You want to be in ‘flow’ when you write. Flow is the feeling of total immersion in a task that also makes the task seem almost effortless. In sports, we used to call it being ‘in the zone’ where the athlete just couldn’t seem to make a mistake. Maybe you have felt it before as well. You are engrossed in a project, distractions fall away and so does doubt and fear. You can have flow all sorts of activities: painting, driving, martial arts, playing musical instruments…writing. When you are able to hush your inner critic and your story starts to write itself and you are just trying to keep up, that is flow. Hopefully, you have experienced it in the past. If you are like me, you don’t experience it every time but love it when it happens.
There are a number of things you can do to increase the chances of getting into a flow state. Writing at the same time and at the same place is a big help. What you listen to can also have a great impact and that is what we are going to talk about today.
Many writers listen to music when they write. Others prefer silence. Some prefer to work at coffee shops with all of its background noise. The right answer is to use what works for you. But what do you do if you are not sure what is best for you? You try different things until you find the one that does work! Now, that could take a long time, so I am going to give you some guidance to help narrow down your options and get you on your best path towards focused writing.
MUSIC
So, when I was a young teenager I would see those older teenagers always listening to current rock music when they were doing school work. In the sitcoms, the parents would yell at them to turn down their music and the kids would yell back that they needed it to study and then there would be some clever comments from the parents, angst from the teenager and then a canned laugh track. All that to say that what I learned was that to be a successful teenager meant rocking out as often as possible and that included when I was studying. But it didn’t work for me, and boy did I try! The boring reality is that I focus best in silence. Maybe the voices in my head don’t like the competition!
Then I began to read about other writers. Stephen King likes to listen to rock, for instance. I did some studying and if you are someone who wants to write while listening to music there are some general rules. It should be the same song or a short selection of songs. And they should be songs you are very familiar with. When you are writing it is not the time to try and discover new bands. They type of music is an individual preference, but the key is that it falls into the background and doesn’t pull you into it and away from your writing.
The Coffe Shop
Some people find themselves more productive in coffee shops. Science says it is not just the caffeine that is helping! The low key music helps, but so does the multiple conversations going on. Apparently, your mind can recognize that you are trying to focus and turn all the talk into a pleasant white noise background. So, if that is your cup of tea (or cup-of-joe) then go right ahead and enjoy and write your socks off! Now, I am sharing this with you during the COVID 19 pandemic and maybe you find the endorsement of coffee shop writing a bit cruel of me. Fear not! You can search for Coffee Shop Background noise on Amazon, Itunes or Spotify. They are there and can really do the trick! There is a sample from Soundcloud at the end of this article you can listen to see if you like it.
Nature and Ambieance
Another option is listening to ambiance soundtracks. The coffee shop probably falls into this one, but generally what I am referring to are ‘nature sounds’ such as rain, babbling brooks, seashore sounds. These are pretty easy to find as well. Some writers choose to try and match the background sounds to what they are writing. Joanna Penn, who often writes supernatural thrillers and is a fan of visiting graveyards, says she likes to listen to stormy night sounds, says it keeps her in the right mood.
Binaural Beats
Lastly, I want to talk about binaural beats. I am in no way qualified to talk about all the science behind this tool, but if you are interested here is a well-written article about it from Healthline: This is Your Brain on BInaural Beats. Click on it and it will open in another tab.
I have played with these a bit and I find they do work. I work mostly in silence, but sometimes I need some help and I find that the right binaural beats will get me there. Often the frequencies they use are buried within some sort of soundtrack, so you may have to search around for one that fits your mood or isn’t distracting. Some folks don’t like them because the buried frequencies make their head feel a little funny like a light buzzing. Again, there are multiple free resources to try them out.
I am using brain.fm right now based on the recommendation of an author I like. They let you listen to five free tracks, but then you have to pay. I went ahead and subscribed for a year, I figured it keeps me from wasting time searching the internet for “focus binaural beats” when I should be writing. Oh, an important point! When your search for Binaural Beats be sure to include the word ‘focus’ or else you may get any of the many other, uh, flavors that they come in. Some are pretty legitimate such as ‘sleep’ or ‘meditation’ but some go in some interesting (or weird) directions. To help you out I included another sample from SoundCloud at the end of the article so you can get a taste.
Stay Focused
Finding what is right for you can be a journey. Sometimes something only works for a while and then stops. Or it is only appropriate for a certain project. While I do encourage some experimentation, I caution against letting it eat up a lot of your creative time. Find something that works, then stick with it until it doesn’t cut it anymore. The real test is how much writing you are getting done, not the soundtrack you listen to. So, slip on your headphones, key up your jam, and keep writing!
