I listen to a variety of podcasts about writing and try to read a lot of articles about writing and talk about writing quite a bit.
And when there’s time I do some writing as well.
Something that’s come up time and again for me is people talking about writing while listening to music.
Which brings me to the question – What music, if any, do you listen to while writing and why?
I’ve heard it said that listening to movie themes is a good one. Apparently the awesome thing with that is that if you are shuffling your music you can be writing a love scene to battle music or a battle scene to love music and it influences your work in ways you may not have considered beforehand.
When writing my 60’s book I try to listen to music from the period to put me in the mood so while I’m writing about my characters being sat in a bar it’s nice to have a bit of Otis Redding or Four Tops playing in the background.
How about you? I know sometimes I can’t have any music playing while I write and I need relative silence though unfortunately that doesn’t drown out my frustrated sobs when a scene won’t work or a character won’t do what they’re bloody well told to.
Get back to me in the comments with your answers and have a look what others have said – maybe you’ll find some inspiration and find that the only way to write World War Two fiction is while listening to Wu Tang Clan or that Vera Lynn makes your book about the War on Terror practically write itself.
Sean Fallon 
5 replies on “What Music Do You Listen To While Writing?”
I vary. Sometimes I just put iTunes on shuffle and let it play whatever. If I’m in a certain mood, I’ll put on specific songs — for example, when I was working on a dystopian project a few months ago, I listened to Taylor Swift’s Safe & Sound for hours at a time because it perfectly captured the mood I was trying to write. Other times I’ll just go on youtube and listen to whatever I feel like – KPOP, Top 40, etc.
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That’s cool. Music can definitely put you in the right head space but sometimes you can get on such a roll that the music doesn’t matter and just washes over you. 🙂
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If I listen to music while I write, it’s usually irish folk and movie soundtracks because they capture the mood I’m trying to write.
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That’s a good idea…I’m writing about the 60’s now and rather than drown myself in nonfiction texts I’m listening to 60’s music and reading books and watching movies from the time. After a bit of immersion your head just knows how to write for the period without me having to consult my stack of notes or highlighted passages. 🙂
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So true 🙂
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