I listen to Death and Thrash primarily while drawing. The musical aggression helps me to shut off the analytical side of my brain and opens up the avenue to let my creative side run free. Less thinking = better drawing.
While writing, I'll listen to just about anything Metal. Metal just makes everything better for me.
Besides that, I've not been writing all that long, so I don't think I've developed any weird quirks yet, at least that I'm aware of.
For music with lyrics, I don't find them distracting if:
- I understand the language well enough and know the text;
Or
- I don't understand a thing.
My issue is only with new texts or languages I know just a little. It makes my brain work in parallel, using most attention to try to pick up new words.
The problem is that after some time listening to a new language, even without studying, it goes to the category 'language I know just a little' and become distracting. But it's rare that it would go all the way to the category "language I understand well enough", so gradually, more and more languages are distracting...
I find it easier to write when I'm doing it in a notebook or on paper
I have a very hard time writing a scene or dialog when I'm typing on the computer.
I don't know why, it's just the flow of ideas keeps going when writing with pen and paper, but is constantly pausing, stopping or coming out of order / place when I'm working on the computer.
Phasing out writing on paper was not an easy thing for me to do, I still have these same problems even though I can't write on paper anymore. (arthritis)
It varies for me, oddly enough. Sometimes music helps, other times it's just getting out and going to Starbucks. And then there are times I write while I'm tired... It's weird how I don't have one specific quirk. 
I tend to write on the third floor of my university's library! It's silent and super cold. It's all where the majority of the books are in the library, so I usually scout around to find a book with lots of pictures for inspiration.
I'm writing an entire novel (not the one I'm currently posting on Tapas) on my phone. The small screen forces me to write in an abbreviated style that works for this new story. When I tried writing it on my larger, laptop screen, the style morphed into something that wasn't working.
Let's help you acquire the taste. 
You could start off with some vintage metal - Sabbath, Priest, Saxon or dive into the 90s bestsellers - Metallica, Megadeth, Testament and then there's the current crop of headbangers - Slipknot, Korn, Lamb of God, Rammstein.
And there's some good blended metal, especially from Mongolia - The HU Band
If all that's a little too much, you can recover with some of this folksy groove from Omnia
CHEERS!
I love this! I had no idea that Mongolian metal was a thing, but it's so good! I'm listening to your recommendations now. I think you've converted me. Maybe I was just exposed to the kind of metal I didn't like until now?
I love Mongolian metal 
@Niharika yep if you're still somewhat interested in metal but are not enthusiastic about the most popular/readily available stuff, I advice looking into metal from non-Western countries.
I often say that there is metal for everyone, because it's such a diverse genre. Sometimes, you have to search a lot to find the subgenre for you.
Same for geographical location.
For people who like folk elements, there is so much available everywhere, only it requires a lot of digging.
It repeats halfway through but that's still a huge list of genres!
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But uhhh, I'd say we kinda derailed the topic after @Niharika 's comment. I say someone starts a new topic about getting into metal and I vote @dragonsparking makes it since he's always updating his thread with all these bands and scenes I've never heard of in my 12 years of listening to it
I'm flattered! XD
I'm interested. I'd have to make playlists. Lots of playlists. Metal 101 has a nice ring to it. It'll take me a bit to get them together.
A few months ago I did make this thread.
Yeah, Mongolian Metal has been making waves for a good while now, a very regular feature in music festivals around Northern and Eastern Europe. Riveting Stuff.
Great for writing up War/Battle scenarios.
And then there's this awesome inspirational stuff -
As for music, it depends on what I'm working on. For some things I just need silence to really focus. For others I put on something like Fleetwood Mac or a podcast.
I like to pace around while thinking about my story/characters. Sounds silly and I certainly don't do it in public but... well, it works for me haha. It has always helped me visualize my worlds for some reason.
So I uh...act out scenes from my novel. Like rehearsing a script shall we say, I find it works surprisingly well to help move the plot forward. XD
