Do you prefer silence or sounds when you write? Music? Does it change based on genre?
Lately I have been writing in silence, though when I wrote Classic Alice I had music constantly playing. I’m not sure if it helps or not anymore! I USED to always want something on the background; I don’t know if I just got too lazy to toss on some tunes or what, but my entire dissertation was written to the sounds of Gilmore Girls. Here, today, nothing. The thrum of a air filter, I guess.
When I DO bother to put on music, I usually just shuffle everything I own — which is a lot. It’s pretty eclectic. I shuffle until I find something that speaks to the moment or genre of the script and then cycle through that artist, then through similar sounds (the Radio feature on Spotify is great). Like, if I’m writing a sort of indie feel, I might start with Daughter and circle through bands like them at the whim of the Spotify station. If I’m writing something creepy, I don’t like music with lyrics: we’re talking total silence or MAYBE if I can find suspenseful scores, soundtrack music. Same I think goes for action — Pirates of the Caribbean was good for that.
But. At some point, the music is always turned off. I always hit a place when I write where it becomes a distraction or a hindrance, so I click it off and work in silence.
One thought on “What Do You Listen To? | Your Questions, Day 4 of 30”
I’ve head of other writers who write to certain pop eras depending on the period of what they’re writing. Personally, I can’t write to any music with spoken words, those words interfere with my brain words. But I do write to classical music sometimes, when I need soothing.