30-Day Fanfic Writing Meme, Day 25

[geri_chan]

25. Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?

I like to listen to music to get me in the mood before I write, while I'm pondering ideas or mapping out scenes in my mind. In fact, I created a Haru playlist for my iPod! I have a Snupin playlist, too, but I'm saving that for the "A Decade of Snape/Lupin" challenge. Suffice it to say that it contains a lot of angsty music, like the Saliva and Three Days Grace songs that I used as my soundtrack for Always and Scars. (There's also an old lupin_snape post here where other people shared their favorite Snupin songs.)

However, I don't listen to music when I'm actually writing, because it tends to distract me--I find myself concentrating on the lyrics instead of what I'm writing. (Instrumental songs are slightly less distracting.) I do leave the TV on when I'm writing late at night, leaving the news and late night talk shows on for background noise. For some reason, that's less distracting than music for me. I don't do this for the shows that I'm really into, like my prime-time crime shows (Bones, Castle, NCIS, Hawaii 5-0, the various CSI shows, etc.) because I want to fully concentrate on the show. Theoretically, complete quiet ought to be more conducive for writing, but I find myself getting distracted, anyway--since I usually work on my computer, I find myself stopping to check my e-mail and stuff like that. I have a short attention span, I guess! 

Previous days:
Day 1
Day 2
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Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Day 21
Day 22
Day 23
Day 24

(You can find the full meme listed at the end of Day 5).