In one of my early blog posts, I shared a playlist for writers working on a high fantasy or a medieval historical novel. I wanted to make another one! The last playlist had a definite European flavor. This one is slightly more multicultural, and longer — a little over two hours of music for writing inspiration. A commenter on this blog, Annabel, suggested some of these. Thanks so much, Annabel!
I’m going to share one or two writing playlists through my monthly newsletter this year, so if you’re not getting that and you’d like to, you can sign up!
I’ve linked to each song on iTunes, and if if you have Spotify, you can just listen to the whole playlist here. I hope it inspires you to epic stories about dragons, elves, swords, sorcery, or whatever you like!
“Garador’s Flight,” Jo Blankenburg
“Illumielle,” Jo Blankenburg
“Gryphonheart,” Jo Blankenburg
“A Wedding Interrupted,” Tan Dun, Yo-Yo Ma
“Through the Bamboo Forest,” Tan Dun, Yo-Yo Ma
“Sorcerer’s Dream,” Sound Adventures
“Gwen & Arthur,” Rob Lane
“Dance of Hope,” Hossein Alizadeh
“The Sky,” Hossein Alizadeh
“The Escape,” Hossein Alizadeh
“Prince Caspian Flees,” Harry Gregson-Williams
“The Kings and Queens of Old,” Harry Gregson-Williams
“The Door in the Air,” Harry Gregson-Williams
“The Guardian,” White Wall
“Serenity Infliction,” White Wall
“One Summer’s Day,” Joe Hisaishi
“The Dragon Boy,” Joe Hisaishi
“The Sixth Station,” Joe Hisaishi
[AdSense-B]
“Chasing the Storm,” Patrick Doyle
“Science and Magic,” Patrick Doyle
“Forgive Me,” Patrick Doyle
“Ori, Lost in the Storm,” Gareth Coker
“Neru, Embracing the Light,” Gareth Coker
“Calling Out,” Gareth Coker
“Danny’s Balloon — Namibian Coast,” Ramin Djawadi
“Danny’s Balloon — Okavango Suite,” Ramin Djawadi
“Over Victoria Falls,” Ramin Djawadi
“Mako,” Ramin Diawadi and Priscilla Ahn
“Dragon Age Inquisition Theme,” Trevor Morris
“Dawning Promises,” ICON
“Rose, Dragon,” Javier Navarrete
“The River,” Javier Navarrete
“Road to Glory,” Kokia
“Battle of Destiny,” Kokia
“Aqua Vitae,” Future World Music
“Passion of Victory,” Future World Music
“Victory of Life,” Future World Music
“The Ride of the Rohirrim,” Howard Shore
“Twilight and Shadow,” Howard Shore
I hope you find songs you like in here, and you can always choose your favorites for a pared-down playlist for writing!
Are there playlists for other genres that you’d like to see? Do you have some favorite writing music? Let us know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!
Great idea, Bryn. I first heard the idea of creating a scene playlist from an artist. I find even listening to music (instrumental) when I’m doing physical tasks like washing dishes or folding clothes helps me work through scenes in my head for later writing.
Kathleen, that is such a good point about music that inspires you while you’re doing other stuff. I listen to my playlist for my PNR trilogy while I’m driving! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
I’d like to recommend the soundtrack of the movie “Maleficent” and the finale of the ballet Swan Lake. Those really give me a fantasy vibe and I often listen to Swan Lake while writing.
Oooh, thanks Kiete! Those sound like great recs!
Swan Lake is awesome! Some music is simply timeless!
Yeah, every bit of Swan Lake radiates fantasy, though the finale is perhaps best suited to “epic” fantasy.
Funny thing: the main character in my book is called Morgan McKeith 🙂
Haha! Probably some relation to my hubby if you go back far enough! 😉
This is really useful– I’ve been looking for a playlist. Thank you!
Hi Marnanel, so glad you like it! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
Oh, thanks a bunch! Always on the lookout for new writing music! 🙂
I compliled a NaNoWriMo 30-day writing playlist, based on the hero/herione’s journey model on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswd2P_cOZTqfuBXB_OQQ9A/playlists?sort=dd&view=1&shelf_id=0
Hey, Bryn, thanks for your playlist ideas! If you’re looking for instrumental, check out World Beyond Soundtracks on YouTube and visit worldbeyond.bandcamp.com. Here are two songs I’ve been listening to a lot this week to move along both my life and my writing:
Antigravity by Starset – The first half of this song includes vocals, while the second is instrumental.
Stay by My Side by Miracle of Sound – The flowing beauty and sentiment of this song is how I wanted to start off the new year.
Ooh, thank you! I knew you would have good recs. I put a Dragon Age song on the list in your honor (but it probably only works as background music if you’re not familiar with Dragon Age 😀 )
This is a very cool playlist Thanks for sharing
So glad you like it, Marilyn!
This is a pretty diverse playlist. I wanted to add that anything by Audio Machine is amazing, and “Icarus” by Ivan Torrent. Bombastic and grandiose and epic.
What about playlists for mythic fiction or wicca/supernatural stories? I found this dark witch fantasy music, a song composed by Peter Gundry and using only a violin, on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nhIMKxzOjc
Excellent list! If you want a recommendation you might enjoy Celestial Aeon Project as well, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWUe-TcfMs
The soundtrack to the Fifth Element by Eric Serra is also excellent.