Viewpoint Do you like to listen to music while writing?

[Sorin]

Topic.

I found a common factor among my friends is that all of us have Spotify running while we're writing up responses. Given, all of us are ADHD and need it to concentrate, but still. I'm curious where other Roleplayers lie on this matter and, if you listen to music while writing, what you tend to enjoy listening to? I'm personally fond of throwing on any random album, usually ones I've listened to before, with my favorites being Marianas Trench's Fix Me, any album from STARSET or Fall Out Boy, or Panic! At The Disco's Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die album, when writing downtime scenes. Sometimes I'll just let my music shuffle, but I find there's no real easy way to summarize my music. When it comes to action scenes and fights, though, I usually shift for more variations of rock and covers (especially AmaLee).

What about you all?

 

[Abyss]

I love to music more often than not while writing, normally choosing something to match the atmosphere or that fits the character I am writing for. However, I find that I actually tend to write better in silence most of the time. Sometimes it is helpful for getting into the mood of the scene, especially if it's got no vocals and I throw it on loop, but more often I think it distracts me and turning it off would be the better choice.

Would be.

 

[Onmyoji]

I like music, I listen to it a little, I play music too. But I never listen to anything while writing.
I can listen to something before writing and it might help with inspiration. Just never during writing.
If I could sum it up, I listen to music when relaxing and need silence when concentrating. Writing requires concentration, so I always write in silence.

 

[Jannah]

Yes, almost always. However, I usually have something playing anyway since I need the background noise.

 

[ShredKnives]

i listen to music, yis.

i listen to specific genres of music; a long time ago, i used video game osts because i heard once upon a time that video game soundtracks are designed to keep you concentrated on the game you're playing, or at least keep you "in" the game so i believed it could be used to remain concentrated

then i used it again to as a habit-building factor to force me to write replies within thirty minutes for several weeks; nowadays, i use the music to "trigger" the writing spark whenever i need to make a reply

i've used soundtracks from a lot of anime and films mostly as a way to help set a tone that im shooting for, but i dont think it necessarily helps with speeding up the writing process, it just helps set the mood when im trying to write

there are also times that i play eurobeat because im just very pumped to write some stuff down

 

[nerdy tangents]

Does listening to podcasts or YouTube reactions count? Then yes.

I usually have a podcast or reaction to my latest TV obsession running whenever I am writing replies.

 

[Sorin]

Does listening to podcasts or YouTube reactions count? Then yes.

I usually have a podcast or reaction to my latest TV obsession running whenever I am writing replies.

I don't see why not. That's really impressive though. I'd get way too distracted to do that.

 

[Pokeking]

I do sometimes. I have an iPod that I use. I did use an old iPhone that I used Pandora on but I don't have access to that phone anymore and I don't like my phone's volume levels. Even at the lowest level, some channels sound too loud to me when I use earbuds.

 

[FoxySkittles]

Depends on what kind of writing I'm doing! If I'm solo writing like fan fiction or something, I tend to prefer the silence so I can think through my ideas deeper. I kinda have to since doing things by myself takes a lot of preparation and extra thought.

When I'm doing RP threads and not much else, though, lots of music. Usually instrumental, usually electronic. Lots of breakcore/edm. Having lyrics or anything else with singing or talking distracts me way too much. I can only fight the ADHD so much lol

 

[Daisie]

Wow! So many people listen to music while writing!

I think there was a brief period where I listened to soft piano whilst writing, but I haven't really done anything like that since.

I will, however, listen to RP-thematic songs outside of writing to get myself pumped up! I get a lot of scene or plot ideas from that, too.

 

[Kveykva]

i've never been what you would call an avid consumer of music. everything i listen to comes from one massive playlist that i've been adding things to since i started high school, and so it's pretty much a mix of what my tastes were and what they are now. everything in it ranges wildly between genres and artists, and the only consistent indicator i've found for what i like in a particular piece is consistency, repetitiveness, and clear-to-understand lyrics, so i rarely venture into foreign music.

i always listen to music when i'm writing just so there's something familiar to fill the space around me, so i don't get distracted by other sounds or people that happen to be around me at the time. the only exception to this is that, sometimes, i'll find myself stuck on a portion of a piece and struggle to figure out how i want to say something, or try to think of a word on the tip of my tongue. when that happens i have to put the music on pause and like, hyperfocus on the sentence i'm working on until i can get it to flow how i want it to lmao

to come back to my first point a bit, i do actually have a couple character or rp playlists that i listen to from time to time, but most of them don't have more than 20 songs in them and i had some of my more musically inclined friends help me put them together

 

[waterskine]

I'm terrible at getting anything done without some sort of noise in the background, though lately I've been listening more to white noise or ASMR whilst I write (for roleplay) instead of music.

I definitely listen to my themed playlists to get me into the right headspace at first! However, sometimes the music can get a little distracting when I'm trying to focus on how to reorder/rephrase sentences and whatnot.

 

[Willowmere]

I listen to a long Jazz album when I write, and some OST's from Celeste, though usually in pretty low volume. I find it helps me focus a bit.

 

[Edric Blight]

Sometimes smooth jazz does it for me

 

[InvisiblexInk]

Oh yeah, I rarely ever write in silence. I feel like writing while listening to an appropriate music piece helps set the tone and emotion for whatever scene is being written about. The only times I'll be in complete silence is if I'm writing a response on my phone.

 

[Lorsh]

i do but often find it distracting

 

[Yunalescaa]

I have a lofi playlist of popular music I put on when I work or write. I can't listen to loud music with lyrics doing either of those things. Too distracting for my ADHD brain. I'll never get anything done.

 

[logos]

Not intentionally. I usually have music or a podcast running throughout the day. If I am listening to music and I so happen to have some downtime to start writing, then I will listen to something. However, like now, I have not had music playing for probably 2-3 hours, so I am in silence. I will say, though, that I have a watch on my desk that is very loud. The monotonous "tick" of the watch is something that my attention seems to cling to, even subconsciously. I like the noise. I generally pay attention to the sounds around me when I'm not listening to music, which makes me feel like I'm "flowing" with the environment. The bugs outside, the clacking of my keyboard, the muted and muffled voices of those outside, and of course, the continuous march of my wristwatch's hands all help fill the audible gap that many others fill with their music.

 

[PyroOvalord]

Music always helps when in the right mindset. If it fits right, it pumps me up even more for scenes as well help me be more creative! I happily share to my partners that fact to if I think I found the perfect track for our rp!

 

[Idea]

I like music while I write, but I also find that sometimes it can be a bit distracting, so I don't use it if I'm trying to focus especially hard on some technical detail or crafting some detail (apologies for the repeated word there) or if I'm trying to do something faster. This means that for replies I'm more certain about or which I expect to be shorter I don't generally use music.

That being said, when I'm trying to make a post that is particularly long, important or which I otherwise expect to take a long time to make, music as a background can serve to help keep motivation going and provide some inspiration from time to time, plus even the distraction side of it provides a mini-break here and there. Also my mind very easily associates music to story ideas, so sometimes when I associate a character with a certain music/type of music/OST I will play that as kind of a refresher of the "vibe" I had in mind for that character, or I may put on some music just to help get the gears going.