Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Shutting the door

In honor of my new music player that sits (used to sit but got thrown out for slowing things down) at the bottom of this blog, I'm throwing this question out there. What do you listen to when you write or create art? Does your music preference change when you switch from brainstorm to rough draft to revision and so on? 

For myself I like to listen to music when I write, especially to block out noise. In On Writing, Stephen King has this to say:

"I work to loud music--hard-rock stuff like AC/DC. Guns 'n Roses, and Metallica have always been particular favorites--but for me the music is just another way of shutting the door. It surrounds me, keeps the mundane world out. When you write, you want to get rid of the world, do you not? Of course you do. When you're writing, you're creating your own worlds."

Sometimes I just need it quiet so I turn everything off with the shades drawn and the lights out. Or I head to my Other Office (see pics below). Other times I have a couple writing playlists on Itunes, usually set to random. Lots of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, classical, guitar. Sometimes I need just instrumental stuff, other times my writing mood gets a boost from a soundtrack. How about you?
 

4 comments:

  1. Had a music player with my playlist at the bottom of my page but it seemed to slow stuff down so it was booted. Must investigate before bringing it back.

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  2. I listen to How To Write for Dummies on CD while I write. :)

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  3. That's a good idea jesse joshua watson. Noticed you are now my follower. Welcome to the cult.

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  4. Days late, I know. Nico Muhly station on pandora.com for mind expanding contemporary classical music, needed when painting. Silence needed when writing. Wilco, Sharon Jones, Kimya Dawson stations on pandora.com while I am doing tedious computer stuff. Neco Case, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Yo Yo Ma, Woody Guthrie and the likes, or KEXP at various other times. Sometimes I just forget to turn anything on at all and that is okay too.

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