Hey, everybody. How’s it going?
A post today on a writing tweak I’ve started back up this year. As you know, I try to analyze my writing a little and figure out new tweaks that help me become more productive. At the beginning of this year, I said I would try writing with music again. Well, I am and it’s going well.
Here’s the setup: I just go to the café, get my coffee. Sit down, plug in my laptop and put on my headphones. Sometimes, I just cruise through my favorite tracks on YouTube, but usually I just dig into the tunes on my PC and press play.
The music does two things, blocks out noise and sets a mood. First, it blocks out the most distracting thing of all: ambient conversation. For a writer, there’s nothing worse than when two people sit down next to you and start a quite conversation in a language you understand. My ear just latches onto the conversation and can’t let it go. You can forget the dialogue, the details, the prose running through your head! It’s all going to get garbled with bits of dialogue from the REAL humans sitting right next to you. I know it’s completely NOT these people’s fault, it’s just a natural response. I can’t help it.
Music also sets a mood. So, if I’m writing something dark or brooding, I’ll queue up some Renaissance music (Tallis) or some slow, mellow Hip Hop (2 Chainz). If I’m writing something adventurous or fun, then something Pop (Grouplove, maybe) will do the trick.
So, why do this? Well, I would only do it if it:
- a) Enhanced productivity (word count).
- b) Improved quality (better prose).
I feel it does both. Of course, a) is easier to measure. And it does seem that my word counts are higher this year. Music somehow gives me focus or, more correctly, puts me in the (psychological) Zone and keeps me there better than writing without the headphones. And as far as b) goes, I do sense that the prose is better, improved. But that is very hard to judge. I have come to that conclusion simply because I have sneaked back to peak at my writing and I feel it’s solid. At any rate, at the end of this year, I’ll have a perspective on word count.
That’s about it. Something basic I wanted to report. Another tiny thing I do that I’ve noticed enhances productivity and prose. Something you can consider next time you sit down to write.
Until next time. Keep Reading, Keep Writing,
Darius
Inside the Writer's Mind 