I've always listened to classical music when writing - mainly because I lived in a lot of crummy accommodation over the years, and it was either listen to my choice of music, or listen to my neighbor's music through the wall! Sometimes I'll find a couple of songs or pieces of film music that get me into the right mood for that script, and listen to them before starting...

For me, it rather depends on what I'm writing. I've been working on a screenplay about Keith Richard recently, so while locked into that I was spinning Exile, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed and Beggars Banquet. Also Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson... the kind of stuff Keith might have been listening to when the story takes place. More generally, I listen to film scores of a similar vibe to what I'm writing. Shirley Walker's scores from Batman: The Animated Series are very versatile and work for a lot of projects. My Burton-Elfman box set gets worked over regularly also. However, once I get into a tear and the words are just shooting out of me like a machine gun, I'll kill the music and get totally locked to the page. In these situations, I hope there aren't any loud talkers on the bus.

I also stick to instrumental music, including lots of soundtracks. Words in music compete for my attention with the words on the page. I do try to generally match the tone of the music to what I'm writing, but variety is useful too – which is why I also write to silence.

I have whole soundtracks worked out for my stories, sometimes before the story is even fully formed. I have scenes that create music or songs that generate scenes. My Quest theme is Gold Panda You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1wK7iCQfQ feel free to remove the link, if it's not allowed. I can play this on repeat and it just puts me in great creative form. I love watching music videos on Youtube as well. DSLRs have added so much to even amateur music videos. I often watch videos online, it gives me ideas for a look or a style, plus lots of them have little stories in and of themselves. For me music and the overall sound is an integral part of a film. Speaking of Shawshank, that was the first script I read that I thought "Oo! I can include sound effects!" That whole score encapsulates the momentum of the film. Plus the opera track he plays when he's defying the prison governor is just bliss. When he comes back from solitary and has transcended the experience because he's had music in his soul, I get that.