So I've been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks. Up until a few days ago, I was listening to my Halloween mix. Aside from a couple scenes I mentioned in a Facebook post earlier this week*, a lot of the songs on that mix bring up images in my head of a story I will someday get around to writing that takes place in the week of Halloween.
*If you didn't see that post, between a book I'm reading about the Salem Witch Trials, and an idea I had for a story, I had a scene in my head of the witch trial judges and accusers set to "Men in Black," and then immediately after, 2 other characters who decide to "take back the town" doing one of those slow-mo power walks to "Ghostbusters." My mind is weird, y'all.
This is also a time of year when I'm very picky about my music. Most of the time, I listen to my music on random, especially in the car. I have certain seasonal mixes - fall/Halloween, and Christmas. But I don't mix them. I listen to my Fall/Halloween mix from Sept. 21 to Nov. 2 (admittedly skipping the most "Halloween" pieces early on, and the stuff that's not "Halloween enough" later), and I will not start listening to my Christmas mix until after Thanksgiving.
Now, I like Christmas music. I have a TON of Christmas music. So when my entire collection is on random, there's a pretty decent chance that Christmas music will come up. Usually I skip it, but sometimes I'll let it play (especially if it's Mannheim Steamroller and I'm in a bad mood). But this time of year, I WILL NOT let the Christmas music play - it has to wait.
The one exception to this rule is the few pieces of Christmas music - a couple instrumental versions of The Holly and the Ivy, and a few chants - that are on the playlist I use for background music/inspiration for The Wolf and the Sheath (due to the "time period," location, and time of year that the story takes place.
I have playlists for everything. As mentioned above, I have a playlist specifically for the book I'm working on right now. Each story/serious project gets its own playlist. I also like making playlists for my parents for gifts. I always try to have a narrative of sorts in the playlist - songs that transition well either in style or in story from one to the other, the playlist moves from soft and quiet to powerful or vice versa, or the songs themselves, when put together, form a story.
I think it's interesting that I have to have this connection to music for my storytelling, especially since I'm not very good at keeping up with music. While music is an important part of my life and my writing, I hesitate to call myself a music enthusiast, as I don't actively follow any bands or artists.