Using Music to Inspire Writing
What I listen to while I write
Do you listen to music while you write, or do you prefer to write in silence?
I know writers with both preferences. For me, music helps me focus and get into the mood of my story. It has to be instrumental music, though. Words will distract me!
Over the years I’ve been adding songs I like to one giant playlist on Spotify. It’s mostly movie and game soundtracks, instrumental covers, and dramatic movie trailer music. It’s what I listen to most days while I work.
When I was writing my novel, I chose two instrumental albums that captured the mood of the story and always listened to that while I wrote. Listening to the same music for every writing session helped me get into the story faster.
The albums were La Belle Epoque and Volturnus by Audiomachine.
What music best captures the mood of the story you’re writing? Share in the comments. I’d love to hear from you. 😊
Thank you for reading! If you’re new here, I’m Katelin Cummins, a Catholic writer, book coach, gamer, and fantasy fan. If you want help planning, writing, or revising your novel or nonfiction book, check out my services on my website.
I listen to a lot of "focus" music when I'm drafting -- I can't do lyrics then either. But when I'm revising, I like to find songs that fit the emotional tenor of my story that I can use as touchstones to get into the right headspace. Then I will literally put that song on repeat and let it just seep into my subconscious while I work.
Sometimes, I will make playlists of songs, but that is usually for novel writing. The rest of the time, I like to use videos structured around the Pomodoro technique and they play music and background noises.