Music & Writing

Do you like playing music in the background when you write? I like playing soft, mellow music.

I used to listen to music, but now it distracts me. I find the loud hum of my computer helps me to write though.

I like having some kind of distration or noise in the background eg. television, radio

other people annoy me if they talk while i'm writing.

silence is too silent to write.

Depending on what type of scene I'm writing depends on the type of music I have in the background. I sometimes use music, I sometimes don't. And I hate it when people talk while I'm trying to write!

Yeah I really think it depends on the type of music that you listen to. I find that I can write better with low key music in the background. I really hate it as well when people talk it distracts me to much to continue writing.

I don't know. It's a personality/work ethics thing. Some people can write awesomely when they're listening to loud, clashing music. I work best with a soundtrack, usually rock that can express the emotions of my story but it depends on the volume.

So whatever works for you, I suppose. :] I've seen a lot of classical music preferences from our YWers. It's all about personal preferences.

Usually, having music on just distracts me. It has to be like, dead silent, so that I can think. I do, however, listen to music directly before writing -- most of the time. Usually the songs will give me some sort of inspiration, and then I can go ahead and write.

I write better while listening to music. I always lisen to popular stuff. Nothing released before 1999. Although I have noticed that nobody else seems to listen to it on here, at least, not on any playlists I've looked at.

I can write without music, but I have to be able to hear more than my pen or the keys. Silence is just... ugh. I hate it when writing.

I used to listen to music when I wrote, but I just end up with the lyrics in whatever I'm writing so I usually don't. If I need an idea I will flip through some song titles on my iTunes but I won't listen to them. I do usually have something going on in the background (the tv, a movie, a professor attempting to talk me to death).

I dont like music while I write, but before I write listening to music helps ideas start moving. It only works if I listen to the music and think about like themes, emotions or the story behind the song. Then one thought will lead to another, and another and I have like a flood of ideas.

Silence is good. It's our friend.

It depends on the kind of music. I can't listen to music with no lyrics when I am writing for some reason. It just doesn't work for me. But when it is a song with words, I tend to sing along out loud and when I do that, I can't type or write, or I will start writing the lyrics unconsciously. So... I try, but that doesn't mean it's good for me.



~GryphonFledgling

I have somewhat bad A.D.D. so I can't listen to music, and if I do, I won't be able to think. It's all right though if a noise is continous and repetitive - like a fan.

I listen to the radio or a soap/drama on the televison when I'm writing dialouge, as it helps me work out how people talk, interupt, don't finish sentences...ect.

Writing can be very comforting and stimulating, but it also has an uncanny ability to dictate how I write.

I tend to listen to cinematic or classical compositions while I'm writing, because I envision stories in a very cinematic way. I know when and where there close-ups, long shots, changes in lighting, etc. When the music emphasizes those aspects, I find that it invigorates my writing style.

For instance, when my characters are in great peril in a mass of confusion, one of my particularly favorite pieces of music to play is "Bridge of Khazad Dum" by Howard Shore from "The Fellowship of the Ring." It sets my mood and gives me an idea of my character's feelings.

Probably my favorite composers to listen to while writing are Howard Shore, Harry-Gregson Williams, David Holsinger, Claude T. Smith, and Eric Whitacre.

I don't tend to rock or any sort of "radio" music while I write. The words and voices tend to be too distracting. Choral and orchestral do the best job for me.


-Kakky-