Do you keep songs/playlists for stories and characters?

Moonpearl

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Music has always been important for my writing. Listening to it can help me connect better with the feelings of my characters or get a feel for the tone of what I'm trying to write if I'm struggling. Finding a song that surprisingly fits with my characters also helps me see them from different perspectives.
Because of that, I always end up abusing Youtube's playlist creation.

Do you have any songs that you associate with certain characters or stories of yours? Why not share some and tell us why~?

The playlist I've been listening to repeatedly right now is actually for an RPG I play/write with my friend. It's a more indulgent fandom fun game where the characters travel to different anime and shows, but it has quite a complicated and angsty plot at the heart of it.
My friend's character is the hero who has to collect powers to defeat the big bad who's trying to destroy the omniverse, but he's a very dense and under-prepared anti-hero. This is actually his second lifetime trying - he failed and died in the last one, so my character became a black hole to save and reset everything. (A little complicated, so we won't get into that. XD )
My character was originally just a lonely person who didn't belong in his original world that the hero invited along. He ended up becoming his emotional support, and then his husband. He didn't take part in the final battle and so survived, but he gave up his humanity to save the omniverse and give his husband a second chance to succeed. This time round he's a partial reincarnation who knows his purpose is to save the hero, and so became a weirdo who trained his whole life to support the hero.

I have a lot of songs on this playlist, but my favourite for my character is AmaLee's cover of "I Say Yes" from Zero no Tsukaima. I think it sums up his character motivation perfectly in both lives.

My other favourite for him is "In the Night" by The Weeknd. This is one of those surprising songs for me that helps to give more depth to my writing~! It works if the one "singing" is my character's brother who was told everything and supports my character in his own world. From his perspective, the hero is a selfish failure who took advantage of his brother's selfless love, mentally destroyed him and led him to a fate worse than death. He also has to watch his brother destroy himself with training and anxiety in this life.

For those who want a really good song for angsty anti-heroes, my friend used this for the hero in his last life:

And for BL fanatics, this is the song my friend said reminds her of the hero's way of viewing my character:
 

bananapink

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Music has always been important for my writing. Listening to it can help me connect better with the feelings of my characters or get a feel for the tone of what I'm trying to write if I'm struggling. Finding a song that surprisingly fits with my characters also helps me see them from different perspectives.
Because of that, I always end up abusing Youtube's playlist creation.

Do you have any songs that you associate with certain characters or stories of yours? Why not share some and tell us why~?

The playlist I've been listening to repeatedly right now is actually for an RPG I play/write with my friend. It's a more indulgent fandom fun game where the characters travel to different anime and shows, but it has quite a complicated and angsty plot at the heart of it.
My friend's character is the hero who has to collect powers to defeat the big bad who's trying to destroy the omniverse, but he's a very dense and under-prepared anti-hero. This is actually his second lifetime trying - he failed and died in the last one, so my character became a black hole to save and reset everything. (A little complicated, so we won't get into that. XD )
My character was originally just a lonely person who didn't belong in his original world that the hero invited along. He ended up becoming his emotional support, and then his husband. He didn't take part in the final battle and so survived, but he gave up his humanity to save the omniverse and give his husband a second chance to succeed. This time round he's a partial reincarnation who knows his purpose is to save the hero, and so became a weirdo who trained his whole life to support the hero.

I have a lot of songs on this playlist, but my favourite for my character is AmaLee's cover of "I Say Yes" from Zero no Tsukaima. I think it sums up his character motivation perfectly in both lives.

My other favourite for him is "In the Night" by The Weeknd. This is one of those surprising songs for me that helps to give more depth to my writing~! It works if the one "singing" is my character's brother who was told everything and supports my character in his own world. From his perspective, the hero is a selfish failure who took advantage of his brother's selfless love, mentally destroyed him and led him to a fate worse than death. He also has to watch his brother destroy himself with training and anxiety in this life.

For those who want a really good song for angsty anti-heroes, my friend used this for the hero in his last life:

And for BL fanatics, this is the song my friend said reminds her of the hero's way of viewing my character:


yep I do...
I had this habit of listening to Hail To The King (Avenged Sevenfold), Chain (Back On), and T. M. Revolution whenever I try to write action scenes to stimulate my brain because you know... I tend to write lame scenes sometimes huhuhuhu... the lively beat helps me picture out the scenes clearly. If it weren't for this I wouldn't remember how I was back then ahaha, brings back memories.
 

Azrie

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It really depends to me, but when I write. I am either listening to nothing, or I am listening to the OSTs of made in abyss or patapon 3. Either of those two.

