One of the authors, Halley Sutton (The Lady Upstairs and The Hurricane Blonde) mentions that she often listens to the same playlist when she writes, which got us thinking: What do other people listen to when they write (or edit or paint or design or draw, anything creative that takes some kind of concentrated focus)? So, let us know below: Do you have a go-to record or playlist you like to listen to while you work? We want to hear about it — and listen to it!
Am I the only one who CAN'T listen to music while writing? I wish I could; I love music. But when I do, my brain focuses on listening to the music and can't focus on the writing.
I have continuous noise around me when I write, so I prefer music. But I can't listen to songs with lyrics because, well, I started adding THOSE words to my prose. Though, when I revise, I usually have a playlist curated that offers the same tone of the piece, usually angsty, and I listen to that. Each longer project also has its own playlist.
I have two main writing playlists, one instrumental, the other vocal. But sometimes I turn on my Radio Garden app, choose a place more or less at random, and let a station from that place play in the background. Whichever I choose I play it through a Bluetooth speaker and set my phone by the speaker with notifications turned off. It's in the room if I truly need it but it requires effort and thought to do so, which helps with distraction
As a documentary photojournalist & an author when I am writing and/or curating images I never listen to any thing, I like pin drop silence.
It’s in that silence that I’ve been able to create everything that I’ve been able to all these years. I wouldn’t even say ‘that silence’ is music for me!
I always carry my ear plugs with me & use them when I file images or I am writing from a café or on the go.
Silence/noise machine/earplugs is kind of the *ultimate* soundtrack for me, too. And I ALWAYS carry earplugs with me. I have little earplug cases in all of my bags: travel, purse, fanny pack, lol.
I have to have relaxing and old-fashioned music - what's often dismissively called 'easy listening'. It's rarely heard nowadays on the radio. I can't do my own playlist, I need something to make it for me. I listen almost all the time to Serenade Radio (https://www.serenade-radio.com/) - a volunteer-run free station by UK professionals (mostly retired). A little chat (not much) in between the songs. No advertising, no news, no appeals for money, but run live (complete with on-the-hour pips). Run on donations, but they never actually beg for money. NO ROCK MUSIC, no chart music (except what might have been in the charts 50-100 years ago).
Incidentally, it works on Amazon Echo - just say "Alexa, play Serenade Radio". By the way, they are keen to stress they pay all required royalties.
One interesting talk-heavy program is "song of the week" at 5.30pm UK Time on Sundays, where they tell the story behind of a famous song (usually a 'great american songbook' song - Somewhere Over the Rainbow was particularly fascinating. Turns out the music writer Harold Arlen modelled the riff "Someday I'll wish upon a star, And wake up where the clouds are far behind me" on how lyricist Yip Harburg whistled for his dog to come to him). I can't write when they're running that program - too interesting!
depends on what I'm writing. But when I'm working on my novel that's set in 1999 and has a moody goth vibe, it's a lot of music I loved in the 90s: Depeche Mode, The Cure, Tori Amos, The Smiths, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair... you get the picture.
But my husband is an academic and he likes to write with something that is innocuous and lately it's been classical harp! At first I couldn't stand it, but now it's soothing and has become almost Pavlovian. He puts on the harp tracks (b/c lyrics and too much intrusive personality distracts), and we're both in the nonfiction writing zone.
Lo-fi beats, always. Usually Lo-fi Hip Hop on YouTube, but I've been getting into some of the lofi/chillhop playlists on Spotify. Groove Salad and everything else on somafm are also great and have been around since the beginning. The key for me is repetitive beats + zero lyrics, that helps me really hyperfocus.
By necessity, I've learned to write with noise, but my go-to choices are peace and quiet or instrumental acoustic music in the background. As a musician, I am distracted by rhythms and lyrics - but today I did some good work at a coffee shop that was playing Cat Stevens Radio on Spotify, which was oddly helpful in finding good word choices. Go figure!
I have several different playlists that I've assembled over the years. My musical tastes encompass rock 'n roll, blues, jazz, symphonic, classical and lots of cross-genre that fill in the gaps. Dramatic movie scores are great for writing sad scenes and hard rock works well for action scenes. The music gets queued and the earbuds go in every morning to get me started. Sometimes it's songs with words and other times it's instrumentals. Once the words are flowing, it all becomes background music to the story.
