;soundtracks to write to

It is April, and that means Camp NaNoWriMo. Are you taking part?

While I am taking part this year, once again, I’ve set my sights low because with a toddler running around the house, and taking on more responsibility at work, I know I won’t be able to write as much as I want to. Hopefully once the little one starts her play school, I’ll be able to add some writing to my routine.

But that is not what this post is about. This post is about some of my favourite soundtracks* to write to! I try to make playlists for every individual story I write – follow me on Spotify and you can probably find them – but sometimes, I just want a little instrumental mood music when I’m stuck with scenes.

I went through a phase of time when I was writing to “Non-Stop” from Hamilton on repeat, and sometimes I still go back to that, but these are other soundtracks that also get words on the page.

*All of these soundtracks can be found on Spotify because FREE!

• The Pacific Rim soundtrack is EPIC. Have you heard it? It gets the blood pumping, it’s addictive – it is the perfect background for when you want to write fast-paced scenes and fight scenes. It sets the mood for a lot of sci-fi stories, and maybe even car chases, if you’re writing that. The Uprising soundtrack is also great, but I love the original more. Put both together for a long playlist, and you’re just going to be writing away for a while, I think.
• Sometimes, when I’m writing fantasy – which is very rare these days – I like to play the Hobbit soundtrack in the background. It’s a little more meandering as compared, there are some tracks that are appropriately eerie and melancholy, and it is great for establishing scenes and relationships.
• I have recently fallen in love with the King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword soundtrack. And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with Charlie Hunnam. Much. But honestly, it’s a mix of great music to write action to, and eerie music to write the establishing scenes for Betrayal and Angst.

Other soundtracks that are pretty good for writing, but I would mix them up among themselves are: Wonder Woman, Star Wars (look, the Imperial March is actually Great for writing villains to, I won’t apologise for my love for it) and the recent Power Rangers movie’s soundtrack. All of them are great for less contemporary and more sci-fi/fantasy stories. For contemporaries, well, I’m sure everyone has their favourite songs already. I know I do!

What are some of your favourite soundtracks to listen to and to write to?