I like silence when I write, but I’m pretty good about tuning out background noise. I also need to get up and pace or walk around. I do my best thinking while moving.
Yes! Beyond a tall arborvitae hedge and our landscaped front yard. Sadly, the tart crop froze this year and there are few cherries. We likely will not harvest them. Better on the dark sweets which will be harvested. Thank God we have crop insurance.
When I work, I don't put any music. I drop some essential oil in my diffuser and I focus on the job. When I clean the house or go to the gym, I listen to classic rock and heavy metal...very loud! And when I'm in the infrared sauna or I do yoga, I listen to nature sounds...out of Spotify ;-)
Claude Bolling works sometime. Other times, Mozart or Bach. My writing desk is downstairs. In a corner. I invariably migrate to the living-room loveseat where I can look out our windows and hear the birds. Great post, Martine!
Excellent substack newsletter post thing. I wrote different chapters of my crime novel (and revised and edited) listening to long very long YouTube videos of just ambient noise taken from various locales that corresponded with the scene I was writing. A chapter takes place in a casino and believe it or not YouTube has sound recordings from a casino that are like three hours long. Same with street sounds recorded from a Manhattan window, hours long. When it comes to music yes I can’t really do songs with lyrics, or if they do have lyrics they’re in a language I don’t speak, something alien to me like the Finnish of Cucina Povera’s There I See Everything which I totally recommend for writing. I wrote some crime fiction with the Twin Peaks soundtracks from both seasons and Fire Walk With Me. I like jazz that isn’t too distracting and frenetic. I am a long time electronic music fanatic so sometimes I have listened to very abstract music like Autechre when I want to set a certain mood. But probably most often I write by silence. It could be that some music is better for revising, not first drafts. Great post!
Thanks Jesse... I never thought of ambient noise, even if I like what Brian Eno did with "Ambient", or "Music for Airports". The problem I have these on vinyl and getting up to flip the record is a hassle... should go on spotify and pick them up, lol!
I spend a lot of time with YouTube and some videos that are long have no ads and some are shot through with ads and it really breaks up the experience.
I use lo fi hip hop mixes for pretty much all concentration-heavy work, but I make sure to compartimentalize. Like, if I’ve started a mix while at work, I won’t continue to listen to it when I sit down at home to write, I will instead start another one, which I will resume on my next writing session. I choose mixes based on the artwork, since most of the time songs repeat themselves or are samey-variety and quality are not really the main point in lo fi. Right now I love Chillhop, the Jazz Hop Cafe and stardew valley (a channel which mixes music from Nintendo games).
I went to great lengths to create a writing shed, but still find myself writing on an iPad whenever/wherever the urge takes me - train, kitchen worktop, garden chair...more than once walking along the street, anxious not to miss the moment (and still get to the day job). I can’t listen to music with lyrics - too distracting. I tend to write in silence or pick playlists that fit the mood of the story (noir-ish jazz and soundtracks).
Either classic jazz or the classics - instrumental. I agree with your assessment of working in a library, but in high school, without the benefit of computers for research, the library was my refuge. It offered discovery of far off places, glimpes into histories I didn't know would interest me, and the start of a life-long love of old Broadway musicals via the record booth. In college, it again was my research source for collecting stacks of 5x7 cards that I could organize thoughts, themes, and facts into essay or term papers, for me or the frat boys I charged for the research.
That was 50 years ago. We used 5x7 cards rather than notebook. Each card was was a thought or element. Used them for presentations or speeches, too. Organized, not me.
Aww, Tina! That video fills me up, Martine, thanks! Your bread looks delish, I'll pass the recipe on to the resident baker. Have you ever listened to the Joy Luck Club soundtrack? It's a great moody instrumental.
I like silence when I write, but I’m pretty good about tuning out background noise. I also need to get up and pace or walk around. I do my best thinking while moving.
Yep - I often write to music while drafting, almost never while editing. Been doing so much of that lately that I'm really missing the music.
And yeah, often music to fit the mood of the scene. Each novel does have a vibe. Surf Rock is great fight music.
Thanks for the post, Martine!
I was thinking about you when I wrote this one...
That’s why my ears were burning :)
Yes! Beyond a tall arborvitae hedge and our landscaped front yard. Sadly, the tart crop froze this year and there are few cherries. We likely will not harvest them. Better on the dark sweets which will be harvested. Thank God we have crop insurance.
