Nathan Bransford - The Forums

My story takes place in 1964. So I put together a playlist from that era to conjure up the spirit of the times.

And it does.

It seems to depend on my state of mind.

Sometimes, I need quiet, because I have enough voices in my head already. (From the characters, I swear!)

Sometimes, I need music. But I find that if I need music it's so that I can get into the zone, where I'm not really hearing it, and it's just providing white noise.

But every so often, I come across a song that helps me get into the mood I need to be in. Writing is a very emotional process for me!

I have a houseful of kids, so I like it quiet when I write. (I write at night.) But if I'm having trouble finding the voice of my 12-yr-old protag., I listen to his favorite tunes. That usually throws me back on track.

Either complete quiet or music without words that matches the emotional tone of what I'm writing. My trilogy of middle grade novels are set on a Celtic island, and the main character is a twelve-year-old boy who swims on the back of a magical dolphin to an ancient city under the ocean. While writing the trilogy, I listened to Celtic music and New Age music with whale sounds in the background. I found that very helpful.

I can filter out background noise in airports, on airplanes, and at my son's wrestling practice. Music doesn't bother me, but TV is very distracting.

The worst interruptions to my writing are questions from my wife and kids. They break the train of thought completely. I find it difficult to write if I don't know that I have a solid block of time to do so. That's why I usually write in the morning before work when the house is quiet, so I can get some words down and not have to ignore my family.

I'm an avid music listener while writing. I find that it keeps me on track with the emotions of the scene and the overall pace of the novel. Music was so important during the writing of my first novel that I have posted an "official playlist" on my blog and website that follows along with the novel during key points. Since it's a YA novel from the viewpoint of my nearly 17yo girl protagonist, there is a lot of Avril Lavigne on it. During the writing of the pivotal fight scene at the end of the book I spend a lot of time listening to "Keep Hope Alive" by The Crystal Method to keep the intense flow going.

I can't function as a writer without my music. I love iTunes and Windows Media Player both. I have "writing" playlists on each of them with hours of music to keep me going!

When drafting -- music

When editing -- silence

The music helps me move along and to connect my ideas during the outline. Music really helps out when everyone decides to use my quiet writing time to be nosy and talk to me. I've learned to adapt to the music.

When writing, I make sure things are silent. I write real late at night. The same for editing.

I much prefer the quiet when writing and editing though when I do listen to music, it has to be classical and very low at that. It's the only time I get to listen to classical music anyway lol

If I listen to music with words I'll just find myself singing along instead of writing or editing.

Music most definately. Classical (Bocelli, Vittorio) Heavy rock (Iron Maiden, ACDC). Anything so long as as it's on and around my ears (got to block out those kids somehow).

Music, I need it to concentrate. I open my iTunes and just let it play all my songs. It helps me work better.

I love music, but when I first began writing, I needed absolute silence. I found music too distracting.

Now, I listen to ambient music. It has no lyrics, which used to interfere with my thoughts, and I find it soothing. It can be kind of hypnotic, putting me into a 'writing trance'. It's gotten to the point where I'm now conditioned to want to write when I hear it.

I have gotten into the really bad habit of listening to music whenever I type - and have found that without music playing I tend to stare at the screen and read instead of typing as if I need the music to help those neurons fire away :)

At the moment I have a bit of everything playing: Ladyhawke, vampire weekend, mumford & sons, and regina spektor

I love music, but I also love to sing, so anything with lyrics will end up distracting me. Usually I like to keep it quiet, but if one my neighbors is making distracting noise, I'll put on movie soundtrack or classical music.

victoria wrote:... have found that without music playing I tend to stare at the screen and read instead of typing as if I need the music to help those neurons fire away :)

At the moment I have a bit of everything playing: Ladyhawke, vampire weekend, mumford & sons, and regina spektor

I agree with Victoria that music assists in firing up the neurons. A romping trance podcast with 2 hours of aural delight helps assist another thousand words onto the page. Although I may need another two hours to polish and tidy, or even prune and rewrite, the uplifting tone and pace of the music appears to subconsciously spur me on.

I make the distinction about subconscious because, yes, I make a conscious decision to include music during my writing time but thereafter the music and the writing blur into one creative "process". In and out, so to speak.