When I'm writing, I 'listen' to a number of albums, depending on what genre the work is in. I say 'listen' because when I'm involved, I may not actually hear the music, only the silence when the album is finished.
It's a focus thing and it's a mood thing. And I have found I use the same type of music over and over again. For the big scenes, battles, revelations, etc, I listen to the soundtrack of... Conan the Barbarian or Wagner. Both have the sweeping majesty and I'm-gonna-kill-you-for-justice military cadence. For clever conversations or sly light bulb moments, I'll be using Mike Oldfield or Mozart. Love scenes and betrayal, I can't go past Pachebel's Canon or Clannad. Happy scenes, contented acceptance is, surprisingly, Shawn Colvin, Merril Bainbridge or Tchaikovsky. Scenes of anger, I-don't-give-a-shit, it's Pat Benatar. For a lot of the rest, I listen to Amici, and the numerous single CDs I have - and of those, most are repeats.
Each piece of music generates a particular mood for me that seeps into my subconscious and promotes the attitude I'm looking for. It's works. I've read previous manuscripts I've written and I can steep myself in the words. Not because I remember the music, but because the mood is there, in the writing. For some of it, I'm surprised. I didn't remember writing that bit and it was damn good. I'm sure other authors feel the same way.
There's satisfaction in manufacturing moods when the words come out just right.
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