Writing Soundtracks (Motley Monday)

Happy Monday, Dear Reader!

I hope your day is full of raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.  Or at least a few cheerful smiles.

If you didn't catch it last week, Mondays are henceforth reserved on this blog for anything and everything--a blanket description which is conveniently (and intentionally) vague.  I'm calling this vagueness Motley Monday, which you can read more about here, if you feel so inclined.

Today I want to talk about music.  Specifically, music you listen to while writing.  (Or, if you happen to not be a writing type person, music you listen to while you're concentrating on something important.)

A few weeks ago, I participated in a #kidlitchat discussion on Twitter, which slowly evolved into a rabbit trail about writing with music.  Within this rabbit trail, an intriguing idea surfaced.  Several people voiced enthusiasm for tailor-made musical playlists for their projects.  Most of these writers listed bands and vocalists that particularly appealed to them depending on what they were writing, and the idea was that they created their own soundtracks for their books, assembling  a group of songs that enhanced the feeling of the story they were writing, while they were writing it.

Now, I personally cannot concentrate on my own words if someone else's are coming through my speakers, so I tend to avoid music with lyrics while I am writing.  I stick exclusively to classical music and orchestral movie scores.  But the concept remains the same, regardless of the type of music you are listening to. 

Create a soundtrack for your story to listen to while you write.

I've only done this once, while I was writing a short story set in Celtic Britain.  I pulled from the Tristan + Isolde soundtrack, the Braveheart score, and some Enya albums (who I do not find distracting), and thoroughly enjoyed the result.  But I haven't done it since, and now I begin to wonder why.  It's an enthralling idea.

So tell me: have you ever created a playlist for your WIP?  Have you found it to be a helpful excercise?

And if not, what do you listen to while you write?  Words or non-words? 

Here are a few of my favorites:

This is just one of the many mysteries of writerdom, and I think it's fascinating to hear what other people do.  Share yours!