My Musical Choices for Writing

My Musical Choices for Writing

  1. Silence is golden as the saying goes. And sometimes the best way to unleash your imagination is by total focus on how the words sound inside your mind. But if silence isn’t enough to spur your enthusiasm onwards…
  2. Cinematic epic scores like Lord of the Rings for battle scenes or Pirates of the Caribbean for any action street chases.
  3. For emotional drama, anything teen angst requires something like Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” or maybe something from the newer Great Gatsby soundtrack (have you heard that soundtrack? The Jazz-era feel is just insane.)
  4. For when lyrics get distracting, turn on some music in another language like Spanish or even Celtic if you feel like it. Hey, Gregorian chants work too if your writing tends to be more medieval. Bonus points if it helps you improve your language-listening skills!
  5. Classical pieces for romantic scenes. There’s something about Mozart’s sonata or maybe some whimsical ballet pieces by Tchaikovsky to set the emotional scene. Or maybe there’s something from your favorite musical… “Music of the Night” anybody?

And those are basically a few of my musical choices for when I wish to write. There are other songs that I might get obsessed with like “Starman” by David Bowie or “I Started a Joke” by the Bee Gees, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, or maybe there are some Jazz pieces by Sinatra or some soulful ballads by Amy Winehouse.

But, in all honesty, music is there for when I feel like I need a “movie setting” to write. Do you ever get that feeling like you want your own musical score because your life should be a bit like a movie? No, just me?

But, when it comes down to it, silence really is the best way for me to write, uninhibited by the rhythm of the words going on inside my head. Comment below with your musical choices if that inspires you to write, as well!

Leave a Comment