Your Writing Soundtrack?

What's with the pic, you ask? I just googled "girl listening to music", and when I found that one I just had to share it. That's the subject of today's post. Music.

This is a new one for me. I've been listening to a lot of music while I'm revising my projects. Music with words, people, WORDS! Not just the Soundscapes Channel (tm) on my cable TV. ;)

When I'm drafting, lyrics usually distract me from the words that I want to fill an empty page with. Right now, none of my projects are in the drafting stage, and while revising my urban fantasy, I found myself listening to music I thought my MCs would like. This novel has four distinct pov characters, and music--instead of being distracting like it is while I'm drafting--actually helped me to bring out their personalities more.

This is a pretty recent phenomenon for me, though I did experiment with non-instrumental music while revising STRINGS, listening to a lot of Gogol Bordello and Nina Simone. A weird combination, I know, but it worked for me.

While writing my urban fantasy, each character had such a distinct personality that I got more out of a soundtrack I love but hadn't listened to in a long time--not since I put it on my phone, of course! I know, I am sooo hi-tech. It's the Shortbus Soundtrack, a movie by John Cameron Mitchell (of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame. Adults, check Hedwig out if you like rock and roll and issues of identity all wrapped up in one glam package), which has so many great songs by artists I'd mostly never heard of before. It was the perfect compliment to my MC's various tastes in music.

Funny how I never appreciated music for helping me to create personality as well as mood, but it's definitely working.

Do you find this is true with your writing?

My current problem is figuring out what kind of music Evie likes. I'm not exactly sure. I've only just realized how important it is for me to know. But what kind of music does a 17 year old girl these days listen to? Especially one who's a little brainy and thinks she's boring, but with a stubborn streak. I don't know where to start. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!