Your character's theme song

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Ashleeauthor

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I was thinking about this today because there are certain songs that when I hear them I think immediately of my character and it gets me in the mood to write, the first one being Save yourself by My Darkest days:

http://youtu.be/4TAXeUN6gd4

For my character Emrys.

There are many more I have for each character but I don't want to spam, this one being my main one. Does anyone else do this and just put on the song to help them write? And I mean as one particular song, not a playlist.
 
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Craig McNeil

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I tend to hear/ listen to certain tunes depending on the scene rather than per character. Depressing tunes such as Hurt by NiN, Videotape by Radiohead, etc, etc really help me get into the mood when events are going downhill in a big way for my characters. On the other hand when the going gets tough, nothing can beat a bit of crash bang wallop classical music (Wagner for example) or some techno.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks of music when I'm writing! I was beginning to think it really was just me!
 

Ashleeauthor

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I can't write unless I have music on, it's just impossible for me. I do have certain playlists for certain stories, but some songs in particular just make me think of my characters straight away and I have to put them on repeat.
 

IAMWRITER

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Recently, I've found Eric Paslay's self-titled album really fits my main couple AND them as individual characters. Of course I do listen to other songs, albums, artists etc. when I'm writing but I find myself circling back to this one for inspiration for certain scenes, chapters etc.

I have a few actual playlists as well that I play depending on what I'm writing too.
 

Lady Esther

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It's easier for me to write while listening to music too.

If I had to pick one song to sum up my female MC's life, right now it would have to be "How Do I Deal" by Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I have a long playlist for writing that only gets bigger each day.
 

SpiteLokidottir

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Yeah, I listen to music when I write, but it has to be instrumental. Most of the stuff I listen to is hard dance/rave and if I listen to that when writing I'll definitely get distracted and start dancing in my chair. :tongue
 

Debbie V

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I like it quiet when I write. This allows me to hear myself read back out loud and keeps me from mimicking the rhythm in my words. But sometimes a song will come into my head while I write. I often think it is the background music that would play in the scene if it were in the movie of my book. It may define mood, setting, or character. Every now and again, one of those makes it into the manuscript as heard on the radio or stuck in a character's head, only if it shows something new though.
 
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The Emissary

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Sometimes I like it quiet myself, sometimes I listen to music. It doesn't necessarily have to fit the character, but it just have to put me in a certain mood. Ironically, while I'm driving I have a playlist for one of my characters that I listen to frequently when I'm thinking about him. I don't know why I do this. I guess to get me in the mood for writing when I come home from work or school or whatever.
 

Faye-M

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I listen to music while I outline. I generally have a song that inspires each of the big moments, as well as a theme song for each character, so when I'm trying to get "in the zone" to do some plotting or a detailed outline, I'll put the playlist on and visualize the scenes to the music. I find it helps a lot, especially with fight sequences and big plot twists, and a good character theme song can help iron out any wrinkles in their motivation and personality.

Although, I think I've come to rely on it too much, because I have a main character that I can't seem to flesh out, and I think it's because I haven't found a decent song for him yet.
 

Blinkk

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Sounds like I'm a weirdo. I can't write with music. I'd credit it to the fact that I play music for a living. If I listen to music I start getting really involved in music. That guitarist just flipped to a dorian scale. Damn he must be a jazz guy. I wonder what his background is...lemme google it.

It's too distracting for me. I'm lame. The sounds I prefer are the clicking keyboard and a purring cat.

And then, ironically, I wrote a short story called Devil Demon in the Church completely and blatantly based off Sixx A.M.'s album This is Gonna Hurt. Guess what artist I exclusively listened to while writing that story?

ETA: I totally didn't answer the question did I? Okay, Adel's theme song would be Requiem For a Dream because he's got a pretty badass yet sad story. Lilith's song would be Van Morrison's Into the Mystic because she's got an adventurous, almost carefree soul, and also because she's working with the King's high Mystic Sevrage. It just fits.
 
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Layla Nahar

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I can't write with music. Pretty much any kind. I *listen* to it if it's there. The one exception would be the cafe where I sit for my lunch-break writing session. Every once in a while I'll want to sing along with a song for a few bars, and then, because it's the cafe, (maybe because there are many other distractions that add up to a comforting noise...?) I can tune it out and get back to writing. I can, however, really concentrate well on my drafting and sewing by listening to music - it enhances the experience of the work.
 

Zannan

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Any kind of music will do when I write. I have to have noise, but, his theme song would be It Gets Worse by MSI.
 

RationalIdealist

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I rarely listen to music when I write, usually because it distracts me from the story itself. But when I'm not writing, I do listen to music, and often think about how a song I'm listening to relates to whatever I'm working on. I'd say that my MC's theme song was "Wake Me Up" by Avicii.
 

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I make soundtracks for each book, and each MC usually gets a theme song (or more--Blake and Ren have a bunch)

Blake: The Motivation Proclamation - Good Charlotte; Could I be You - Matchbox 20; Something to Talk about - Badly Drawn Boy
Ren: Not Alone - Sara Bareilles; Surrender - Ashlee Simpson; Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy - Glee

Taylor: Counting Airplanes - Train
Justin: The Writer - Ellie Goulding
Austin: Singing Out the Days - Chumbawamba

Evie: Keeps Gettin' Better - Christina Aguilera
Ace: Disappear - Motion City Soundtrack; Hero - The Verve Pipe

Mailee: Another Mystery - Dar Williams

Fiona: Fireflies - Owl City

Bex: That Kind of Day - Sarah Buxton
Trouble: Push - Matchbox 20

Tia: I'm No Angel - Dido; One Fine Wire - Colbie Caillat
Samuel: Nobody - Five for Fighting

DL: Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Dean: I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters
 
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ArachnePhobia

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This isn't a character, but...

There's a scene in the techno-horror in which the MC and his LI, who's also the villain, are on the roof of his schoolhouse. She's telling him how she's willing to die to stop a certain extinction event her army is partially responsible for unleashing to begin with.

Now, whether I write to music depends on whether I feel like it or not; sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. When I do, I turn on Pandora and listen to symphonic metal.

And so it happens, when I wrote that scene, the song Jillian by Within Temptation played.

...and then when I went back to add some stuff to that scene, Jillian by Within Temptation played.

...and then when I put the final coat of paint on it, Jillian by Within Temptation played.

So today, I was working without music, and when I read over that scene I realized I had subconsciously started humming. I was, of course, humming Jillian by Within Temptation.

And that's when I realized I was thinking of Jillian by Within Temptation as that scene's theme song. But it's really my radio's fault. :ROFL:
 

Buffysquirrel

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Definitely Missing by Everything But the Girl for my Fantasy MC. Not sure what the time-travel guy would have.
 

Jenkki

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Music is so personal and also generational it helps nobody to put that in your narrative that Character X loves Song Y... but yes behind the scenes it can help capture moods, feelings of a particular character or scene.

But when doing the writing I either have no music or only no-lyrics, no vocal music (Jazz, Classical). Most modern music has lyrics that are so awful and badly written it will retard your own ability.
 
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