Music

on Thursday, March 31, 2016
    One of the things I try to enforce as a writer (that I learned from LTUE and that I hope my "A Day in the Life of..." guest series has taught) is that there is no one way to be a writer. Everyone has different writing schedules and different distractions, just like how everyone has different ways to inspire themselves.
    For me, I have to listen to music. Now, I know a lot of authors cannot listen to music while writing. Some have tv or movies on in the background, and some need absolute silence. But I need music to write. I can't write in silence, and tv is usually too distracting.


    So what music do I listen to? It depends on my mood and how much focus I have. On a good day, I can listen to just about anything and still get writing done. On a bad day like today where I have little to no focus? I can't have music with words. I can only listen to scores. And it has to be quiet. If the noise gets too chaotic, I lose focus.
    Typically, I listen to movie scores. My favorites are Star Wars The Force Awakens, Inside Out, and How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2. I also started listening to the soundtrack to the CW's show The Flash. I love the music to that show. Also, Adam Young (aka Owl City!) started releasing his own scores. My personal favorite is the RMS Titanic one. It's AMAZING. 
    When I can listen to music with words, my go to artist is Of Monsters and Men. Owl City is another favorite, and so is Us the Duo. I can listen to Phillip Phillips when I can handle the dog singing along, which isn't often.
    Other occasional favorites are the Avengers score, Captain America score, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. score, Agent Carter score, and Pokémon Reorchestrated.
    What do you do to help you focus when writing?
    ~Allie

4 comments:

Heather Hayden said...

I love Owl City! Definitely need to check out his scores.

There are times when lyrics are fine, and other times when lyrics are not fine... I can usually tune out the words if I know the song well enough, though.

Most of my novels have specific songs I listen to when writing them--or scores; the Transformers soundtrack I listen to when I'm writing fanfic, for instance.

Music definitely helps me focus, especially when there are other sounds around (traffic, people talking, etc.). The only sad thing is my headphone jack on my computer is broken so I have to use a USB headset, and it gets uncomfortable after a while.

Unknown said...

I use Bluetooth earbuds now (I bought them for running and cleaning). They work great right now as I'm packing up boxes to move. Husband of Mine has these giant headphones and I tried them once and hate them. Apparently I'm really picky, so I can totally understand the discomfort.

Lidy said...

I love writing to music. My go to music is 80s and 90s hip hop. And mostly listening to Pitbull, Black Eyed Peas and One Republic Pandora radio stations. As well as the reggae, calypso and soca to get me energized. It's especially good, when it's rainy and blech outside. When the weather is like that, I'm too tired to write. But for writing romance, I listen to slow jams to get me in the mood.

Kristie Suul said...

Music = calming the baby to me. :D Elaina loves listening to music. She just fell asleep listening to Disney songs.

When I'm writing it's the one time I get absolute piece. Nothing but a fan in the background. No kids, no music, no tv. Just blissful silence.

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