I paint (and desperately need to get back into it). I never use brushes, I use my hands (I know, I know....) and listen to music... certain songs evoke the heavy use of certain colors: Springsteen = red, Sinatra= blues, Joni Mitchell= green, etc. Great fun and very therapeutic :)
With crochet and collage I usually watch tv or listen to podcasts but when I do choose music it’s usually a playlist of female singer songwriters I love … Dar Williams, Ani … ones I’ve loved since high school. Taps into something.
I play my "tracks" on tidal - sometimes on shuffle, sometimes not. Often I find a song that I put on repeat and listen to that one song on repeat. It can be anything - literally. Most times with noise cancelling headphones - I like to listen to it loud. Most popular in 2021? Night Moves/Bob Seeger recently - Gorilla/Little Sims, Stepping Razor/Peter Tosh - and There She Goes, My Beautiful Friend/Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
If possible, I like a quiet environment. This used to be late at night when the hubby is asleep, but I'm not the night queen I used to be. Usually, I'm in a room upstairs, my husband is downstairs (watching Family Feud). Or, also, I like a quiet coffee shop, so definitely not a Starbucks.
I really relate to the comments about white noise, people chatting in a café, and also light soundtracks like blues and instrumental music. But specifically for some scenes with strong emotions (psychological horror, physical conflicts, etc.), I put on something heavier to help me get into the mood and "find" the emotion I want to express on paper 🤔
At home, classical or true crime on TV at a very low volume. When I’m in a public space, my brain likes the busy rumblings and sounds. Active environment fosters active thinking.
Am I the only one who CAN'T listen to music while writing? I wish I could; I love music. But when I do, my brain focuses on listening to the music and can't focus on the writing.
Same, I definitely can’t listen to anything with lyrics or I get too distracted. The classical harp, on the other hand, sounds right up my alley!
I have continuous noise around me when I write, so I prefer music. But I can't listen to songs with lyrics because, well, I started adding THOSE words to my prose. Though, when I revise, I usually have a playlist curated that offers the same tone of the piece, usually angsty, and I listen to that. Each longer project also has its own playlist.
My background go-to is cello music.
Peace & Quiet
I sometimes make playlists if I’m working on nonfiction and need some inspiration—often just picking out the songs is helpful! Here’s one I made for a story about forest restoration in Oregon: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/01NI0IeO7PzerGZlUcx9X7?si=qj9s8Op8RiiVbNxdV9XaZQ&pi=u-l4lm3YWaReGh
Loving The Deep Forest track!
I have two main writing playlists, one instrumental, the other vocal. But sometimes I turn on my Radio Garden app, choose a place more or less at random, and let a station from that place play in the background. Whichever I choose I play it through a Bluetooth speaker and set my phone by the speaker with notifications turned off. It's in the room if I truly need it but it requires effort and thought to do so, which helps with distraction
As a documentary photojournalist & an author when I am writing and/or curating images I never listen to any thing, I like pin drop silence.
It’s in that silence that I’ve been able to create everything that I’ve been able to all these years. I wouldn’t even say ‘that silence’ is music for me!
I always carry my ear plugs with me & use them when I file images or I am writing from a café or on the go.
Silence/noise machine/earplugs is kind of the *ultimate* soundtrack for me, too. And I ALWAYS carry earplugs with me. I have little earplug cases in all of my bags: travel, purse, fanny pack, lol.
Hi Jesse! I am so happy to know this :)
Thanks for the tip, I will buy more and keep in every backpack that I have so that I don’t have to scramble every effin’ single time :) hahaha
Ha ha, I have totally been there re: the desperate scramble! It's a good trick. :)
Jessy and Shawna: Can’t help but visualize a situation where the likes of us meet for work at a café and there’s pin drop silence on the table :D
Also, the other way around… when we meet for a meet up & do we talk or does silence express us the most :)
Ha ha, yes, I'm in!
Let’s plan… vamanos! ‘M based in Toronto :)
Me tooo! I like to write & edit in my plain, quiet cave of an office.
:) :) :) loved the use of words, quiet cave of an office :) It’s nice to e-meet you gang :) :)
I have to have relaxing and old-fashioned music - what's often dismissively called 'easy listening'. It's rarely heard nowadays on the radio. I can't do my own playlist, I need something to make it for me. I listen almost all the time to Serenade Radio (https://www.serenade-radio.com/) - a volunteer-run free station by UK professionals (mostly retired). A little chat (not much) in between the songs. No advertising, no news, no appeals for money, but run live (complete with on-the-hour pips). Run on donations, but they never actually beg for money. NO ROCK MUSIC, no chart music (except what might have been in the charts 50-100 years ago).
Sounds lovely!
