When I’m writing a first draft, I usually listen to music. It helps block out the real world and allows me to focus on the fictional world I’m writing about. The music I listen to depends on the story I’m writing. I can’t write while listening to any kind of music. It needs to be specific and I have play lists for each story.
When I’m working on rewrites, though, I can’t listen to any music or have outside distractions. To me, edits are the “real world” part of writing and I need to focus completely on catching mistakes and inconsistencies and following my editor’s advice.
Do you work best while listening to music, or do you need quiet?
Discover how other authors feel about listening to music while writing by visiting stops in the MFRA’s 52 Week Blog Challenge.
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I don’t necessarily have a playlist for writing, but one story–The Dragon Wore a Kilt–featured a handful of specific songs. With the female protagonist’s name being Lila, I swapped out “Layla” and “Lola” for her name in the lyrics of the related songs. It made for a bit of humor, as Lila would tell the band leader who played those songs, “Knock if off, Bobby.”
The closest I’ve come to having a playlist was listening to Brazilian jazz with vocals while writing a seduction scene that took place in a nightclub with a Brazilian jazz singer. That only worked because I don’t understand a word of Portuguese. Happy writing!
Mostly quite though at times, I need a lift and listen to the playlist I set up for the book.
I’m the opposite of you when writing a first draft, but I used to listen to music. I do listen through other phases of the book. I can’t play music while going through edits, either.