Aural Requirements

[Deleted]

Do you need a certain level of peace or a certain kind of music to get in the right mindset for writing?

This is one of those things that has always interested me about artists in general - so many need as close to silence as they can get. I can't stand silence, though. It is painfully distracting.

A few months back I came across a composer on Youtube - Adrian Von Ziegler. His music has been perfect for me! He already has much of it arranged in playlists by mood and theme so I can hit play and have something in the background without distracting lyrics but encouraging the proper mindset.

What about you guys?

[vrabinec]

I prefer silence to anything else, but I rarely get it. I noticed I wasn't getting anything done at night because the wife had the TV blaring, so I bought a walkman and I cover the ear pieces with ear protection I take to the firing range. It's helping. Mostly I play stuff that keeps me in the mood of the WIP, in my case, spacey music.

[Suzy]

I can do both but I find silence suits me best. If not, classical music can be good for inspiration and a feeling of blocking out the real world.

I used to play romantic songs for my emotional, romantic scenes but it's not essential.

[Deleted]

Music works for me very occasionally - usually if I'm writing action scenes. Mostly silence is best, but I've recently started listening to ambient noise youtube videos and found that surprisingly effective. Especially one that is just ten hours of celestial white noise, listened to via headphones.

Which is pretty weird, really.

[Rinelle Grey]

I like to listen to music while plotting, particularly in the car.

For writing though, I prefer silence. Which, of course, is impossible. So I've mostly learned to write while blocking out the sound of the TV.

[scdaffron]

I wear earplugs because the sound of my husband's typing drives me nuts. (We have separate offices, but his typing is SO loud it carries through the house.)

[Pru Freda]

Yeah, silence is definitely golden, which is why the bloke using power tools a couple of gardens away is really beginning to annoy me. How can I be expected to work with that bloody racket going on?

[Becca Mills]

Either silence, or a lot of loud, indistinguishable sound, like in a coffee shop.

[Deleted]

I need music. It helps me lose myself in the story. Soundtracks are good. When I was writing "Ghost Marshal," I had a playlist that included tracks from "Hell on Wheels," "Red Dead Redemption," "3:10 to Yuma," and of course all the Morricone classics. I wrote a blog post that included the complete list: Music for Western Writers

[Daniel]

I normally work in silence, but recently, I've been more productive by putting Scrivener in full screen mode and playing music through earbuds. I have several playlists set up in Windows Media Player with mellow rock selections that I know so well that they aren't distracting, or I listen to classical (mostly baroque). I also have TONS of "new age" instrumental stuff from the 80's (Yanni, Eddie Jobson, Patrick O'Hearn, Will Ackerman, Andreas Vollenweider, David Arkenstone, David Lanz, Paul Speer, Jean Michael Jarre, Mannheim Steamroller, Mark Isham, and others) that work great as background music.

[tanja]

I'm usually listening to movie scores. At the moment it's mostly stuff by James Newton Howard like "Water for Elephants" and "District Tribute - Music of Panem".

[Becca Mills]

May 2, 2014 23:03:42 GMT -5 tanja said:

I'm usually listening to movie scores. At the moment it's mostly stuff by James Newton Howard like "Water for Elephants" and "District Tribute - Music of Panem".

I was hankering for the original Star Wars soundtrack today. Bom bom bom bom-ba-bom bom-ba-bom.

[shawninmon]

I have difficulty writing in silence, possibly due to my tinnitus - the quieter it is, the louder that ringing sound seems. I know I may be the only person that does this, but I find one song that fits the mood of the book and play it in my headphones on repeat the entire time I am writing it. It becomes a Pavlovian response for me - hear the opening notes of that song and my brain settles into the groove of that story.

I use the music of Gerry Rafferty, but that's just me, because I am probably the biggest Gerry Rafferty fan outside of the UK.

[Deleted]

May 6, 2014 10:08:26 GMT -5 shawninmon said:

I have difficulty writing in silence, possibly due to my tinnitus - the quieter it is, the louder that ringing sound seems. I know I may be the only person that does this, but I find one song that fits the mood of the book and play it in my headphones on repeat the entire time I am writing it. It becomes a Pavlovian response for me - hear the opening notes of that song and my brain settles into the groove of that story.

I use the music of Gerry Rafferty, but that's just me, because I am probably the biggest Gerry Rafferty fan outside of the UK.

I often do this. I played Stubborn Love by the Lumineers on repeat for three days straight when I was near the end of one book. My kids were ready to shoot me. (I can't use headphones because my ears bother me too much.)

[Becca Mills]

May 6, 2014 10:41:43 GMT -5 @terescia said:

Occasionally I can write in silence, but most of the time I need music. I make playlists of whatever songs hit the right notes with me and then put them on repeat and get to it. I do also use focus@will (focusatwill.com) and I'm a paying subscriber.

I need the music to keep me from getting distracted as easily. Silence fatigues me and I can't focus. I also tend to want to fall asleep when it gets quiet. That doesn't work for the writing, lol.

Huh. I'd never heard of focusatwill.com ... interesting!

[Deleted]

May 6, 2014 10:08:26 GMT -5 shawninmon said:

I have difficulty writing in silence, possibly due to my tinnitus - the quieter it is, the louder that ringing sound seems. I know I may be the only person that does this, but I find one song that fits the mood of the book and play it in my headphones on repeat the entire time I am writing it. It becomes a Pavlovian response for me - hear the opening notes of that song and my brain settles into the groove of that story.

I use the music of Gerry Rafferty, but that's just me, because I am probably the biggest Gerry Rafferty fan outside of the UK.

I may have to try this one of these days! I used to do that when drawing but hadn't considered it for writing.

[vrabinec]

May 6, 2014 10:08:26 GMT -5 shawninmon said:

I have difficulty writing in silence, possibly due to my tinnitus - the quieter it is, the louder that ringing sound seems. I know I may be the only person that does this, but I find one song that fits the mood of the book and play it in my headphones on repeat the entire time I am writing it. It becomes a Pavlovian response for me - hear the opening notes of that song and my brain settles into the groove of that story.

I use the music of Gerry Rafferty, but that's just me, because I am probably the biggest Gerry Rafferty fan outside of the UK.

Baker Street?

I'm doing a lot of the same thing now. Mine's Floyd's Shine on You Crazy Diamond. The spacey opening works perfectly. Plus it's long, and it takes a long time for the lyrics to show up.

[Deleted]

I get easily distracted by anything with lyrics. Sometimes I listen to classical music, or when I'm feeling fun, Lindsey Sterling. Otherwise, it's silencio for me.

[Deleted]

May 6, 2014 19:37:41 GMT -5 @violarivard said:

I get easily distracted by anything with lyrics. Sometimes I listen to classical music, or when I'm feeling fun, Lindsey Sterling. Otherwise, it's silencio for me.

I'm with Viola. No lyrics & lots of instrumental stuff - I'd add anything Yo-Yo Ma to her list. Lots of times, I put on my over-the-head headphones just to increase my focus, but I don't listen to anything except my own words. I tend to get my best writing done that way!