State of the Fandom
Today I want to start a discussion of sorts. The other day, I had my iPod on shuffle and Kings of Leon ‘Closer’ came on. Those of you who read my fics may know that that song has been the inspiration for many dirty moments in my fic library. It made me realize how much I often rely on music for inspiration. So that got me wondering…
Do you listen to music while you write fic? I do. I find that music helps set the mood for writing. I have a ‘soundtrack’ that I create for almost every fic I write. And while I never reuse a soundtrack in its entirety, I do find that there is a core group of songs that always seem to inspire me.
LizaBella and I are starting The Dark Side of the Moon, and I just finished making its playlist. Some of the soundtrack is on it, but there are a lot of songs from elsewhere that I think are fitting too. When you write canon (or quasi-canon) do you pull from the soundtracks?
Almost every playlist I listen to has some Kings of Leon on it. Who’s your fav artist to listen to when ficcing? Do you find yourself going back to the same song or artist every time?
And what about song fics? I think they’re a love/hate kind of thing. Either you love the creativity and inspiration behind them, or you hate having the fic interrupted by song lyrics.
I’ve only suggested a song once, but when an author does rec a song to listen to while you read a chapter, how often do you listen to the song? I usually try to listen to the rec unless I’m in a place where I don’t have the ability to listen to music.
I’ve discovered a few great new songs/artists from authors recs. Have you ever listened to a song from a fic and wound up loving the song/band?
Last question, I know that some fandoms have songs or groups that are frequently mentioned in the books (BDB comes to mind, but no fanfic there!) So, if you do listen to music while you write, how often does the series or fandom you’re writing in dictate your music choice?
Okay, I think that should get the ball rolling. Give us some feedback! Answer these questions and post one of your own!
♥SB
Music definitely plays into my stories. Sometimes the feel of a song inspires an emotion I want to recreate with my words, otherwise it’s a much more literal translation. With the current fic I’m writing, I have a play list I have yet to share.
As far as returning to certain songs, I find this tends to happen. I listen to such a wide range of music that I’m all over the place when it comes to the types of songs that influence my writing. There is a repetition (and by no means is this the only sample in my case) but I find Nine Inch Nails can be inspiring when I’m writing a particularly feisty lemon or an adrenaline pumping fight. If I listen to music WHEN I write, it’s exclusively classical. It sounds silly and maybe a little cliche, but it’s true!
That’s my little bit.. Great topic and fun to reflect on!
xoxo
Jules
I admit I have never looked up a song while reading a fanfic. And I do find lyric insertions to be annoying, although I don’t mind them at the beginning or end of the chapter.
I was *going* to say I never made a song suggestion of my own, but upon reflection I do have music mentioned prominently in a few spots — Moonlight Sonata is in one story, Ravel’s Bolero is the theme of one chapter, and I do have a running joke about bad seventies hits. Hmm. I was very surprised when a reader asked for links to the songs I mentioned.
I’ve never purposely listened to music while writing, but my commute to work usually cycles among Muse, Green Day, and The Offspring, I think the war/ anti-war-related songs they’ve put out in the last few years inspired one of my fics.
Gonna disagree with KariAnn bout SM starting the playlist thing. I’ve seen playlists in fanfics for YEARS before she started with her lists for each book.
I’m a fan of songfics, if done correctly. I feel the lyrics add to the overall feeling to the o/s or fic, but you can’t rely heavily on them. I’ve done a few song o/s (my entries for both the Vamp Diaries and LSBIL contests were somewhat songfics) and I’ve been told that the lyrics added to the heaviness of them. Dunno why I write songfics based on depressing songs tho…*shrugs*
As for music while writing, as much as possible. In fact, a series I’m working on, each character has their own playlist and each have their own fave genre. One’s into nu-metal/screamo, another’s into 80s hair metal, one’s into dance-pop-punk, and another’s into hip-hop (with an exception to Kelly Clarkson). I have songlists for stories I haven’t started yet in that series and whenever I hear a song that has lyrics or an overall feel for the mood of that story, I’ll look up the complete lyrics and write it down. The chars also have their own input, obvy.
But for a list while working on a certain story, usually I go with the character’s playlist (each char actually has their own story), and the song itself depends on the mood of the chap. An angry chap will have angry, screaming music, a sad one will have a ballad, and so on.
But personal faves include (but are not limited to): Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Senses Fail, Paramore (who inspired the whole series really), Muse, Malese Jow, Silverstein, Coldplay, Theory of a Deadman, Linkin Park, and others that I can’t think of atm. Wide variety, but tending to lead towards any rock genre.
Basically, as a bandfic writer, I listen to music a lot while writing. I get a lot more done if I have music in the background. Just a music kinda chick, I guess, lol
I really can’t listen to music when I write. It distracts me too much. There have been some exceptions to this rule, but for the most part I need complete silence to write.
I have a playlist for my story, but mostly because they were songs that I thought of after the chapter was posted that would have paralelled what was going on in that chapter. One of my stories was completely inspired by a song a heard and I added the song lyrics to the beginning of the chapter.
I don’t mind seeing song lyrics at the beginning of the chapter, because I like the idea of what inspired the author to write. I just don’t want to be interrupted by them in the story.
I don’t listen to music as I write as it actually makes it difficult for me to concentrate, nor do I have a playlist. I’ve written fanfic in many fandoms over the last decade+, and the whole playlist thing seems have originated with Twilight (unless you write bandfic, I suppose) because SM herself has a playlist.
Really, I only listen to music when I’m driving or cleaning (okay, sometimes I’ll put my TV on CMT in the mornings when I’m making breakfast, etc., which is a bit odd considering I’ve been an alterno-girl since high school.)
Songfics sorta test my upchuck reflex, actually.
-Kari