Music helps me write. It blocks out the noise that’s both around me and in my own head. It helps me focus, not only on the task at hand but also on the emotions I want whatever I’m working on to evoke. It gives me the strength to write in spite of stress and other distractions. Over the years, I’ve come to develop a few rules for creating and using a writing playlist—but, like any writer, I’ve also learned when it’s time to break them.
Rule #1: Writing Playlists Are Wordless
I love music with words. I love songs that tell a story. And that’s exactly why I can’t, in general, include these types of tunes on my writing playlist. Instead of writing, I start singing or humming along—I’m thinking about the words in the lyrics, not the words I need to write. Before long, I stop writing entirely—I’m too busy listening to the music to hear my own words.
So I don’t use music with lyrics when I write… except when I do.
One exception is when I’ve listened to a song so much on repeat that I can now tune it out at will. This doesn’t happen as often as it used to, as I don’t just sit and listen to music and daydream as much as I used to. (Though I’m trying to make more space for that; I miss it!) I remember I once wrote a novel-length Harry Potter fanfic while listening to nothing but “Bittersweet Symphony” by the Verve for two weeks straight. No, I don’t remember why—and no, you can’t read it.
Another exception is when the music is in a language I don’t understand. In these cases, the voices in the song become just another type of instrument playing—they don’t distract me because I don’t recognize the words. I love Nordic metal, French folk, and Japanese pop music for this especially—although I have dabbled in learning Japanese on the side, so that might not work for much longer!
I’ve also recently been experimenting with creating soundtracks for writing that I listen to before writing instead of during—these, too, can have songs with lyrics. I had a creative block a few weeks ago while working on Shadow of the Curse-Eater, and wound up trying an exercise where I created a playlist of theme songs for each main character. I’m still tweaking it, but feel free to give it a listen if you like.
Rule #2: Don’t Use Actual Soundtracks
When I started out writing, like many authors, I wrote a lot of fanfiction. So I was in the habit of writing to soundtracks whenever the IP I was working with had an official one to listen to. (I can’t imagine how many times I listened to the brilliant scores for Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings.)
But once I shifted focus to my own original works, I stopped using actual soundtracks for my writing playlists—I didn’t want those other stories crowding my brain. I’m not against borrowing ingredients from other works to spice up my own—I do it all the time, as most writers do. But there’s a big difference between doing that and “borrowing” the entire recipe.
So I err on the side of caution and try not to use music I already associate with other works… except when I do.
When I’m writing about an existing IP, say for a blog post or script, I find it incredibly helpful to listen to its official soundtrack. Doing so helps keep me in that world so that I can more clearly convey the experience of it to others. When I’m writing a script for The Completionist, for example, I often listen to the official soundtrack of whatever game I’m writing about—this worked especially for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Rule #3: Stick to a Single, Static Writing Playlist
Once I establish a good writing playlist for a project—whether I find it or compile it myself—I tend to stick to it for the rest of the time I spend working on that project. This helps create a reliable association in my mind between the two, to the point where hearing that music instantly puts me in the right headspace to work on that project.
But, as you probably guessed, there are exceptions to this rule, too.
Sometimes the tone or direction of a project changes; if the change is significant enough, it can “outgrow” the original playlist, forcing me to find another.
Sometimes, with longer projects, I just get bored of listening to the same playlist over the course of many consecutive months, even years.
And sometimes, the original playlist never quite fit as well as it should have. I’m experiencing this with Shadow of the Curse-Eater right now. I chose a playlist haphazardly when I began working on it, but now that I’m several months (and several chapters) in, it’s just not sitting right with me. Hence the aforementioned “theme song” experiment. I’ll also probably go hunting for a new writing playlist for use during writing sometime soon.
They’re More What You Call “Guidelines” Than Actual Rules
Like most writing “rules,” these, too, are meant to be broken when the circumstances are right. A writing playlist, first and foremost, is meant to help a writer write. So I’ve learned to adapt, whenever necessary, to make sure my playlists give me what I need to keep the creativity flowing.
Here are a few I’ve used in recent years if you’re interested:
- “Dark Victorian Instrumentals” — used for The Harbinger’s Head; sadly the specific one I used is no longer available
- “Scandinavian Folklore” by Glen Gabriel — technically, a beta reading playlist; I’ve been using it for a friend’s Viking fantasy series
- “Chiaroscuro” — used for writing, well, chiaroscuro 🙂
- “Rainy Day Coffee Shop Ambience” — what I’ve been mostly using for Shadow of the Curse-Eater lately; might keep it, might not
And these, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many projects that have never seen the light of day; some will one day, others will not. I don’t always use music or ambient sound, either; sometimes silence is preferable. As long as the words keep coming, I’m happy to feed them whatever they like.
Kim Berkley is a fantasy author and video game writer who is currently working on Shadow of the Curse-Eater, a full-length Choice of Games interactive fiction novel. Click here to learn more about her previously published games, and don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!
