Wed, 2025-Jan-08 16:39 (GMT)
Howdy,
I went down a rabbit hole, watching Craig on youtube, and couldn't help noticing he has a dozen or so guitars in his space :) It got me curious about the writers on here and if you prefer music/movies/audiobooks/white noise while you write or do you prefer silence? What bands/composers/musicians do you prefer listening to?
doug
Hi Douglas, Whenever I begin a project, one of the first things I do is set up a music folder for mp3s inside my project folder. I don't listen to music while activly writing. I listen while thinking about the story throughout the day and it somehow activates my visual imagination. I'll come up with scene, story and character ideas this way. The music I collect for each project is unique to that world. For example, I wrote a moster horror that takes place in a rural town in 1959 and I spent a lot of time finding and listening to the music appropraite to that world. In that case it was a lot of old country, bluegrass and Christian spirituals. For me music is a cornerstone of my inspirational processes. In the end I wind up with a library of music that serves as an auditory "mood board" as well as tracks that I can refrence for potential inclusion in the film. I also discover all sorts of interesting music that I would otherwise perhaps never have listened too.
Silence for me when I'm writing, but, on the flipside, there's nothing more powerful for me when conceptualising than music.
Paul,
Super cool. That's great it has opened up an avenue to discover new music and for it to help make each project unique!
doug esper
CJ,
Interesting! I find silence to be too distracting while I write. What are some bands you get inspired by?
soug
That would be a long list as I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to music. I just did a check and I have just under forty different playlists for movies I've either written or want to write.
CJ
That's awesome! I have two playlists on my phone (single malt for writing, blended malt for rocking out). I should probably organize them more, but basically one is mellow/atmospheric/spacey stuff and the other leans more toward rock/metal).
As I reach the end of my capability to stay objective on my first script, I've started to look at what's next. Either a screen adaptation of my biography book about chuck mosley (faith no more, bad brains) or an adaptation of a thriller/disaster novel i wrote years back, so each one would definetly have unique playlists.
I not only write in silence like CJ, but I write with ear plugs, even though I live in a quiet neighborhood. That "dead sound" puts me on the page and the action of my story with no disruptions - it's just me and the page. I also keep my office dark with a light next to the keyboard - day or night. I tried music once when I saw how many use it when writing, and I found myself drifting from the story and listening to the music!
Jerry,
thanks for the feedback. I am surprised by the peope who write in silence, as I am the opposite, almost always have music playing while I write. Mostly, to avoid hearing myself talk :)
doug
I've had to use white noise before. I get distracted easily. I have a coffee shop background noise generator bookmarked. That said, I'm very lucky to live somewhere quiet but with a bit of background noise like traffic.
CJ,
Aren't you in the UK? Shouldn't it be a tea shop? That's very interesting. I tried writing at a coffee shop a few times and wasn't a huge fan, but maybe having that unintrusive background drone would be enough to keep my mind occupied without getting distracted. If the coffee was free, maybe i would've liked it more.
I've tried writing in a cafe and couldn't do it. Far too distracting. The noise generator I have is just mumbling really. It works well for drowning out noise you can focus on. I did spend a day writing outside on Catalin Island once. That was nice.