My writing "office" is upstairs in my open concept house with no door - so any noise can be distracting. I found a playlist of piano melodies and played it over and over again while I wrote one of my books. After a few listens I began to predict what song followed the other and in a way it became comforting and calming. It helped me stay focused - even when I wrote the intense scenes. So yes, music calms me and helps me stay on track.
Music helps me build scenes, with moods, moving parts, and voices. Sometimes those scenes get written down. I've written several YA novels and they all have a soundtrack. A playlist of songs that work together to tell the story (loosely). During the writing process, I will listen to this playlist a lot when I'm doing other things (cooking, walking, cleaning, etc,) to keep me excited about the story and the people in it, but I never listen to the list when I'm actually writing. I find the music pulls me away from the writing too easily, like I just want to listen and visualize rather than put what I'm seeing down on paper. I do that later, in the quiet.
I have discovered this fun thing called Beta Waves, which are said to help with focus, etc. I find it helps me to have it on, because it drowns out the distracting sounds in my workspace (heater/washing machine/refrigerator kicking on/the constant hum of devices all over the house/snoring dog.) Give it a whirl if you're curious - https://open.spotify.com/show/203RXXkT9fK2mcX4t8Qp5d?si=241164d476ee4484
I usually forget I have it on until I switch if off and notice the difference it was making to my soundscape.
Wow, thanks for that! I did give it a whirl -- just listened to a few seconds of it to get the gist. "Soundscape" is the exact right word for it -- I felt like I was transported into a landscape of sound. I'll have to try that next time I'm writing my novel. (Kind of fits the mood of the novel too, which is a bonus!)
Interesting that you have a soundtrack for your novels even though you don't listen to them when you're writing. So if I'm getting you right, the music puts you into the right mindset *before* you go to write? Definitely another way that music can help creativity!
I also write cinematically, so the music acts like the soundtrack for the "film" version of my book. Wishful thinking perhaps, but that's how scenes come together for me. Like movie scenes, which often are accompanied by music. 🙂 The good ones, especially.
Yup, there’s music on for me, on Spotify ... I’ll try your playlist out later today (when I’m driving to see a buddy, not writing: it can only be familiar music, not new, when I write.)
Yeah, I've been experimenting with some new mood music for certain scenes in my novel -- I seem to be able to block it out for the most part. The ones that do break through because they're catchy, I add to a new playlist to keep them so I can revisit later.
Hope you enjoy the playlist. Many will be familiar, but many will be new, too, including from some Canadian artists. "Making Me Nervous" by Brad Sucks is particularly infectious. An example of a song that would have become a classic if it had had more airplay -- he's low profile even in Canada. (If I ever have a movie made from one of my books and I have any say in the soundtrack, I'll include this one for sure.)
Yes, it's amazing at what a difference it makes for creativity, isn't it? It's funny though how it works for some people and not others, and sometimes works only in very specific circumstances.
My writing "office" is upstairs in my open concept house with no door - so any noise can be distracting. I found a playlist of piano melodies and played it over and over again while I wrote one of my books. After a few listens I began to predict what song followed the other and in a way it became comforting and calming. It helped me stay focused - even when I wrote the intense scenes. So yes, music calms me and helps me stay on track.
Nice! Amazing how headphones can close yourself off like that from the rest of the world!
Why piano in particular?
No idea - mellow I suppose.
Ah yes, that would do it! So interesting how different things work for different people.
Music helps me build scenes, with moods, moving parts, and voices. Sometimes those scenes get written down. I've written several YA novels and they all have a soundtrack. A playlist of songs that work together to tell the story (loosely). During the writing process, I will listen to this playlist a lot when I'm doing other things (cooking, walking, cleaning, etc,) to keep me excited about the story and the people in it, but I never listen to the list when I'm actually writing. I find the music pulls me away from the writing too easily, like I just want to listen and visualize rather than put what I'm seeing down on paper. I do that later, in the quiet.
I have discovered this fun thing called Beta Waves, which are said to help with focus, etc. I find it helps me to have it on, because it drowns out the distracting sounds in my workspace (heater/washing machine/refrigerator kicking on/the constant hum of devices all over the house/snoring dog.) Give it a whirl if you're curious - https://open.spotify.com/show/203RXXkT9fK2mcX4t8Qp5d?si=241164d476ee4484
I usually forget I have it on until I switch if off and notice the difference it was making to my soundscape.
Wow, thanks for that! I did give it a whirl -- just listened to a few seconds of it to get the gist. "Soundscape" is the exact right word for it -- I felt like I was transported into a landscape of sound. I'll have to try that next time I'm writing my novel. (Kind of fits the mood of the novel too, which is a bonus!)
Interesting that you have a soundtrack for your novels even though you don't listen to them when you're writing. So if I'm getting you right, the music puts you into the right mindset *before* you go to write? Definitely another way that music can help creativity!
I also write cinematically, so the music acts like the soundtrack for the "film" version of my book. Wishful thinking perhaps, but that's how scenes come together for me. Like movie scenes, which often are accompanied by music. 🙂 The good ones, especially.
I'm all-in on that line of wishful thinking, too!
Yup, there’s music on for me, on Spotify ... I’ll try your playlist out later today (when I’m driving to see a buddy, not writing: it can only be familiar music, not new, when I write.)
Yeah, I've been experimenting with some new mood music for certain scenes in my novel -- I seem to be able to block it out for the most part. The ones that do break through because they're catchy, I add to a new playlist to keep them so I can revisit later.
Hope you enjoy the playlist. Many will be familiar, but many will be new, too, including from some Canadian artists. "Making Me Nervous" by Brad Sucks is particularly infectious. An example of a song that would have become a classic if it had had more airplay -- he's low profile even in Canada. (If I ever have a movie made from one of my books and I have any say in the soundtrack, I'll include this one for sure.)
Happy Travels, Tom!
Love writing to music!
Half of all I have written can be attributed to the inspiration that good music provides.
Yes, it's amazing at what a difference it makes for creativity, isn't it? It's funny though how it works for some people and not others, and sometimes works only in very specific circumstances.
As I always say though, whatever works!
... always keep writing!
Exactly -- and always keep writing!