Music and Writing
To me, music and writing go hand-in-hand. I’m a very musical person, having grown up in a musical family and been part of choir for nine years now (going into my tenth), so I love listening to and making music. You could say a random word and it would probably start me singing some song I haven’t heard in years.
I don’t remember exactly when I started listening to music while I write. I think I read an article about it online and decided “Ooh. Writing. Music. Perfect!” and tried it out, but I’m not entirely certain, lol. This post will go over what music I do and don’t listen to while I write and the affect it has on my writing, or my brain while I’m writing.
Sometimes what I enjoy listening to most and what I can write while listening to don’t overlap. I love listening to Christian music, and lately I’m usually in the mood for something upbeat like tobyMac, Britt Nicole, etc. Unfortunately, I can’t write to those. Why? Because I’ll sing along and throw my brain off and my fingers won’t write what they’re supposed to. It’s quite unfortunate. I generally can’t write to anything with words, unless possibly it’s something I don’t know very well or that’s slower and I’m less likely to have trouble stopping myself from singing along to.
What I do write to is instrumental music, usually some epic music like LotR, The Hobbit, Eragon, GoT, HTTYD, etc. soundtracks and artists like Two Steps from Hell (not a fan of their name, but their music is good), Peter Crowley, and BrunuhVille. I also throw in some Lindsey Stirling now and then, because she’s awesome. I sometimes hum along to Lindsey Stirling and bemoan the fact that my voice doesn’t have the range of a violin. Thankfully, since there are no words involved, it doesn’t throw me off.
I also have a playlist for the Wonderland story I’m writing with Allegra (mentioned in this post) that always sets me into that mood, because it’s what I always put on to write that story. Habit is a powerful thing. I also just enjoy listening to that playlist when I’m not writing, because it’s a different style from most of my music and it’s fun to listen to.
Another favorite playlist of mine is that belonging to the character Livi Brooklyn (from Friendship Bracelets & Seashells) that, like the Wonderland playlist, is a very different style than I usually listen to. Her playlist has basically the same effect on me that her Pinterest board has. I love scrolling through Livi’s board because it’s so colorful and peppy, and her playlist is much the same.
I also have a Spotify playlist (all of my music is on Spotify) called “Writing Inspiration,” which has songs on it that had lines that caught my attention and started the gears turning in my head.
Here are the Spotify links to my favorite writing playlists, if you’d like to have a listen:
Related Post: Music In Writing
TOBY MAC, YESSSS! I always accidentally call him T. J. Maxx, lol. I find that after I’ve heard a song a bunch of times, then I can write to it without being distracted. Does that work for you?
Movie soundtracks are AWESOME to write to!! Another kind I love is Japanese instrumental music– it’s always so soothing, and some of them are bouncy and fun. There’s a lot of variety and lovely sounds.
Yes, I’ve found it a lot easier to write to music with lyrics over the years, and I do think that familiarity helps me filter out the words more easily.