Listening to Music While Writing
Like many writers, I’m pretty much always listening to music when I’m at work. (Except for this particular blog post. I’m in a computer lab at school and my headphones aren’t cooperating).
I have a pretty wide range of preferences, because I tend to prefer individual songs instead of entire genres. There are many bands that have only a handful of songs which I cherry pick from. I think this pretty well discredits me from saying that I am a fan of these bands. For example, can I really say I enjoy the music of Franz Ferdinand when I know damn well I’ve just listened to “Take Me Out” 200 times and nothing else?
That being said, I have a proclivity towards classic rock above most other genres, probably because I was raised listening to The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, and Queen. Something about that era of music really speaks to me.
My preferred platform for listening to music is actually YouTube, since I find the algorithm provides a perfect mix between familiar songs that I love and new ones I may enjoy. The tension of not knowing whether or not I may be about to listen to a song by Electric Light Orchestra or Skrillex is quite enriching.
I often visualize a scene unfolding with a particular song in the background. I remember writing the action scene in Spirit Warrior with the Season 1 theme song of Attack on Titan looping in the background.
I also recall feeling a certain kinship with the extraordinary storyteller Aaron Sorkin in this regard. He described his inspiration for an episode of The West Wing titled The Two Cathedrals, the final scene of which was by galvanized by Dire Strait’s “Brothers in Arms.”
I think that’s the simple reason I love listening to music during the creative process: it’s a kind of muse. Specific songs evoke the sentiments of certain characters, the conflict of a scene, or the tone of a work as a whole.
If I really need to concentrate or set a particular mood, I’ll listen to music without lyrics. For this, I often turn to classical. My time as a cringy band kid gave me a real appreciation for classical music, as well as a wardrobe that was 90% solid blacks. Some of my favourites are Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”, and Vivaldi's “Four Seasons”. Listening to these kinds of songs makes me feel like an esteemed, high-art playwright, serving the royal class with my riveting tales. I find this illusion helps to distract me from the fact that I’m writing about a chick getting absolutely railed by a vampire pirate (see The Archman, chapter 47 for “reference”).
