Concert Venues

I know some people prefer to write while their favorite music is playing, and others like silence. I’m a silence person myself but there are special cases.

By way of example, If the children are home and making a racket, music through headphones is a great way to isolate myself for an hour or two. I don’t mean I wander round the house 24/7 in a musical daze, but if I need a couple of quiet hours of writing time to finish off my word count this is the way to get it.

Second, if I’m writing an vital scene I find the right music can really help to  set my own mood, and for that reason the mood of the piece I’m writing.

And that is really the reason for this blog post.

You see, although you can listen to music while writing, how carefully do you pick the pieces? I use my own Play software which allows 100 named playlists, but anything else with similar features ought to do. And here’s what you need -  a playlist for each mood and style of writing. Have a Romance playlist with gentle love songs, an Action playlist with heavy drumming and wild electric guitars, perhaps a Classical playlist for a bit of culture – something to listen to while you’re writing about a visit to a posh hotel or restaurant, forexample.

What you don’t want to do is have one playlist with all your faves mixed up. It’s  profoundly hard to write a touching romantic scene when heavy metal is hammering your ears one minute and Cliff Richard is going on about his walking talking doll the next.