the characters, when it's appropriate, sing, or hum to the tune of a song, or otherwise have in-universe music influencing them in some way.

While I can't really offer music in the same way a medium allowing sound does, what I can do is try to get people to play songs in their head. If they know the song, they'll be doing so. If they don't, well, unless I forget, there's usually an author's note at the bottom explaining where the lyrics the character's singing come from.

I've found that offering a link as an aside or telling people to go listen to a specific song in the middle of the story is unnecessary and breaks the flow of your story.

If the song and the scene really go that well together, then people who know the song are probably gonna be playing it in their heads. But you should never require the aid of music to convey the point of a scene. I shouldn't have to be listening to Down With The Sickness to understand that the character is undergoing a mental breakdown and turning into a monster.

I shouldn't need O Fortuna or One Winged Angel to understand that the scene is supposed to be epic and awesome and stuffs.

When you need the music along to convey the feelings the scene is supposed to convey, you fail at storytelling.

Note: I've actually written songfics. But when I do, I don't just write a fic and copy paste the lyrics of a song on parts of it. 'cuz that'd be lazy as all hell. I like to write something closer to adaptations.

edited 5th Nov '14 4:34:34 AM by IAmNotCreativeEnough

Very seldom when writing. I find that I'm my most productive in silence and music tends to distract me. However, there are rare exceptions. When there is a specific mood, i may pull up a track from Kingdom Hearts to help get a certain flow. One of my recent hcapters was written entirely to the tune of the 13th Dilemma because it was a big boss battle sequence, and that music really got me pumped up.

But other times, I find it easier to just write in silence and solitude. And I absolutely can't write to a movie or TV show. Idk, it's just a thign with me.