Okay, I promise those of you who know the quote, I’m not going to misquote Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night! When Duke Orsino says
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die,
he wants so much music played he gets sick of love, stops feeling love, the same way overeating can turn us off even the thought of more food.
I’m looking for music to help me do the opposite! At least, music to get me in the right mood and mindset for whatever story I’m working on. I used to have a sound track for every book, specific songs that had meaning for the story. One of the challenges since developing chronic migraine is that my brain’s filtering mechanisms don’t seem to work anymore. I simply can’t filter out the human voice – if someone is saying or singing words near me, I have to tune in.
That means I need music even more when I’m trying to write, to block out noise from neighbors. But songs with words are totally out for writing music, because if there are words, the only words my brain can focus on is the words of the song, not the words and thoughts and actions of my characters! Instrumental versions are the same, if I know the song and the words that go with the music, they invade my brain too. Argghhh! To add to the fun, I have musical tinnitus – I hear music that’s not there, music my brain invents from background noise or my body’s own internal sounds. Sometimes it’s excellent music, but oh boy, is it distracting!
I’ve discovered the best way for for me to write to now is to put on my noise-limiting headphones, and play nature sounds. A rippling mountain stream, or waves lapping gently on the shore. The waves, complete with seagulls, make an especially good soundtrack for the story I’m working on now, Cherish Me, Book 3 in the Chapel Cove Romances tri-author series, as it’s set in a small coastal town.
That is, when the ocean sounds manage to stop me humming along to David Cassisdy’s version of “Cherish”! Here’s the official video, for anyone born after 1972. He he, I confess, at 12 or 13, I had his poster on my bedroom wall!
The words do actually (and unintentionally!) fit well with the story, teenage friends-turned-to-love meeting again after 22 years apart! You may have already read Marion Ueckermann’s Book 1, Remember Me, and Alexa Verde’s Love Me, both wonderful stories. I love our series theme of women starting over and finding new love or rekindindling old love in their 30’s, 40’s, and beyond! We already hope to write twelve books in total, but the way ideas keep popping, it’s likely there’ll be more. But as each is a completely stand-alone romance, set in the same community, there’s no need to read them all.
Unless you want to, of course! ;)
Music is such a personal thing. What do you find works best for your working or reading soundtrack? One comment made on the post by April 30th will be randomly chosen to win the commenter’s choice of my present or future ebooks!
USA Today bestselling author Autumn Macarthur writes romances full of faith and hope, celebrating God's love as well as a man and a woman finding their happily ever after. She prays they’ll warm your heart and make you smile. An Australian transplanted to Britain, Autumn lives just north of London with her lovely English husband and three demanding cats, in a very small house with a teensy tiny garden. She loves talking to readers, so please get in touch! And get a free Christian romance novella when you sign up for her reader newsletter at http://bit.ly/Autumnsubscribe
Hi Autumn! Thanks for your insightful blog. While I enjoy a variety of music, when working or reading I usually prefer silence or occasionally soothing instrumental music. Since we are finally experiencing spring in Michigan, the happy chirping birds woke me up this morning. Enjoy reading to the sounds of nature – chirping birds, waves rolling in on the shores of Lake Michigan or a gentle breeze blowing through the leaves in a park. Looking forward to reading Cherish Me. Best wishes and happy writing.
That sounds wonderful, Renate. I’m glad spring has reached your lovely part of the world.
I have a soundtrack of chirping birds right now, too, Our garden is designed for wildlife, so we have many different birds including some nesting birds raising babies.
I love music, cannot function at work without it! I listen to the air1 radio station all day long!
Love this series and eagerly awaiting yours!
Thanks for the memory with DC’s Cherish, lol!
He he, Paula, you remember too? Unfortunately, my forty-year-old characters can’t. They weren’t born when the song released! LOL!
Hi Autumn, I love music:) I get distracted by people talking, so find that playing music works well at masking conversation. My office is right in the senior common room where the seniors have their lockers, study periods etc. so there is always noise to block!!
What I listen to depends entirely on mood and what I am doing- sometimes classical (Debussy or Mozart), sometimes louder/heavier… Funny though, because when I read, I don’t play music- just the regular background of life noise.
Blessings:)
Oh my, Wendy, yes, I can imagine there’s plenty of noise to block in your office!
I love classical music, but like music with words, I find it demands too much attention to work as writing music.
Unfortunately as well as the birds in our garden and the rustle of leaves, my regular background noise involves trains (we’re about 100 metres from the train line, and all the evening commuter trains are going through now), lots of traffic, and lots of voices from people walking by! We’re working on finding somewhere quieter to move to, though that’s more of a long range project.