Incidentally, it works on Amazon Echo - just say "Alexa, play Serenade Radio". By the way, they are keen to stress they pay all required royalties.
One interesting talk-heavy program is "song of the week" at 5.30pm UK Time on Sundays, where they tell the story behind of a famous song (usually a 'great american songbook' song - Somewhere Over the Rainbow was particularly fascinating. Turns out the music writer Harold Arlen modelled the riff "Someday I'll wish upon a star, And wake up where the clouds are far behind me" on how lyricist Yip Harburg whistled for his dog to come to him). I can't write when they're running that program - too interesting!
depends on what I'm writing. But when I'm working on my novel that's set in 1999 and has a moody goth vibe, it's a lot of music I loved in the 90s: Depeche Mode, The Cure, Tori Amos, The Smiths, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair... you get the picture.
But my husband is an academic and he likes to write with something that is innocuous and lately it's been classical harp! At first I couldn't stand it, but now it's soothing and has become almost Pavlovian. He puts on the harp tracks (b/c lyrics and too much intrusive personality distracts), and we're both in the nonfiction writing zone.
Yes to all of this. Esp The Smiths and The Cure.
Lo-fi beats, always. Usually Lo-fi Hip Hop on YouTube, but I've been getting into some of the lofi/chillhop playlists on Spotify. Groove Salad and everything else on somafm are also great and have been around since the beginning. The key for me is repetitive beats + zero lyrics, that helps me really hyperfocus.
By necessity, I've learned to write with noise, but my go-to choices are peace and quiet or instrumental acoustic music in the background. As a musician, I am distracted by rhythms and lyrics - but today I did some good work at a coffee shop that was playing Cat Stevens Radio on Spotify, which was oddly helpful in finding good word choices. Go figure!
Love that. You never know!
I have several different playlists that I've assembled over the years. My musical tastes encompass rock 'n roll, blues, jazz, symphonic, classical and lots of cross-genre that fill in the gaps. Dramatic movie scores are great for writing sad scenes and hard rock works well for action scenes. The music gets queued and the earbuds go in every morning to get me started. Sometimes it's songs with words and other times it's instrumentals. Once the words are flowing, it all becomes background music to the story.
I love the idea of dramatic movie scores for sad scenes. Thank you for this.
I paint (and desperately need to get back into it). I never use brushes, I use my hands (I know, I know....) and listen to music... certain songs evoke the heavy use of certain colors: Springsteen = red, Sinatra= blues, Joni Mitchell= green, etc. Great fun and very therapeutic :)
I have to try painting with my hands instead of brushes now. I love this.
Be sure to wash up and use some super moisturizing stuff on your hands afterwards <3
I also love that you have a music-coded color wheel to paint by...please write about this and share....
With crochet and collage I usually watch tv or listen to podcasts but when I do choose music it’s usually a playlist of female singer songwriters I love … Dar Williams, Ani … ones I’ve loved since high school. Taps into something.
I play my "tracks" on tidal - sometimes on shuffle, sometimes not. Often I find a song that I put on repeat and listen to that one song on repeat. It can be anything - literally. Most times with noise cancelling headphones - I like to listen to it loud. Most popular in 2021? Night Moves/Bob Seeger recently - Gorilla/Little Sims, Stepping Razor/Peter Tosh - and There She Goes, My Beautiful Friend/Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
If possible, I like a quiet environment. This used to be late at night when the hubby is asleep, but I'm not the night queen I used to be. Usually, I'm in a room upstairs, my husband is downstairs (watching Family Feud). Or, also, I like a quiet coffee shop, so definitely not a Starbucks.
I really relate to the comments about white noise, people chatting in a café, and also light soundtracks like blues and instrumental music. But specifically for some scenes with strong emotions (psychological horror, physical conflicts, etc.), I put on something heavier to help me get into the mood and "find" the emotion I want to express on paper 🤔
At home, classical or true crime on TV at a very low volume. When I’m in a public space, my brain likes the busy rumblings and sounds. Active environment fosters active thinking.
Love all of this and really relate to the instrumental recos. I just got on a crowded bus and this Binaural Beats Meditation record (https://open.spotify.com/album/7s2Tge8XRtOVHMIhNm2Hmr?si=05zs1qpwQF2whpjPaEEgQQ) is the only thing allowing me to be in the zone right now! Cluster & Eno is a great go-to also.
Love this! Thank you. I listen to Gamma when working and Theta when sleeping.
Lofi Girl on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/user/chilledcow?si=mDCX9XqnRauHCUpNxZslWA
Loving beats to relax/study to! Perfect for writing.