Screenwriting : What is your favorite playlist to listen to while writing? by Maria Restivo Glassner

Tangerine Dream is something I listen too. Can be intense but at times soothing.

Hi Maria, that's a fun question! My playlists may vary wildly; recently I have been putting on a lot of soundscape stuff like jungle, tropical birds, or ocean sounds.

I do remember playing Satie's Gnossienes 1 pretty much on repeat while writing sections of my second mystery novel - which featured a piano-playing phantom; it just happened to offer me the right kind of atmosphere and sense of nostalgia.

WHen wanting some creative stimulus ( and I guess it's kind of genre specific), I find vintage 1920s/1930s can be great for giving me ideas for plots or scenes, and occasionally on Spotify I've found Circus Contraption great for 'picture' music.

Oh haha I also played Gnossienes on repeat while writing for a long time! How funny!

Oh how interesting! The power of Satie.... Faure is another longtime favourite.

Oh that is nice, I haven't heard Faure in a long time. Thanks!

Depends what I'm writing at the time. Sci-fi I listen to Sci-fi movie scores. Writing rom-com I listen to old Sinatra style music. Wrote a script about the metal era of the mid 1980's I listened to that style of music the whole time. It helps set the tone I'm going for. Good luck!

“Jazz is a drug. And I’m addicted.” -Ralph Bakshi

Maria, I'm all over the map when it comes to music. It depends on what kind of script I'm writing.

I just got through posting a dramedy screenplay here on Stage 32 ("Intervention!") about four neighboring families whose members, tired of the racist slights in their lives, stage a weeklong sensitivity-training session...and hope to teach the perpetrators about the value of unity.

In the two months it took me to get from the "FADE IN" page to the "FADE OUT" one, I'd listened to nothing but tunes like the O'Jays' "Back Stabbers," the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," Joyner Lucas' "Devil's Work," lots of hits by Gil Scott-Heron, Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead."

Songs of tough testimony.

Next script I write (a hardcore comedy), I'm going to lighten up the music.

Well, that's enough of me, Maria. Thanks for posting...and here's wishing you all the VERY BEST!

I usually create my own playlists, selecting songs according to the project I'm working on. It actually helps my creative process, and I usually do it just before I actually start working on the project. I've found thinking about what music may be appropriate for a project helps me develop and write it.

It depends entirely on the project I'm working on at the time.

Jim Boston thanks for sharing! That sounds like it has a lot of potential for great humor! I am curious what characters you have in sensitivity training. I am currently working on a comedy where the pilot has a woman forced to go through sexual harassment training after she was the one harassed. I really like stylistics, People make the world go round, for that kind of mood your talking about.

Jeffrey Evans, I have tried to do that but keep getting stuck in ruts! That is a great technique though!

Usually classics or lyrics free tracks. I don't listen to anything recently though.

It all depends on the project for me. I create my own playlists on YouTube or Pandora. They become the soundtrack to the movie in my head. My current project has elements of 90s punk and Japanese punk, so I'm listening to a lot of Nirvana, Misfits, Shonen Knife, and BOOWY. It's all part of the writing process.

I have Apple Music +. Jazz starts playing at 6 in the morning on my Home Pod Mini. I get breakfast ready and start up with marketing and writing. When I’m drawing I can listen to anything. Mainly Classic Rock and 80s.

Went on a screenwriting retreat last month. The same day the retreat started, Panda Bear and Sonic Youth dropped the new album “Reset.” Been listening on repeat and believe the rhythms are influencing my story’s pacing!

Hi, Maria! It depends on what I'm writing. For a drama, I listen to singer songwriters tinged with folk )Joni Mitchell, John Hiatt, Leonard Cohen, etc.). For action, metal/hard rock (Metallica, Iron Maiden, Doro, etc.). For Horror, I go for atmospheric (classical, Celtic, piano). For Sci-fi, electronic (house music, club remixes, industrial).

Maria, I like the Stylistics, too!

Speaking of people making the world go 'round..."Intervention!" has ten perpetrators who undergo the actual sensitivity training: Husband-and-wife realtors who also sell Amway/Quixtar products, a retired record-store owner who got one of the lead characters into that same field, a former US representative who wants his House seat back, an organ teacher, a talk-radio host and his homemaker wife, and a family of all-out White Supremacists (their son sacks groceries in a supermarket).

Talking down to lead characters got the realtors and the retiree on the receiving end of antiracism training. The ex-Congressperson was indicted over embezzling campaign funds...and his votes helped keep White Privilege alive. The organ teacher wouldn't take on an Indigenous student...thinking the student would find the King of Instruments "too complicated." The talkster keeps calling people "human rubbish," while the homemaker homeschooled their three children to keep them away from people of color.

And then there's the sacker and his folks...they went to the nation's capital on 1-6-2021.

Boy, those sixteen mentors in "Intervention!" have their work cut out for them.

Now to you...and here's wishing all the VERY BEST to you (especially with the comedy you're working on)!

Jim Boston, that sounds hilarious with thoughtful social commentary! I am looking forward to seeing it out there soon!

Tony Kress - I'm interested in screenwriting retreats. Where did you go? And more importantly, do you recommend it?

I listen to a combination of Bach, jazz fusion, Indie and alternative rock on Accuradio. They have a huge variety of music.

My playlist is empty, Maria Restivo Glassner. :) I write without music so I can focus.

Chris, I can't speak to the East Coast but I hosted many screenwriter retreats out here in the West for many years - many years ago. They were generally in conjunction with film festivals and ran a full day. They were 'taught' by working Showrunners, working Agents, a couple of studio Acquisition Managers along with a few other industry working folk. What I noticed over the years is that many of the attendees showed up year after year. A few of the more prepared folk were picked by Agents and a couple were offered slots on a couple of on-going projects. But the vast number of participants were nowhere near being 'prime time' ready. I did a few weekend retreats. The only one I still know of is offered by Dave Trottier over in Utah (it's worth it).

Check your regional film festivals. I suspect there are a few in the Hamptons - but I don't know.

Hi Maria, the Cure

Thanks Doug. I'll check out Dave's retreat. I see one is coming up. Yeah, what I'm looking for is an escape to write with like minded screenwriters. Get inspired, get it on the page. THANK YOU!

For me it does not depend on the story I'm writing, but actually on my mood. I can easily switch from my favorite genre (heavy/glam/pop metal artists such as Motley Crue, Poison, White Lion) to other artists I like, such as 2Pac, Michael Jackson and Thin Lizzy. Anything, as long as my music mirrors my feelings in that exact moment.

Jealous of you... I get distracted when I listen to music and work!

I used to, but don't anymore. When I was writing my post-apocalyptic novella, I recall for one chapter I listened to Gary Numan's 'This Wreckage' for the whole day, to sustain my mood. I no longer need to do that.

Chris - if you go, tell him I sent you.

Will do Doug. Thanks!

I write in quiet.

Roberta - As do I. When I'm trying to focus on my writing, I want as few distractions as possible.

Shhhh. The sound of silence as well.

Silence if I have to concentrate. Otherwise, a football or hockey game on in the background, hard rock or metal music.

Maria Restivo Glassner Leo is awesome. He posted a South Park opening theme today that was epic.

Debbie Elicksen, hahaha!! I am listening right now, it is so good! He can turn anything into metal it's truly incredible.

When I’m brainstorming ideas and outlining, electronic dance is my go to, especially some Steve Aoki or Galantis, but when I’m writing I prefer silence.