The Sound and the Fury: What we listened to while writing
Dragon Age: Inquisition
If you wandered into the Writer’s Pit while Inquisition was in full swing, you probably would’ve seen seven writers (and one editor) with headphones on, eyes fixed on monitors, typing furiously. Most of the writing happens when we can shut out the rest of the world and immerse ourselves fully in the story and characters. For many of us, this requires music. Often the music we listen to informs and even inspires what we write.
So, what was coming through those headphones when we wrote Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Sheryl Chee writer of Blackwall and Leliana
My characters’ voices don’t really establish themselves firmly until I’ve written one or two conversations for them. While I often have a good idea of their arc and personality, how they express themselves usually takes some poking around.
Music often helps get me into the right mindset, so when I set out in the early stages of planning and writing a character, I begin by building a playlist that evokes a certain mood. For instance, Leliana’s playlist is sweetly melancholic, with occasional moments of self-indulgent gloom and anger. Though it starts off with A Perfect Circle’s “The Noose,” it’s otherwise dominated by female voices like Suzanne Vega, Tori Amos, Anna Ternheim, Laura Veirs, Poe, and iamamiwhoami.
Blackwall was a bit of a special snowflake, and I ended up with two separate playlists by the time Inquisitionreached its final stages. From the start I knew that I needed a classic rock playlist for a certain furious energy that I find reflected in songs by Cream, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. His second playlist, on the other hand, was extremely eclectic, running a gamut of genres from folksy Americana to electronica. These songs, chosen mainly for their lyrics, came from artists including The Civil Wars, Kate Bush, Grizzly Bear, and Blaqk Audio, and were used as inspiration for the writing of his personal story.
For wildernesses and codex entries, I would usually listen to whatever fit my mood at the time. However, generally the more work I had to get done and the less time I had to do it in, the louder and faster the music got. There was a phase when I was listening to nothing but electronic body music. Then there was the time I was writing combat barks for Multiplayer. That was done to “Timber,” by Pitbull and Ke$ha on repeat.
It got the job done.
