Just wondering what everyone's preferences are when writing - do you listen to music, prefer silence or does it not make a difference to you one way or the other?

I always put music on, and generally try to play something that fits with the tone of the scene I'm creating. I almost count this as cheating, but it really works for me as an inspirational tool and helps me to get back into the flow of writing at the start of a session or after a break.

I also do this when reading - I'll listen to the same CD over and over. Then when I hear that music again, it drags me straight back to the story, even if has been years since I read it.

Joolz

Silence, definitely silence. Sssshh.

I listen, Joolz. Well - I do when I write fiction for kids. Loud, angsty stuff off Itunes. But strangely if I am writing non-fiction, or letters, or articles, I have to have peace!

Music that doesn't have words, or not words I can understand - otherwise it takes up my word-mind which is trying to write. Big Baroque choral works, much of the time - 3 CDs before you have to choose something different. Sometimes match music to setting - TMOL was Bach and Chopin, and Piazolla for the modern strand. ASA Pergolesi and Allegri and lots and lots of Purcell - Funeral Music for Queen Mary most of all. Chopin, Dvorak, Errol Garner, Dave Brubek for the modern strand. Writing the WIP to the Brandenburgs in a fierce new authentic instruments recording: almost exact contemporary of the story.

Odd selection of rock/pop, or Radio 3, for non-fiction and other kinds of work - Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Madeleine Peyroux, Laurie Anderson, Bonnie Raitt, Steely Dan.

Emma

Good thread. For intense writing, it's whatever sums up the flavour/style/etc I'm going for, so on a recent urban dance/street-y/graff piece, I had to listen to a lot of hip hop...hmmm... for my own tastes, it's always Mozart Requiem, Madonna, sometimes Pink if I'm writing from a stroppy female character's POV... that reminds me, I really ought to shake things up a bit and go and get some new music.
Also, because I write for theatre, it's useful to have a soundtrack that the composer/sound designer can then tap into when he/she gets the script, so I even get to taz deduct it all...

I'm with Emma in that I need music without words or with incomprehensible words - Tallis, Faure, Allegri are things I turn to again and again, I find them simultaneously soothing and soaring.

I'm with those who said the music has to be free of singing, or at least in a language I can understand. I can quite happily write to Indian music (with singing, as long as not in English!), but more often than not it's either 'chill out instrumental stuff (Sigur Ros, Royksopp, etc) or classical (Einaudi is a favourite).

Wow great response - I'm listening to Jose Gonzalez at the moment...and I sing along...is that a sin?...It's ok, I know I've shamed the writing community, I'll leave the room.

On a redeeming note, I've listened to that albulm so many times now that the words aren't invasive at all, almost instrumental, like hmming the tune but with more to chew on.

NMott - do you not find the silence makes other noises louder and more distracting, like car doors and dogs barking etc?

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*That should read 'humming the tune,' looks like I took the onomatopoeic approach to spelling, lol.

I almost invariably work to music, when I'm working at home, regardless of whether I'm doing my day job (software development) or trying to write. I find that it helps to keep me reasonably positive about what I'm doing and also to lessen other background distractions (as Joolz implied). It has to be pure music though (with or without words). I can't listen to the radio, as even the music stations tend to break into inane chatter now and then. I once worked at a company where they had Radio 1 playing in their IT department, and that drove me crazy (I had to resort to working from home, just to avoid the distraction and catch up on the time I lost because of it).

My music tastes would probably be regarded as a bit staid and old-fashioned, though - The Shadows, Cliff Richard, Abba, The Beatles, and a few other groups from the 60s and 70s.

Alex

If find a small amount of music good for getting into the mood, but once I've started it just becomes distracting, wordless or not, so I switch it off at that point.

For those longing for a radio station without the inane chatter, you might try http://www.accuradio.com - a New York internet station covering all kinds of music on which you can select genre and period and which, apart from the very occasional advertisement, is mercifully free from gibberish.

Chris

When I am getting idead for plot and characters together I like to listen to music, any music that I can identify with whatever I am writing up. When it comes to actually writing the story I prefer silence so I can concentrate easier.

I can't write (or do anything that requires thinking) to any kind of music at all. However, as all my MCs (all 2 of them so far) are musicians, i listen to music in the car on their instruments, over and over. That music then pulls me right back into their characters and stories. The MC in my new wip is a cellist, and a couple of cello pieces I've been listening recently have given me 2 scenes for the novel, one of which is the final (or certainly near final,) scene.

Like Naomi, I have to have silence while writing. Despite being a music lover.

But weirdly, despite being someone who's into words, when I listen to music, my natural tendency is to listen to it in an abstract way - just taking in the overall feeling, rather than the meaning of the lyrics. Is anyone else like that?

Cath

It;s funny, but when I'm doing my Proper Job as a journalist, I love having music on. Current favourites are The Cribs and Noah and the Whale. But when I'm writing fiction, I tend to have silence. Am not sure why but feels like a very clear distinction...

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Chris, is that like Spotify? I love Spotify...

I can hear the sound of a dripping tap through two closed doors and it will set my teeth on edge - so definitely silence!