Just that really.
I can't work in silence. I like cafes but I tend to get distracted by the baby on the next table/couple on an awkward first date etc.
I went through a phase of watching the Jeremy Kyle Show. Somehow all the anger and vitriol stimulated my creative juices.
But not anymore.
I end up falling asleep to so-called "concentration music".
Any other suggestions?
Film soundtracks.
Anything without lyrics - can't write with other people's words in my head.
I tend to make up playlists in different moods, then put it on shuffle.
I usually have music playing in the background. Not so loud that it imposes, just the right level so that it feels like an accompaniment on your creative journey.
Something quite mellow and a little weird is good for me. Mercury Rev, Nick Cave, The Doors, some Pink Floyd stuff like Echoes, Julia Dream and Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun.
Just the telly burbling in the background.
Have you tried listening to the prosecution/defence?
I work best in silence, but prefer to have the telly on, but have been known to shout at it to be quiet if people are shouting on it.
I apologise, but only if it's Magnum.
Also find listening to very familiar spotify playlist helps, as I don't hear the music so it whizzes by.
In extreme circumstances Venga boys help.
I have no idea why I hate them.
The sound of my own crying.
While I'm writing I listen to the hum of the dishwasher. If he stops humming, I'm going to report him for being in the country illegally.
Lately I've taken to listening to Moby's Extreme Ways (Bourne Legacy Remix). It makes me think that I need to write faster to escape people who are after my words.
I tend to write in silence but rewrite to music. At the minute my favourite is Birdy, very soothing
Classic fm
Or Talksport
Quote: Matt Fishwick @ 1st April 2014, 3:41 PM BSTWhile I'm writing I listen to the hum of the dishwasher. If he stops humming, I'm going to report him for being in the country illegally.
Lately I've taken to listening to Moby's Extreme Ways (Bourne Legacy Remix). It makes me think that I need to write faster to escape people who are after my words.
I struggle to write with anything going on in the background. Sometimes I'll listen to a funny radio station before writing but as soon as I begin typing, I need silence!
I dunno about cafes. We get told that old JK wrote in cafes, but that's songwriters for you.
Either silence or classical radio. When doing my cartoon strips I write the script in silence, which is the difficult bit, then put on favourite CDs - Wire, Massive Attack, SoundGarden, English classical music - for the drawing part.
Varies all over the place.
Sometimes silence, sometimes a news channel on a loop, occasionally a bit of numbers station recordings, often music.
When it's music it can easily be classical/rock/pop, film/game soundtracks (love The Secret World soundtrack) or darkwave/goth/industrial. I used to develop computer systems listening to gabba - when you listen to 180+bpm your mind and typing speeds up...
The worst though is when I'm trying to write a song for NR and have the source song on repeat... A few weeks ago I had 'impossible' on repeat for about 3 hours.