Sometimes, I find it easy to come up with words while music is on, and sometimes it's hard because I can find it distracting. Listening to some OSTs of things I loved sometimes helps me feel inspired when I don't feel like writing. (I must mention that I still write even when I don't feel like it, because willpower.) As far as struggling with certain parts? Music would probably help, but I struggle with it anyway. Because I am not good at the genre I am writing... Although that one time I had to write something different, the OSTs helped a lot. Something about the tune? Might be sounding weird rn. Thought I'd share my thoughts.
 

Lone_Crane

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I do sometimes, usually just one or two songs though. Not really to fit the characters, more to fit the mood of a scene or the piece overall.

Like this one, "Utopian Warfare" by Zhrine, is like the soundtrack playing during a melancholy opening scene:
 

Phantomheart

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I have a set playlist for the genre of novels that I am writing. Usually, I have a playlist set for each protagonist, helping me get into the mood to write out their thoughts and actions. It really helps you get into character, while writing.
 

Nihilaine

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Yes, although I only listen to ambient musics since I find songs with words and someone singing somewhat distracting.

My to go to playlist for action scenes will always be ost's from naruto, those traditional japanese instruments playing fast beats always gets my blood pumping.

For emotional scenes, its either ost's from kdrama's or anything with a slow piano tempo.
 

Minasharpwrites

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I
Screenshot_20191002-211048_Google Play Music.jpg

This is my mini playlist meant for one series. The songs are for characters, scenes and even feelings between characters. Always play it in the background when I'm writing. When I get stuck I try to focus on the song (someone's I skip to a specific character song) and it helps me focus enough to go back.
 

LWFlouisa

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Music has always been important for my writing. Listening to it can help me connect better with the feelings of my characters or get a feel for the tone of what I'm trying to write if I'm struggling. Finding a song that surprisingly fits with my characters also helps me see them from different perspectives.
Because of that, I always end up abusing Youtube's playlist creation.

Do you have any songs that you associate with certain characters or stories of yours? Why not share some and tell us why~?

The playlist I've been listening to repeatedly right now is actually for an RPG I play/write with my friend. It's a more indulgent fandom fun game where the characters travel to different anime and shows, but it has quite a complicated and angsty plot at the heart of it.
My friend's character is the hero who has to collect powers to defeat the big bad who's trying to destroy the omniverse, but he's a very dense and under-prepared anti-hero. This is actually his second lifetime trying - he failed and died in the last one, so my character became a black hole to save and reset everything. (A little complicated, so we won't get into that. XD )
My character was originally just a lonely person who didn't belong in his original world that the hero invited along. He ended up becoming his emotional support, and then his husband. He didn't take part in the final battle and so survived, but he gave up his humanity to save the omniverse and give his husband a second chance to succeed. This time round he's a partial reincarnation who knows his purpose is to save the hero, and so became a weirdo who trained his whole life to support the hero.

I have a lot of songs on this playlist, but my favourite for my character is AmaLee's cover of "I Say Yes" from Zero no Tsukaima. I think it sums up his character motivation perfectly in both lives.

My other favourite for him is "In the Night" by The Weeknd. This is one of those surprising songs for me that helps to give more depth to my writing~! It works if the one "singing" is my character's brother who was told everything and supports my character in his own world. From his perspective, the hero is a selfish failure who took advantage of his brother's selfless love, mentally destroyed him and led him to a fate worse than death. He also has to watch his brother destroy himself with training and anxiety in this life.

For those who want a really good song for angsty anti-heroes, my friend used this for the hero in his last life:

And for BL fanatics, this is the song my friend said reminds her of the hero's way of viewing my character:

Sort of, I keep a music playlist. But nothing character specific: https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=MEJAiWWWW5M
 

ohko

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I also like to write listening to music!

It's not character specific, but I like anything catchy!

Also, I really liked stalking this thread for what people listen! Thank you to everyone who shared!
 

Yorda

Villainess Yorda the Virtuous Flower of Evil
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I really love the thread idea and explanations you gave for the song examples you had. Thanks @Moonpearl

Generally: I listen to music to generate/brainstorm my plot/character/event ideas. If I listen to the music while writing it is sometimes too distracting, so it is best used to just generate material for me.

Rule 1: The type of music I listen too also correlates with the ideas that enter into my mind. If I listen to exciting or darker music then I tend to come up with exciting or dark ideas.

Rule 2: There is another requirement before the music is able to help me in the thinking process. That requirement is that the music needs to make me passionate, excited, or elicit strong emotions. This basically means that only my most preferred music helps spark ideas for me because only certain types of music really make me feel passionate, excited, and emotional.

Rule 3: Some music is fantastic and exciting, but it is still not enough to get me ideas. The reason is that the music needs to also promote a coherent idea. There is a lot of wonderful complex music out there that just scrambles my head up rather than focusing on a clear theme in the song.