When I work, I don't put any music. I drop some essential oil in my diffuser and I focus on the job. When I clean the house or go to the gym, I listen to classic rock and heavy metal...very loud! And when I'm in the infrared sauna or I do yoga, I listen to nature sounds...out of Spotify ;-)
When I was working in my corporate job, I didn't listen to music either. Writing is a different process for me. It seems to require sound... funny!
Claude Bolling works sometime. Other times, Mozart or Bach. My writing desk is downstairs. In a corner. I invariably migrate to the living-room loveseat where I can look out our windows and hear the birds. Great post, Martine!
Thanks Rebecca. Do you look at your cherry trees?
I adore oppressive silence!
Ahahah!
Excellent substack newsletter post thing. I wrote different chapters of my crime novel (and revised and edited) listening to long very long YouTube videos of just ambient noise taken from various locales that corresponded with the scene I was writing. A chapter takes place in a casino and believe it or not YouTube has sound recordings from a casino that are like three hours long. Same with street sounds recorded from a Manhattan window, hours long. When it comes to music yes I can’t really do songs with lyrics, or if they do have lyrics they’re in a language I don’t speak, something alien to me like the Finnish of Cucina Povera’s There I See Everything which I totally recommend for writing. I wrote some crime fiction with the Twin Peaks soundtracks from both seasons and Fire Walk With Me. I like jazz that isn’t too distracting and frenetic. I am a long time electronic music fanatic so sometimes I have listened to very abstract music like Autechre when I want to set a certain mood. But probably most often I write by silence. It could be that some music is better for revising, not first drafts. Great post!
Thanks Jesse... I never thought of ambient noise, even if I like what Brian Eno did with "Ambient", or "Music for Airports". The problem I have these on vinyl and getting up to flip the record is a hassle... should go on spotify and pick them up, lol!
I spend a lot of time with YouTube and some videos that are long have no ads and some are shot through with ads and it really breaks up the experience.
It's the rhythm ruptures that mess it up. Anything with a certain "constant" works well, I think.
I use lo fi hip hop mixes for pretty much all concentration-heavy work, but I make sure to compartimentalize. Like, if I’ve started a mix while at work, I won’t continue to listen to it when I sit down at home to write, I will instead start another one, which I will resume on my next writing session. I choose mixes based on the artwork, since most of the time songs repeat themselves or are samey-variety and quality are not really the main point in lo fi. Right now I love Chillhop, the Jazz Hop Cafe and stardew valley (a channel which mixes music from Nintendo games).
That's intriguing...
I went to great lengths to create a writing shed, but still find myself writing on an iPad whenever/wherever the urge takes me - train, kitchen worktop, garden chair...more than once walking along the street, anxious not to miss the moment (and still get to the day job). I can’t listen to music with lyrics - too distracting. I tend to write in silence or pick playlists that fit the mood of the story (noir-ish jazz and soundtracks).
Yes, the writing shed didn't work for me either, a little too on-the-nose, I guess.
Either classic jazz or the classics - instrumental. I agree with your assessment of working in a library, but in high school, without the benefit of computers for research, the library was my refuge. It offered discovery of far off places, glimpes into histories I didn't know would interest me, and the start of a life-long love of old Broadway musicals via the record booth. In college, it again was my research source for collecting stacks of 5x7 cards that I could organize thoughts, themes, and facts into essay or term papers, for me or the frat boys I charged for the research.
You're a lot more organized than I could ever be, lol! 5x7 cards, ouch!
That was 50 years ago. We used 5x7 cards rather than notebook. Each card was was a thought or element. Used them for presentations or speeches, too. Organized, not me.
Maybe I should try that....
classical music like Mozart.. no song.. background music
That's what you listen to when you do art? Getting in the zone?
I listen to music when I do business work and need to concentrate. For the artistic part, I go outside and listen to the birds
Today I have an air purifier going in my study/library while I work. It sounds like white noise.
Aww, Tina! That video fills me up, Martine, thanks! Your bread looks delish, I'll pass the recipe on to the resident baker. Have you ever listened to the Joy Luck Club soundtrack? It's a great moody instrumental.
I’ll go listen to that soundtrack, thanks!
The TV is on as I'm writing, right now. Rather easy to blank out, actually...