Do you guys have soundtracks set up for your stories? Like on spotify and stuff. A playlist you actually spent a significant amount of time tailoring to and picked out songs for specific moments in the story?

For Providence I have 8-bit music and Spanish guitar

And for Tombstone Trials I have math rock, electronic music and some aesthetic rap.

Tell me I am not weird, RR

It's not weird; it keeps you in the mood for your chapters. I personally use albums though or individual tracks on a loop.

Using First Flame as an example, moments of horror or unease such as those stark reminders to the reader that Arylos is really a monster, I use the Abyss Watchers track from Dark Souls. When he fights while keeping this mood, I use this metal version since it keeps the mood going.

During moments of downtime, I use more relaxing tracks like some of those from Final Fantasy 15 or some of Soken's Shadowbringers tracks.

When building romance, I use Starset's Earthrise and Otherworldly since those tracks are key components.

And with the last fight where Arylos fights an enemy from his past, I use Starset's Devolution since it feeds into the symbology of what their past was like. If I'm feeling extra spicy, I'll throw in some Architects and Dayseeker tracks into that mix as well.

No, I don't do this. But I've read plenty of writers who do. I'm going to say that it's common.

I don't necessarily have a song for each specific moment, but I definitely make playlists for each of my books! I would call it a "mood board" with music and sounds instead of pictures and references. So you're certainly not the only one!

This seems to be fairly common among writers.



~ Saf

Don't have playlists for specific books, but I do have a general writing playlist.

I do this! I have one big playlist I throw any songs that make me think of my stories into. And then I have individual playlists for each story. And then for a few of them I've made movie soundtracks, where I put the songs in the order they would go in a movie version of each individual novel. 

wiserthanthou Wrote: And then for a few of them I've made movie soundtracks, where I put the songs in the order they would go in a movie version of each individual novel.

Sometimes I have an "end credits" song at the end of the playlist, which is my "theme" for that story. 

MrNobodyisHome Wrote: Do you guys have soundtracks set up for your stories? Like on spotify and stuff. A playlist you actually spent a significant amount of time tailoring to and picked out songs for specific moments in the story?

For Providence I have 8-bit music and Spanish guitar

And for Tombstone Trials I have math rock, electronic music and some aesthetic rap.

Tell me I am not weird, RR

I'll tell you some good news, if you think it's weird, you run in good company.

Quentin Tarantino goes into his obscenely humongous vinyl collection room, something like 10,000 albums, and he wanders the racks, picking through while it lifts his muse, and LITERALLY, develops his storyline, characters, and using the MUSIC to compel the creation. He has his track almost before he writes the first word!

I saw him in an interview with Dan Rather! 

Strange guy in many ways, but THAT kind of strange is waaayyyy cool by me! I dig Quentin!

However you get there, go ahead and get there! 

Saffron Wrote:

wiserthanthou Wrote: And then for a few of them I've made movie soundtracks, where I put the songs in the order they would go in a movie version of each individual novel.

Sometimes I have an "end credits" song at the end of the playlist, which is my "theme" for that story. 

Every one of my stories has a theme song (or two, haha). I usually picture those being used in the trailer or as a really awesome music video using scenes from the movie haha. 

I sometimes write stories or scenes because of songs, but I don’t pick thrm out after they’ve already been written.

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MrNobodyisHome Wrote: Do you guys have soundtracks set up for your stories? Like on spotify and stuff. A playlist you actually spent a significant amount of time tailoring to and picked out songs for specific moments in the story?

Yes I do. I have a playlist for each book in my series, as well as an overall theme for the whole thing XD

You aren't! I don't really have a playlist but I do have some songs that I listen to and I pick out that 'fit' my story well, be it during action scenes or the overall theme of the story. Sometimes I think of my story as a TV show or anime and these would be the songs that play as the opening or ending song. 

Darkroom by Dios

and

Future Tone Bender

are my songs

I don't have anything definitive setup, though I do know what bands I would potentially have write introduction themes for each volume I have planned.

I will write scenes of specific emotional types with specific songs playing on loop. Though it's mostly because it makes me feel the way I need to write those scenes. 

MrNobodyisHome Wrote: Do you guys have soundtracks set up for your stories? Like on spotify and stuff. A playlist you actually spent a significant amount of time tailoring to and picked out songs for specific moments in the story?

For Providence I have 8-bit music and Spanish guitar

And for Tombstone Trials I have math rock, electronic music and some aesthetic rap.

Tell me I am not weird, RR

Heck yes this is normal! I totally do it all the time and love to see others do too! :D

Not even just normal but helpful. For example, when you have a set soundtrack for a set world, and then you take a break from that project, under normal conditions, it can be hard to get back into it. But just put that soundtrack back on and BAM your brain already has a correlation and brings you RIGHT back there!

For example, I love Mass Effect's music, but the Mass Effect soundtracks are too closely tied to the games for me and always bring me back to the game scenes and characters. So for one of my own sci-fi works, I looked up more of the composer's work (Jack Wall), and found something I had no standing emotional connection to so I could bind my own story to it, and it's definitely worked to help evoke the same kind of action/sci-fi style. :)

My hard and gritty sci-fi (not published here) plays mostly rock/grunge. But Channelers, listed below, plays a lot of contemporary/classical bends like Lindsey Stirling-- which lends itself to the sensation of an educated proper character morphing into an energy-wielding emotional battle fighter. :D

Crusixblade Wrote: I will write scenes of specific emotional types with specific songs playing on loop. Though it's mostly because it makes me feel the way I need to write those scenes.

 I agree, there does seem to be some cases where specific songs for specific scenes keep you in the right/mood feeling to evoke what you're trying to capture<3

The trade-off is that sometimes you can't hear those songs without thinking of that specific scene again, so it ends to "decommissioned" as it pertains to other scenes/stories. XD

There's almost 8 billion people on this planet currently, so it's unlikely that you're ever the only one for something! Also, I know that you're not, as I don't, but I've seen lots of people make playlists for their stories before, so no worries!

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Not weird at all.