The combination of Rule 1, Rule 2, and Rule 3 mean that I can only use certain types of music (music that I prefer) to generate certain types of ideas (ideas that correlate with the mood of the music), and the music needs to be able to convey a coherent idea. Music isn't the end all be all for me, but listening to music I like never hurt me yet!

Some Music That I Use For My Story and Others
(It's fun sharing music isn't it!)

These songs would be like the main moods of my story that I am trying to write. And Child of Light is one of the best RPGs I will ever play in my life.
Child of Light Pilgrims on a Long Journey
Bertysolo & Jeremy Blake - Je n'oublierai jamais (Instrumental)
Thomas-Adam Habuda - Lacrimosa GRV Extended RMX

This one clearly gave me the idea to throw a ball in my story. I will likely crash the party in some violent way. Spill the blood of the corrupt aristocratic scum! Kill them all! Revolution!
Wedgwood Blue. Albert Ketelbey. Edited by Marino van Wakeren

I'm sure that this would be good theme music for when a character manages to succeed or win or just not die in my story.
After Time - Era

Very fitting title. Oh god. There's nothing this menacing crawling out of hell in my story, but I wish there was.
Revolt Production Revenge of the Dark Side

This feels pretty nice. Perhaps it could be theme music for my most badass character that I planned to have die. They don't whine about it either. It's very metal.
Wintersun - Wintersun_05 - Death And The Healing

I think these songs could give some kind of idea for my story.
Clint Mansell - Death is the Road to Awe
Gunnar Madsen - Anna

Honourable Mentions

I think it's worth calling this one my favourite song. Makes me feel like some kind of epic battle/tale is unfolding or that my character is giving their heart and soul to accomplish something while willing to sacrifice anything.
Thomas Bergersen - Illusions

This has not given me any ideas yet, but it's very invigorating.
Revolt Production Outsider

If I wanted to be a dictator or start a mass riot this would be my theme music. This is a great example of a song that feels pretty clear in its theme. RTS is also the best game genre.
Command & Conquer 3_ Kane's Wrath Soundtrack_ Mechanical Mind

Okay, I'm imagining some character's soul drifting between dimension or life and death.
NieRAutomata OST - Fortress of Lies

Hehe. Nier Automata has pretty great mood setting music, but I have no comment on that erotic wardrobe or convoluted nonsensical storyline. No comment. XD
NieR Automata OST - Tower Dynamic - Vocals

Soooooo mechanical. Ever since I saw the mechanical gear video with this music, it is my go to for anything mechanical.
3 liquid Hz little boy

This conjures an imagine of some kind of battlefield with a bunch of main characters struggling to survive. Braving death or something.
Two Steps From Hell - Ironwing

Keeps me dancing.
Wolf Saga - Keep dancing
 
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Cielo.C

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Hi. My current novel-in-progress, My Love Song, is all about my playlist xd Well at least one of my many playlists. The titles are songs and sometimes, lyrics are added too. My playlist, Slow Night Songs, is my inspiration in writing this novel. I play it on repeat as I write.
 

BenJepheneT

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I'm a whole different case here. Instead of enhancing my concentration, music just distracts me from whatever I do. So I usually hit my playlist whenever I'm NOT writing. I usually try something that'll suit a mood or an atmosphere, which is what everyone does with the music.

I try to listen to instrumentals. Lyrics and vocals fucks with my grammar so I stick to just dubs and wubs.
 

Wintertime

King of Nothing
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Somewhat. I have a playlist that I use when I want to express a vibe; it helps to work.
 

Sinpathy

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@Azrie Samee, Made in Abyss OST is so good when you're writing. Forgot who the composer was, but apparently they made the ones for Shield Hero too.
 

Yorda

Villainess Yorda the Virtuous Flower of Evil
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OSTs of made in abyss
Thanks. This is the perfect kind of song for when a character finally succeeds in their painstaking quest. Gives me good feels. I forgot how kick-ass all the Made in Abyss music was.

@Azrie Samee, Made in Abyss OST is so good
forgot who the composer was, but apparently they made the ones for Shield Hero too.
Ohhhhh! I love that shield hero OST! They really seem to be capable of capturing the theme of the story through music.
 
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BenJepheneT

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how kick-ass all the Made in Abyss music was
kool maybe ill give it a try

do you need to watch the anime to get the same feels or is it something you can enjoy off the get-go like eurobeat
 

Yorda

Villainess Yorda the Virtuous Flower of Evil
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kool maybe ill give it a try

do you need to watch the anime to get the same feels or is it something you can enjoy off the get-go like eurobeat
It was also a very good show. Top quality. I think the music is okay by itself. If it was truly good music it should have the chops to stand on it's own without assistance right. It went really well with the show which probably enhanced moments in the show rather than the show enhancing the music.
 
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