Young Writers Society

Writing to music is usually the best way to go. It can drive you, stimulate your thoughts, and encourage a creative process. However, proofreading to music can be deadly. Not for the grammar, mind you. As important as grammar is, it is certainly not as important as what you are trying to say. No, when you look at a piece of a work as a whole and try to figure out whether to tweak a piece of dialogue, etc., for a stronger effect, remember to work in silence.

"Why?" you may wonder. After all, can't you listen to music since it stimulates all this creative energy? Maybe it will make you see things in a more clearer light.

Unfortunately, when we tend to listen to music while proofreading, we tend to listen to the music that we write to -- music that fits the writing style. For example, when I write a comedy piece, I'm going to be listening to some happy Mozart tunes. In contrast, when I write a serious piece of work, I will listen to opera, Enya, LOTR soundtracks, to get the desired "spooky"effect. This helps gets us visualize our stories - complete with a soundtrack.

But when you reread your work, most likely you are going to be drawn in the story, not because of the power of the words, but because of the music. You'll soon be thinking, "Wow, this is the most awesome serious tragedy I've ever written." Oh really? Is it your words or the fact that you are listening to Russian folk music while reading this?

Don't underestimate the power of music.

To test whether your story really does have that power, or see if it's just the music, try an experiment. Put on some music that contrasts terribly with the story. For example, I usually listen to some kid songs, such as the first part of "The Lion King" soundtrack. It's hard to take the story seriously at all when "Oh, I just can't WAIT to be king!!!!!!" is blasting in your ear.

So, if I can't ignore the music, then it's not strong enough. If my writing is so captivating that the music doesn't affect the quality any way, then you got some gold on your hands.

But, just to stay on the safe side, reread your work in silence. You'll thank yourself later.

Wow, that's really great advice! I didn't even think about the proofreading thing, but it makes a lot of sense. Presonly I always listen to music when writing or drawing. A lot of the time its where I get my insperation.

I always use music to my advantage.

You know that story I posted a while back? Lucidity? That was me listening to Evanescence. xD

"Situational Music Selection" (SMS ) is quite useful when used properly.

Music will cause surges of situations and events and dialogues to shoot into your mind. Write 'em down!

Yeah!

I have all sorts of playlists for different moods...i.e. Screw The World, Skip In Circles and Laugh Your Head Off, Serial Killer On A Rampage,etc. They're so much fun...

I agree with this advice. I almost always listen to music, when writing. It is strange the serge of creativity that surfaces, but they maybe due to the type of music I listen too, lol. And it's true; never proofread when your groovin' to music because you will miss mistakes and such.

I never even thought about the effects of listening to music while I edit... I'm jus thte kind of erson tha tlistens to music 24/7 so it's almost like background noise and I get to the point where I only notice it if it's NOT there...

I'll have to try having it not there while I'm working on editing this afternoon and see how it works.

I actually do that too! I've assigned songs to different parts of my story. Whenever I write, I always have a cd or song that fits it. When I'm doing my story, I like to listen to Sigur Ros. I dare you to listen to one of their songs, Glosoli, and then try to figure out what my story is like!