Music to write to

Inspirational Instrumental

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For me, and many others, music is an important part of the writing process. It can spark ideas, push us through difficult scenes, and drag up specific feelings to help stoke the emotional fires of our characters. However, recommending music is like buying shoes for someone else. There's always a chance they might not like it. Then again, they might love it! That being said, here's a list of music I write to. All of it is instrumental - no singing - save choral backgrounds. A few of these soundtracks have a couple songs with words, but I just omit them from my playlist. Personally, I cannot write when I hear singing. I end up transcribing the lyrics or my words won't come out because I'm paying too much attention to someone else's words.

So, peruse through the list and perhaps you'll find a few gems to add to your playlist. Enjoy!

Original Movie Soundtracks

28 Days Later - 2002
Avatar - 2009
Backdraft - 1991
Batman Begins - Any soundtrack
Boondock Saints - 1999
Brave - 2012
Breaveheart - 1995
Chronicals of Narnia - 2005
Da Vinci Code -2006
Day After Tomorrow - 2004
Dracula Untold - 2014
Elizabeth - 1998
Elizabeth - Golden Age - 2007
Ender's Game - 2013
Fury - 2014
Gladiator - 2000
Harry Potter - All soundtracks
How to Train your Dragon - 2010
How to Train your Dragon 2 - 2014
Inception - 2010
Interview with a Vampire - 1994
Labyrinth - 1986
Last Samurai - 2003
Legend - 1985
Memoirs of a Geisha - 2005
National Treasure - 2004
Nightmare on Elm Street -1984
Pirates of the Caribbean - any soundtrack
Requiem for a Dream - 2000
Sherlock Holmes - 2004
Sherlock Holmes - Game of Shadows - 2011
Sunshine - 2007
Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Rings - 2001
Lord of the Rings - Two Towers - 2002
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King - 2003
The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey - 2012
The Hobbit - Desolation of Smaug - 2013
The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies - 2014
The Pianist - 2002
Prometheus - 2012
The Rock - 1996
The Village - 2004
Thor - 2011
Thor - Dark World - 2012
Troy - 2004
Titanic -1997
Transformers - any soundtrack
Unbreakable - 2000
Willow - 1998

Gaming Soundtracks

Even if you're not a gamer, give these soundtracks a try.
Gaming music isn't the cheesy keyboard compilations it used to be, many of these are full orchestra and choir.

Assassins Creed I
Assassins Creed II
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
Assassins Creed Revelations
Company of Heroes 2
Dragon Age Origins
Dargon Age Awakenings
Dragon Age II
Dragon Age Inquisition
Dark Siders
Dark Siders II
Skyrim - Elder Scrolls V
Requiem for a Tower from Corner Stone Cues - Lord of the Rings game
World of WarCraft - Original
World of WarCraft - Wrath of the Lich King
World of WarCraft - Burning Crusade
World of WarCraft - Cataclysm
World of WarCraft - Mists of Pandaria
World of WarCraft - War Lords of Dreanor

TV Series

This list may seem small, but there are hours of music here.

Doctor Who
Escaflowne
Game of Thrones (all seasons)
Fringe

Other*

"Immediate Music"
A Santa Monica based company - their music is used by the movie industry for many of their trailers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_music).

Check out the wiki for more information -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immediate_Music
http://www.immediatemusic.com/

Each collection is grouped according to 'feel', eg. Action/Drama, Abbey Road etc. Hours of listening and lots of gems hidden here!

"Epic Score"
An L.A based company similar to Immediate Music. A huge discography to sift through. Fantastic!

http://www.epicscore.com/?nointro