Some Nice Writing Ambience

[crucifixcrusader]

Hey I'm curious, does anyone use some ambiance when writing like music or a specific you-tuber? I personally, quite often have music that fits the mood of what I'm writing, or listen to Fredrik Knudsen.

[Headstall]

I usually block out everything when I'm writing... I hear the music, or the television (CNN), and the words and sounds filter through, but it becomes more or less white noise. I often have a vinyl record on to start, but I don't even notice when it finishes. Once in a while, I turn the sound down if the TV is on, but I usually keep some noise. So no, there is nothing specific to fit my mood or the subject matter.  

[northie]

My preferred ambience is silence - in sense of the room I'm writing in. I don't see the point of having music on if all you're going to do is block it out. Music is there to be listened to in its own right.

[Valkyrie]

I like it quiet when I'm writing.  I can't concentrate if there's too much going on in the background.  

[LJCC]

I personally prefer to write with no distractions. Although sometimes there are songs that resonate with what your writing. I just can't focus if I'm in a busy crowded place--tried the Starbucks route, I ended up Youtubing and googling random crap unrelated to what I'm writing. I get distracted easily that it's not healthy, specially if I'm googling information. One thing leads to another. Let's say I'm searching for a skipper boat in the Mediterranean. 

Skipper Boat > Greece > Holiday Destinations in Europe> Malta > Hotels in Malta > Wiki Malta>  Axis Siege > Phoenicians > Byzantine Rule > Alexander The Great > Alexander Bisexual?...

Although I have a screenplay writer friend who cannot write...I mean, cannot frigging write without action music blaring in his ears. You know 24 (The series) type of background music that gets your adrenaline pumping. That's his thing.

Edited February 1, 2020 by LJCC
correction

[Thorn Wilde]

I usually write without any music. Lyrics just distract me. I've sometimes had music on while editing, and very occasionally I put something on when I write, but then its either instrumental (there's a post-rock playlist on Spotify I like with mostly instrumental stuff by Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, 65daysofstatic and so on), or it's in a language I don't speak (like French; Indochine is nice to write to sometimes). I did that for a while last year when I had developed some temporary tinnitus due to a cold and that distracted me a lot more than music would. Music drowned it out. Usually, I just like it quiet, though.

[Brayon]

Over here in our private Author Club, is a thread dedicated to Music to Write to. Check it out!

 

[Page Scrawler]

22 hours ago, Thorn Wilde said:

there's a post-rock playlist on Spotify I like with mostly instrumental stuff by Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, 65daysofstatic and so on), or it's in a language I don't speak (like French; Indochine is nice to write to sometimes).

I'm a fan of both Sigur Ros and Indochine. I sometimes leave the TV turned on to reruns of shows that I've seen before, just for a bit of "white noise" in the background. If I'm in a particular mood, I might listen to the soundtrack of "Let Me In" for horror scenes, or something like Jim Chappell's "First Kiss" if I'm writing a romantic scene.

[Thorn Wilde]

9 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

I'm a fan of both Sigur Ros and Indochine. I sometimes leave the TV turned on to reruns of shows that I've seen before, just for a bit of "white noise" in the background. If I'm in a particular mood, I might listen to the soundtrack of "Let Me In" for horror scenes, or something like Jim Chappell's "First Kiss" if I'm writing a romantic scene.

Let Me In... is that the American remake of Let the Right One In?

[Page Scrawler]

8 minutes ago, Thorn Wilde said:

Let Me In... is that the American remake of Let the Right One In?

Yup. I have both versions on DVD.   

[Thorn Wilde]

2 hours ago, Page Scrawler said:

Yup. I have both versions on DVD.   

I haven't seen the remake, but I love Let the Right One In. One of my favourite horror movies. I love atypical vampire movies.

[Cynus]

It depends entirely on my mood, the time of day, the nature of the project I'm working on, and many other parameters. Sometimes stories get a playlist on YouTube if I find that there are a lot of songs I like which fit the same tone as the story I'm writing. The same has happened with individual characters before when I'm writing from their perspective. Vladimir from "From the Cup of the Worthless" had a set of songs I had to listen to in order to write him at all, for instance. 

 

But usually I prefer the ambiance of clacking keyboards and the hum of machinery. If I could write at the laboratory where I work with all our sorting equipment running nearby, that would be heaven for me.

[JamesSavik]

I like to write late at night when its quiet and I can concentrate. Downside is that 7:30 comes awfully early but, my ADD brain isn't chasing as many rabbits.

Sometimes I listen to music. Mostly classic rock. What depends on the scene.

In my latest story, I include a YouTube link at the end for a song that featured in chapter like:

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by jamessavik

[Thorn Wilde]

@jamessavik, I love that song!