Writing from the Place: TEN THINGS TO LISTEN TO WHILE WRITING

Do you find your mind wandering while writing?
Are you struggling to connect with your story?
Do daily distractions like the heat clicking on or the dryer running clutter your mind?

Well, we here at the place (being K. A. Holt, Jessica Lee Anderson , E. Kristin Anderson, Madeline Smoot, and sometimes members Mari Mancusi and Jenny Ziegler) have the answers you need.

We give you ten things to listen to while writing:

1) What you think your characters would listen to
If you're writing historical, maybe this is music from the era.
If you're writing futuristic stuff, then maybe it's techno trance music.
(Actually techno trance is cool no matter what, but this is just my opinion and not that of the greater group.)

2) Hanson
Okay, I'm throwing E. Kristin Anderson a bone on this one. I couldn't name a single Hanson song, but she loves them so much, she even has this picture. And she wrote this ode of love to herself concerning them.

Go, Emily! Rock Hanson for us!

3) Big Foot vocal recordings
This one's for you, Jessica Lee Anderson.
But in all seriousness, our group seems to love Cryptids, so anything that sounds like a Wookie is going to be just fine.
Aliens antenna recordings work in a pinch, too.


4) Really loud stuff (like Marilyn Manson)
Can you guess which member of the group prefers this? If you guessed our resident head-banger K. A. Holt, then you guessed right.


Don't let her cute little smile fool you.

5) Gregorian Chant
This one is all me. And no matter how many times I mention it, I can't seem to convert anyone to the dark side.
*Last minute update: Jessica Lee Anderson claims to have listened to her CHANT CD so much she wore it out. Welcome to the dark side, Jessica :)


6) Sesame Street
This is especially applicable if you are trying to appease a child

Elmo rules!

7) 80s music from The Place
And it doesn't have to be our place. It can be your own place. And it can even be customized to suit the ambiance of the place where you happen to be. The key thing here is that it has to be copacetic.

8) Ocean /rainstorm or something else to calm you
Yeah, again, I got debated on this one. But I'm not going to argue because cool things like the Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars or even (you knew it was coming) Star Trek soundtrack were thrown out into the mix.

Because space is the final frontier...

9) Screaming children or barking dogs or wailing cats
If you've written with this in the background, then you know it's a great exercise in learning concentration. And anything you practice at, you will get better at. Right?
If you find this doesn't work for you, please keep (6) in mind.

10) Your critique partners telling you how talented you are
There should never be a shortage of this. It's by far the most important sound to hear while writing. Or while procrastinating. Or while basically doing anything. So go tell your critique partner how awesome they are, okay?