Does music help or hinder your RPing experience?

[multiplicity! 11]

I was thinking about this again the other day, and went through my Spotify and deleted playlists for characters I don't write anymore and most likely never will. It was really melancholy of a feeling, but I went ahead and made a new playlist for a brand new character and it's so wonderful. I also have silly playlists that for some reason I can listen to that have nothing to do with the character and still write.

[Prophecyte 0]

Oh for sure. Music has even inspired me to come up with posts and forums  sites as well. Nothing makes me feel more motivated. Sometimes I'll make playlists for my characters and play it as I post. It really gets me in the mood and mindset.

[Nypromi 1]

I like music a lot.

 

In fact even if I am not writing I like music because it stimulates my creative side. I often enjoy falling asleep listening to music because it gives me good dreams.

 

When it does come to writing I enjoy putting together playlists of songs that fit the character I am writing about. When I go to write in their character I will use that music to help me enter the mindset of that character. It has helped me a lot especially with the fact my brain tends to not calm down and focus well if I don't give it something to focus on such as music.

[amaikaorii 0]

I used to be completely in the 'needs music' camp to be able to roleplay, but lately I find myself enjoying the silence and just letting my character do what they want. If it's a larger scene - more of a game type situation then music helps, music also often helps me if I'm doing a fight scene and need to hype myself up. So now I'm definitely a mixture of both! 

[tesla 4]

Honestly, it depends on what's happening. If it's a particularly emotional thread, I find that music appropriate to the mood helps me get into the mindspace of the character!

[Reaper 3]

I hate silence but I also hate distractions. I use gentle, no lyrics, music when I need something to kill the silence. Every now and then I put together a playlist for a character to use as inspiration, but eventually it fades into the background as I write. 

[AETU 0]

Music is a HUGE inspiration. I can hear a song and think of a whole character plot start to finish just from it alone. 

[vvintersoldier 3]

It hinders my experience! When I listen to music, lyrics can distract me when I try to write :((

[Neowulf 5]

Both? Sometimes a song just vibes with me, and I get this massive surge of inspiration and flow. I write with it on repeat, essentially. Then a few days later, it might lose its magic, not triggering that rush at all anymore. I might find another song that does the same, might not, and sometimes I revisit old songs and it can have the same effect again. Most of the time though if it doesn't give me that rush it's just a distraction and actively hinders me. 😕

 

But! I recently found out that listening to lo-fi hiphop is really relaxing and usually not at all intrusive or detrimental to my writing process?

[Nacho 2]

I love writing with some fitting music. There's something about being in the zone with the music hitting the right spot and the words flowing and then before you know it you've knocked out three extra long posts. I love it! Sometimes it distracts me more than it helps though...

[deimosphoibus 2]

I can write with music, as long as it's instrumental. If the song has lyrics then it makes it really difficult to concentrate! However, I also like to write with ambient sounds, like rain or forest sounds, I think it creates a nice atmosphere.

[Xerca 1]

I use music as more or less white noise in the background while writing, even when it is music with lyrics. Just letting the playlist go by without paying too much attention to it, other than being too disturbed if it goes silent or if some very specific track is too "off" for me. Sometimes, I get a specific song to really match with what is going on in a thread and then I tend to put that one on repeat whenever I have to write a reply to said thread. Then it can switch to another if the scene changes, or it evens out and goes back to just letting the playlist drift by until something more specific gets hooked again.

[FaR0E 2]

I cannot write properly without my playlist blaring in my ears. Every time I sit down to write, I open up my spotify, shove it on shuffle and then I am in the zone to write and write and write. IDK, just writing in silence doesn't work for me, and things like podcats and youtube videos as background noise only distracts me. Music, on the other hand, I can kind of zone out and focus on the writing. Also, some songs just really help with my muse. For instance, when writing Persona fanfiction I end up listening to Our Light on repeat. Constantly. For hours. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by FaR0E

[lynncia 1]

I think it depends on how I feel and what I'll write. Sometimes music, especially character-specific playlists, help me a lot when I'm trying to focus, but sometimes it just distracts me completely.

[birdorcages 3]

I heavily rely on music to help me write. I have had so many muses at one time and it helps to have music curated to those characters. I used to make playlists for particular characters (usually when I've written canon/oc's for the long-term) and I find that it's a great tool to help submerge me into the mindset of those characters!