Translate

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Writing Music

I very much have a habit of needing to listen to music as I write. I've carefully calculated the proper volumes for both my radio (4) and my computer (3 bars, with iTunes on half volume)—loud enough I don't have to figure out what song it is, but soft enough I can focus on the story.

I sort of wonder if I do better writing when listening to particular song styles, etc., but I haven't looked into it. I've heard others sharing their types of novelling music but haven't looked much into that, either. What kind of music (or silence, or perhaps a television program) do you like in the background when you write?

Incidentally, I recently got a Steve Perry CD, a Scorpions CD, and an A Flock of Seagulls CD. I'm currently in love with "Wishing" and various other songs on said CDs whose titles I cannot recall at the moment. They're not bad for novelling, either.

"Dirty Laundry" is inherently distracting somehow. I think it's the beat.

"Troubled Child" and "Edge of the Blade" are the best to have on repeat, especially with the kinds of stories I write. I haven't tried much else on repeat, though.

Also, how about listening to music while reading? I know I've done Recommended Listenings for everything in the Brutal series, but seeing as I don't read my own work, I haven't read it while listening to the listenings. I've done some casual reading with music on, but I always just end up ignoring one or the other. Any thoughts?

4 comments:

  1. I can't listen to music while writing or reading. It distracts me terribly. Listening to music before or after writing/reading, however, is a completely different story. I almost always listen to songs from the Hunger Games soundtrack - specifically, Abraham's Daughter, Safe and Sound, and Eyes Open - before writing a new chapter of Unstained. Some songs I can relate to Hunger Games, like Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson) and We Are (Ana Johansson, I think?) help get me in the mood, too. And I almost always listen to something that expresses my distraught emotions after reading a chapter of the Brutal Series, or any other really good FanFiction. I love to connect just about every song I know to particular fandoms or characters, and make up AMVs for them in my head.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting. I think level of distraction desired is a sort of introvert/extrovert thing, isn't it? So you're more of an introvert than me. See, they do exist! XD

      I'm trying to think if I've ever done that... Mmm, not really. I do think the chorus of "The Reason" by Hoobastank sounds like Sydney Carton, though.

      Delete
  2. Mim (Sarah)
    I find that I cannot write without a human voice talking nearby, and cannot form ideas without music in the background. I need something to tune out to tune into my stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. o3o Interesting. I can agree with the tuning out/into part, though.

      Delete