What Music Helps You To Write?
A short (and hopefully helpful) sharing of how I use Music to enhance my writing!
What Music Helps You To Write?
I don’t know about you, but my best writing only ever happens when I’ve got a good slab of time within which to concentrate: and, even then, it only happens when I’m listening to Music.
I use a capital ‘M’ because Music, for me at least, is such an important element in shaping what I write. There is no doubt that your choice of music can help shape what you end up with on the page: it can draw out emotions, invoke mindsets, trigger memories, relax you or promote unease, and get you fired up. And if it doesn’t, the music (small ‘m’ this time) is not worthy of the term!
Many people require absolute silence in which to write, or prefer to write in natural settings (a field, or under a tree). I find natural settings far too distracting to write in: I’m always watching what is going on in nature instead! For me, the best stuff happens when I’m at my writing desk, headphones on, focussing solely on forging words into something worthwhile.
I view Music as the colour palette that is applied to the bare bones of my writing: I might have an idea, or even a complex piece of fairly polished writing, and the appropriate Music always, without fail, takes my work up a notch, into new realms, and beyond what I’d previously considered myself to be capable of doing. Music extends you, alters your thinking, your state of consciousness, your physiology, and is a large piece of the tool kit that ends up forming the completed piece of writing.
I have hundreds of hours of music on my computer, but only a select portion of it is allowed to enter my ears during writing sessions. Here is a selection of the music that I use as a writing tool: I hope you find something in it that will help you as well.
NOTE: the heading of each section below is a link to the song/album.
Become Ocean (John Luther Adams)
This is such a special piece of music to me for a few reasons.
I’d never heard of JLA until I was reading through some of Barry Lopez’s obituaries. In one, it was mentioned that in his final days, he listened to Become Ocean in its entirety as he slipped in and out of consciousness. I looked up Become Ocean, and it had me from the start. The sense of calm it invokes, and the journey you become lost in, really struck me. It’s not so much a soundscape as an environment that you immerse yourself in. This is the one piece of music that I put on if the day is super stressful: but it’s very often my go-to piece when I want to sit and work on a prolonged writing session: really focus, and lose track of time. I’d love to listen to this while driving through the desert one day, that would be an interesting experience. Check out John Luther Adams: he’s the best.
So Faded (Mike Adams At His Honest Weight)
I recall listening to the album There Is No Feeling Better one camping trip a few years back. My partner Lucy and I were way off in the desert, and had this album playing on a crappy little speaker while we enjoyed a wine and prepared a vegie stew. The next day we had a mildly traumatic time getting out of the park, after 40mm of rain turned our campsite, and all the tracks out of the area, into a submerged world of mud, an 8 hour nerve-wracking struggle to get out before the situation became even worse. Either way, that MAAHHW album seems to serve as a conduit for recalling highly detailed memories of that particular desert trip. It’s interesting how strongly memories can be tied to specific songs and albums.
Bully (Ruby Haunt)
You just can’t beat these guys, on so many levels. They are one of the few bands I know of whose lyrics don’t break your concentration: rather, they add rhythm to it and guide it. They are killer musicians and songwriters, and a rock-solid reliable soundtrack to your writing.
A Treatise On The Rainbow (Vern Matz)
A brilliant album for navigating, and solving, tricky writing problems. I don’t know what it is, but with this album I am able to wrangle those paragraphs I’m just not satisfied with into something I’m proud of. Another killer songwriter!
Rats in Ruin (All Them Witches)
For some reason, I only ever listen to this band in Summer: go figure. In the shed a lot, too, when I’m designing and making things. If I was to force my hand here, I’d say it is because of their song structures, but I don’t really want to overanalyse it too much: its just great stuff. Also, the last third of this particular song is one of the best outros in music history!
Slomo (Slowdive)
You know how when you are driving along a dirt road and hit a long sandy patch, everything just instantly slows down and you can see the world around you much more clearly? This track will do that to you if things are getting a little fast paced. Another soundscape-style song from a brilliant band.
Ful Stop (Radiohead) and Open the floodgates (The Smile)
You’ve of Radiohead, but unless you’re a fan you don’t know how good they are. Dip your toe in the water by listening to Ful Stop and you’ll see what you’ve been missing all these years. It is amazing just how much writing progress you are able to make, and the quality of your work, whilst listening to their music.
If you’ve heard of The Smile, you’ll already know they are a good portion of Radiohead. Floodgates is a great example of a song I’ll use for adding poignancy to a passage of writing, or when writing emotively/defensively. They are band that pushes the boundaries and challenge you as a listener: but at the same time, the sound is so beautiful and so right.
I hope I’ve introduced you to some new Music, and maybe even a new way of viewing music as a tool, not just something to chuck on in the background.
What Music do you listen to as you write? I’d love to hear from you if you have any recommendations! Please suggest any good writing Music in the comments/chat section!