Screenwriting : Music and Writing by Antonio James Casci

When i have a scene i'm stuck on sometimes i find if I can find and use the right music it can release ideas. I've written some of my best stuff listening to the right music.

For me it depends but I really enjoy a silent environment. That's when ideas pop up very fast. When I'm stuck into a scene, I usually close my final draft project and then take a walk but still thinking it out. I find music disturbing to my writing process.

I write while listening to music, podcasts, anything that will help me focus while I am writing as it helps me hear noise because I write during the late hours of the night

Music helps me to write better. Perhaps, it is an acquired habit, but that is how it is. When I work on long writing passages, I listen to classical-Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, or Indian classical instrumental. When I am do repetitive work like layout, spell checks etc. I prefer jazz, rock, blues, ghazals etc. Further, the mood depends on my topic-something sombre for suchlike scenes and light stuff for what I consider, easier activities. But I work better with music and long hours! BUT, definitely NO RAP!

Mood music definitely helps me.

I can't get a single thing done when listening to music. I would probably end up writing out the lyrics.

I used to be the type who liked to write in busy public spaces or while listening to music. I don't do either any more. Now, I sit in a quiet space at a regular time and knock out my daily count of pages. Ideas still come anywhere and any time, and I jot those down in the heat of the moment. But the actual writing...where I sit and make plots work their way to a conclusion...where my characters seem to speak with minds of their own...I do in silence (or as much of that as one can get nowadays).

Music keeps me motivated and working. Foo Fighters and Led Zepplin keep my fingers moving on the keyboard and my mind engaged.

Hm. Great question. Sometimes I just need a quiet surrounding or only the nature's music early in the morning when the birds begin to sing, this inspires and motivates me very much. Then, I recently listened to some music a composer posted here and suddenly got a certain feeling for the film I was writing on. So, I think music can inspire the screenwriter (and all other writers) as well as the written story or the filmed pictures inspires the composer. We are connected by this.

I ride my bike through the back trails in the mountains with music and the ideas come

Really, while riding your bike? I wish I had this too. My ideas are coming under the shower or when I wake up - or other moments when I definitely have no chance to write them down immediately.