Writing to Music?

If you’re like me, you put on tunes while you do various tasks. My iPod has playlists for housework, driving, singing, exercising…well, you get the idea. Recently a friend told me about an app for my iPad called Songza, which allows me to choose a style of music for whatever I’m involved with at the moment. It has introduced me to many songs I had never heard of. Music makes chores go faster, pumps me up or soothes me, reflects my mood, and helps me work through emotional issues. I sing along to songs, conduct symphonies, and really listen to Bach. I can’t imagine life without a soundtrack.

However, one thing I cannot do while listening to music is write fiction. It’s not that I don’t undertake cerebral activities while music is playing. I can edit with melodies in the background, or answer emails, or pay bills, even write this blog, all while Van Morrison sings in my ear or Mendelssohn brightens the room. However, as a trained musician, I can’t help but engage in music when it’s playing. Seldom can I hear a song without actively listening to it. While I’m in a character’s head and manipulating a plot, I need to have my whole mind focusing on the task. I need to completely immerse myself into the mind of that character, and when music is on and I am trying to write, my brain is only half focused on either of them.

I have writer friends who choose different kinds of music for writing various parts of their novel, like a Beethoven symphony to begin the first chapter, or Jimmy Hendrix when they need to murder someone, or Supertramp when they’re writing a happy scene. Other authors I know select a style of music for each of their characters, so they play that in the background when they’re working on a scene in which that character plays a strong role. One of my friends likes to listen to minimalistic music, like Philip Glass, in order to override any external distractions.

I like those approaches and they make sense to me. Set the mood of the scene with a song, characterize a person with a style of music, lull your mind with soft notes to block out interference. So, despite previous unsuccessful attempts at writing while music played in the background, I one day decided to fill the silence in the room with Mozart sonatas. The scene I was working on had my main character, Lydia, reflecting on her choices and come to a decision about her next step. Mozart seemed to me to be the perfect accompaniment. Plus, the sonatas are not very intrusive on my brain. I’m familiar with all of them, have played through many of them, so I figured they’d be a safe soundtrack for my work.

Nope. As soon as K333 in B-flat came on, my ears perked up. I listened for the pianist’s nuances and analyzed how he handled the grace notes. I know that sonata so well that I just had to go to the piano and play along with Christoph Eschenbach. So much for Lydia and her decision.

So now I once again write my novels in silence.

By the way, in case you were wondering, I wrote this blog to Fleetwood Mac.