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Entertainment as Inspiration: Music

October 19, 2018 / Motivation and the Writing Life / 16 COMMENTS

Headphones attached to a cell phone on a light background.

by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethscraig

For years I’ve disputed the fact that music has any sort of influence on my writing at all.  I think this is because, when I write, I can only listen to lyric-free songs (New Age, Jazz, Classical) or else it creates a disruption.  Plus,  I’m not usually directly inspired by music in terms of the music informing a work (with the possible exception of my Race to Refuge book).  For artists who have been and their musical recommendations, see Roz Morris’s excellent blog, The Undercover Soundtrack.

I don’t think I really realized how much music helps me.   As with television and film, seeing/hearing other artists’ creativity helps motivate me and fills my creative well.  I also think that writing with music in the background (even with all the specifications that I put on the music) helps me write at a faster clip.

I ran into a problem more than a year ago, however, where I felt as if everything I was listening to was stale.  I think it was more that I was stale.  I needed to broaden the repertoire of what I was listening to.  I was in a rut.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options now.  Growing up, the only music I listened to was whatever was on a record or (later) a CD we had, or whatever was playing on the radio.

Now there are lots of streaming options.

As an Amazon Prime customer, I use their music option every day.  They have playlists, stations, and individual songs and artists to listen to.  They have lots of tunes for me to write to, and I’ve discovered new songs and artists by listening to stations and playlists featuring music I’m unfamiliar with.  I’m using the service that comes free with Prime.

My kids (21 and 17) recommended Spotify to me.   Again, I’ve opted for the free service and just deal with the ads.  I was a little lost there at first, but then found a few cool public playlists…one of them the New York Times playlist.  It has a variety of different kinds of music and I’ve made lots of interesting discoveries there.  The Rolling Stones playlist of the 500 best songs is also excellent.

Pandora is another option.  This was the first streaming service that I used, years ago.  I don’t listen to it quite as much anymore with the other options available, but it’s still worth a try.  Again, I’m a fan of free.  :)

Finding Recommendations:

I subscribe (one of apparently 55,000+) to writer and artist Austin Kleon’s free weekly newsletter.  His focus is the creative life.  As he puts it: “Every week I send out a list of 10 things I think are worth sharing — new art, writing, and interesting links straight to your inbox.”  Some of his ’10 things’ are music playlists or spotlights on musicians.  I’ve added several of his Spotify recommendations to my music library there.

But most of what I discover I do so through listening to stations and playlists by musicians  I’m unfamiliar with.  This is the serendipitous approach, but has worked well for me so far.  Although in many ways I think music transcends age,  some of the stuff I’d have enjoyed in the past totally eludes me now.  But I find even more music that suits my tastes by being bold with experimenting.

I’m definitely still fine-tuning this process and I’d love to hear from others how they discover music and keep out of ruts.  How do you do it?

Entertainment as Inspiration: Music: Share on X

Photo on VisualHunt.com

  1. I listen to movie instrumental soundtracks, or French singers. If the song has English lyrics, I too get distracted. I appreciate getting suggestions so this is a great thread that you’ve started. Joy

    1. You’ve reminded me how much I like the movie instrumental soundtracks. They make sense to write to…lots of soaring moments and quiet ones, too. Hope you find some good suggestions here!

  2. I listen to prog music, so I have to rely on Spotify, Pandora, and other services to find new music. (No radio station plays just prog.) And yes, I play it when I write, lyrics and all.

    1. I have listened to a little progressive lately (not while writing) to try to broaden my scope a little. I do like some of it and then some makes me think that I must be turning into a fuddy-duddy, ha!

  3. I was a big fan of Pandora, but their ads were getting to me, so I switched to Google Play. I plug in a band/artist that suits the mood I want for what I’m writing, and it plays similar music. Otherwise, I have most of my CDs loaded onto my computer and I’ve made playlists from those – Happy, Angry, Hard, Folksy. I put it on random and let it go. Mostly, I don’t even pay attention to the music. It’s just background noise with a mood.

    Sometimes, I write without music. The quiet helps me focus.

    1. I know what you mean about those stinking ads! That’s primarily why I switched to Amazon Prime Music (not to sound like an ad, myself). I’d be writing away and then a commercial would come on (usually a really jarring one, especially around election time) and I’d have to mute it.

      My husband has loaded most of our CDs onto the computer, too, but I’m realizing I’ve never really tapped into them. I need to do that!

  4. I’m with Joy on the French lyrics. My french is so poor that without intense concentration, the words go happily past.

    There is the music of inspiration and the music of perspiration.

    I like Tom Waits’ “Murder in the Red Barn” or anything by The Devil Makes Three when I’m contemplating crime in the hedgerow along green fields where it certainly doesn’t belong.

    For composition, Phil Glass’ music from the soundtracks to _The Fog of War_, _The Hours_, and _The Secret Agent_ all do wonders for me. Holst and _The Planets_ seems to be especially lovely for sections of witty dialogue.

    We learn over time to refocus our minds to the thematic state of the work-in-progress. We all have those bits that we composed where we were ebullient one day and morose the next. These bits never seem to edit out evenly without a complete recast and re-draft.

    Music helps with the re-focus. Any trick does.

    I suspect the flavor of madeleines held a special transformation of mental state for Proust.

    Perhaps we need a curated list of compositions that help writers when we compose. There probably is such a thing in the wilds. Someone probably put it together instead of … you know … writing.

    1. I’m in the process of using DuoLingo to brush up on my French. :) I now realize that my brain has rusted over in the past 25 years since college graduation. I somehow cannot wrap my mind around the fact that chat is masculine, not feminine.

      Thanks so much for the ideas! I will be heading to Spotify and Amazon Prime with them.

      There are lots of curated lists for writers on these sites…playlists and whatnot. You’re so right–likely compiled instead of facing the blank page!

  5. There is a lot of research that suggests that music supports creativity and learning, Elizabeth. That’s part of why young people learn things through song (like the alphabet song). That’s why shows like Sesame Street depend so much on music. I know it’s a very big part of my life, and I’m glad you find it beneficial, too.

  6. Thanks Elizabeth – being practically non-musical … I ‘work’ in silence, or as much as I can get – sometimes I’ll put music on – various types … so the links and ideas you’ve given here – I must set myself up with them: I need to educate myself more re music … cheers Hilary

  7. I have learnt to appreciate silence, and the spoken work. So I listen to mostly audiobooks and podcasts. I hardly ever listen to music anymore, not on my phone nor at home. But I enjoy going to concerts from time to time, preferably black metal or other types of heavy metal >:)

    1. I was listening to podcasts quite a lot but then I think I got burned out on them. Still not an audiobook person, but I love putting out my books in audio.

      I was a metal fan in the late-80s! Haven’t been able to get back in that mode in my 40s somehow…

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