I love music but I love silence too. We are very eclectic with our music tastes. Country, soft rock, hymns, Celtic, Boston Pops, etc. if I’m home alone, I listen to contemporary Christian or silence. If I’m cleaning or quilting, I usually listen to sermons or Bible study podcasts.
That’s a fun range of music, Sherri! Something there for every mood.
Podcasts are a wonderful idea for listening when doing housework or crafting. I tend to choose upbeat worship music then, but maybe I need to look at spoken word stuff too. I have so many podcasts I love but don’t get time to listen to.
I wish I could say I enjoy having music playing in the background when I am doing something, but I prefer silence. I find I get sidetracked humming the melody or singing along instead of accomplishing the task at hand.
Hi Susan! That’s my problem, too, and why nature noises are the only thing that works for me when I’m writing. It’s good to know ourselves and recognize what works best for us!
I used to be a silence needer. Noise easily becomes too much for me – it always has. It took a couple of years of working from home before I began to want something to fill the air, so to speak! Before that I claimed I couldn’t write if there was any noise at all. Then I went to nature sounds and/or classical instrumental. But a few years ago I started listening to worship music while I write, and it’s working just fine for me. Often it is just background, but sometimes the words or music register and I take a quick break to listen and worship, or sometimes get up and move around to a song or two! I’m loving it! But never thought I’d be here.
That sounds great fun, Val! A wonderful idea to just go with it and worship or get up and move when the words of the songs intrude. Probably a sign you’re due for a break, anyway. It’s good to so with our natural work rhythms. :)
I love music, too. I remember this song! Loved it!! I have to have something on when I’m trying to study for my CEU’s; I think it goes back to doing homework with the TV on!! It actually helps me to focus more, as I’m concentrating on blocking out the background noise. If I’m reading a book, my Mom says I don’t hear her, and I guess not, cause I’m concentrating on the book!! Lol!! I’d rather have the TV on when trying to concentrate, as it’s music, I’m wanting to sing along! I can’t wait to read Nai’s story!!!
LOL, Trudy! Great when you can be so into a book that you don’t hear what’s going on around you!
I’m getting Nai’s story done as fast as I can. Hoping to get it out to my review team next week, but I still have a few chapters to write and get to my editor!
I, too, cannot have lyrics playing while writing. Sometimes I can have Christian music on in the background when I’m reading, but it depends on the book, on how deep and how much mental energy it takes to stay in the story or to understand what’s really going on.
I have separate YouTube playlists for different activities — nature music, epic romances, and several movie soundtracks.
That’s a good way to work it, Lila. :)
I have separate YouTube playlists for different things, too, from upbeat worship songs for exercising and housework, to instrumental soaking music for quiet times, to nature sounds for writing, and then specific songs that speak to me for each story.
When we play table games, I like to have instrumental music playing in the background.
If there are words, I can’t concentrate when reading :-)
That sounds like me, Margaret. Even instrumentals of hymns and worship sounds are out for reading or writing, because I’ll still be singing the words!
Welcome Autumn. I hear you with music. I play instrumental music when I am either quilting/sewing or making greeting cards. Oh my, I have not thought of that song or David Cassidy for a long time. I was 14 and my girl friends and I would have sleep overs and we would sit in a circle and sing his songs. We would sit on the school bus and our bus driver always had the channel on that played his songs, and we would sing along.
LOL, Lori! Yes, that brings back memories. We always sang on the school bus, too, whether the radio was playing or not! I hadn’t thought of the song for ages, but ever since we decided the story title for book 3 (a while back, so Marion could make the cover) it keeps popping back up.
I don’t listen to music very often when I’m working on something. I prefer podcasts to music. I’m not sure why, but I do. I mostly listen to music when driving with my kids. We prefer Christian contemporary tonother options.
You’re the second person to mention podcasts, Melynda. I think it’s a great idea! It wouldn’t work for me when I’m writing, but when I’m doing other non-word stuff, I intend to try that.
I’m sorry to hear about your migraines. I do like your thoughts about music though. I usually only listen when driving and whn working on jigsaw puzzles (my husband and I enjoy doing the huge ones). I find that there is already so musch in my brain that adding music just contributes to overwhelming it.
That’s what I find, too, Priscila! It doesn’t take much to get into overwhelm some days! And wow, you need a lot of patience to do those huge puzzles.
Unfortunately where we live is unbelievably noisy, so I need to play something though my headphones in self-defence. Soooo hoping we can move!
Loved this post, and thank you so much for the mention of my new book! Sorry about your migrains, though. I don’t have a soundtrack for reading/writing. I guess I prefer silence. From what I read of Cherish Me, it’s going to be wonderful!
If Cherish Me is wonderful, it’s just due to the help you gave me with the first draft!
And I much prefer silence, too. Unfortunately it’s not an option where we live. :(