Writing Music and Moods

I know some of you can only write in pure silence. I am not one of those people. I need noise of some sort, but preferably music. I'm not into having a play list specifically for each book, rather play lists of certain moods. After all, our entire book isn't non stop violence, non stop sensuality, or non stop adventure. Therefore, shouldn't our play list be just as varied.

Now that I've said that here's where a problem comes in, at least a problem for me. I've always been told we creative types tend to be more emotional and more susceptible to others' energies and moods. I can be plugging along on a storyline and a song comes on and totally changes my mode of thinking. Here's an example:

If I'm in the middle of, say, a fight scene and this song comes on my brain suddenly switches into romance mode. Oh, and not just romance mode, but heart broken, want to cry mode. I can picture my character in emotional pain, suffering the loss of an unrequited love, or maybe a terrible break up with the love of their life!

 

Now on the opposite end of the spectrum, I can not write anything but violence when this song pops on. There's just something so dark and mean about it that a fight must ensue on the screen the second he starts counting down.

Even as I've been writing this blog I've had to repeatedly change the music selection. I just can't focus on anything real when I've got Rumpshaker, Boys II Men 'I'll Make Love to You', or Doris Day's Que Sera, Sera playing in my ear.

Perhaps it's time to find a specific play list for each book, but I honestly don't think it'll help. As the song changes, so will my mood.