Althouse: "For that reason you can't write with music playing, and anyone who says he can is either writing badly, or not listening to the music, or lying."

February 24, 2015

"For that reason you can't write with music playing, and anyone who says he can is either writing badly, or not listening to the music, or lying."

"You need to hear what you're writing, and for that you need silence."

I was wondering about that, this morning, because I was struggling to complete the phrase "the path of my wanderings 7 years ago during my exile in Brooklyn" as Meade was searching YouTube for songs with the phrase "walk on" and I could feel how those songs — by Neil Young and Lou Reed — were shutting all the pathways in my head that led to words.

31 comments:

Bob Ellison said...: If you sing this with an Elmer Fudd accent, it fits Meade's criterion.; 2/24/15, 10:49 AM
Warren Fahy said...: When I was a kid writing novels I could - to Berlioz and Wagner and Mahler and Mussorgsky - but not now. It's true.; 2/24/15, 11:20 AM
traditionalguy said...: Mozart's symphonies 40 and 41 will focus a mind beyond the realm of words.; 2/24/15, 11:26 AM
Jeff Gee said...: I can revise to music as long as it's music I already know and there are no vocals. First drafting to music is impossible for me, although when I was in my twenties I had no trouble with it and recall stacking up albums in preparation for a night of writing.; 2/24/15, 11:35 AM
richard mcenroe said...: I had a playlist back when I was writing my own novels and shirt stories, and the music helped my clear the way in my head for the writing, as though it was setting a rhythm for my hands.

The only time the music interrupted the writing was when the cat would snatch the headphones off my head and flee with them into the bedroom.; 2/24/15, 11:40 AM
jr565 said...: ""You need to hear what you're writing, and for that you need silence."

Now you know why Jack Torrance got so annoyed with his wife in the Shining. There he was trying to work wirting his opus "all work and no play" and she kept pestering him.
So he overreacted a bit.
Also, ghosts played a small role there as well.; 2/24/15, 11:49 AM
jr565 said...: ] think music that has no words might work better,but even that can be distracting.; 2/24/15, 11:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Completely true for me. I envy the artists who can put on headphones and enjoy music as they work, but I find even instrumental music gets in the way of focusing on words.; 2/24/15, 11:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I had a playlist back when I was writing my own novels and shirt stories..."

"They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such--such beautiful shirts before."; 2/24/15, 11:58 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Here's something for everyone's shirt story playlist.; 2/24/15, 12:00 PM
Simon said...: It depends on the music. I certainly can't write with "songs" (in the usual sense) playing; when things have definite form and particularly words, my brain latches on, and because I can't multitask, it's distracting. I don't disagree with traditionalguy that Mozart symphonies will focus the mind, but the problem is that it focuses the mind on the music.

On the other hand, I often write with abstract, wordless music (Mike Oldfield, for example, or the new Floyd record, or so-called "smooth jazz") or what seems to now be called "lounge music" (example) which does sometimes have words (or at least vocals), but tends to be downbeat, indefinite, and gauzy.; 2/24/15, 12:09 PM
pm317 said...: Depends on what you are writing. If it is routine stuff, it is not a problem. But serious thought-provoking, involving serious thinking thoughts need full attention. On the other hand, throughout my engineering degree, I used to play classical music as I did math work. My uncle would walk in and express amazement that I could concentrate with the music on.

{for the record, I had no music playing right now}.. but this is not the most serious thing I have written today either.; 2/24/15, 12:16 PM
bwebster said...: I disagree, in that it depends upon the music. For years (decades, really), I have used certain albums or artists to write by -- and note that I actually made my living as a writer for a few years, and even now I have to churn out lengthy expert reports two or three times a year -- because it keeps the silence from driving me nuts. If I have a major writing task, I'll put on my Moody Blues playlist (all Moody Blues albums, in chronological order), and I can write for hours. I can do the same thing with the collected Star Wars or LOTR soundtracks, or with Thomas Dolby or Phil Collins/Genesis (I've had all-night writing sessions where I've listened to "The Golden Age of Wireless" and/or "Invisible Touch" albums over and over).

I agree in that most other music is far too distracting. Even the Moody Blues playlist is too distracting if I accidentally put it on shuffle.; 2/24/15, 12:18 PM
JPS said...: Richard Feynman described this series of mental experiments when he was young: He'd try to count off a minute in his head. He'd be off but no matter; he cared about precision, not accuracy, and counting silently to 60 he'd hit 48 seconds, pretty much every time.

Then he tried not counting, just guessing when a minute went by, and it was terrible: elapsed times all over the place.

He also found he couldn't count to himself reproducibly while speaking or listening. He described this to a friend, who said, That's ridiculous, and he took the challenge: "I can say anything I want, blah blah blah, Feynman's a fool" - just talking away, and he nailed his "silent" time. Turned out, the friend was visualizing a tape with numbers going by, whereas Feynman was listening to himself count.

I can imagine someone whose writing is mainly a visual endeavor, being able to listen to terrific music and write well. Personally I need to hear myself think, so music that I'd give a B+ stays in the background, but music I'd give an A tends to take over my concentration.; 2/24/15, 12:25 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: ""For that reason you can't write with music playing, and anyone who says he can is either writing badly, or not listening to the music, or lying.""

Wonder what was playing when he wrote that incoherent nonsense.; 2/24/15, 12:32 PM
Pianoman said...: If I'm listening to music while working, it needs to be instrumental. Preferably repetitive, like minimalism.; 2/24/15, 12:42 PM
Beldar said...: This is true for me only if I'm writing music.

If I don't have music playing in the literal background, I have music playing in my mind, essentially all the time I'm awake and much of the time when I'm sleeping. This is a blessing, not a curse.; 2/24/15, 12:45 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I prefer to work at home, where I can keep it quiet. At work, I often have to close my door and put on some kind of masking music, like Brian Eno "Music for Airports" or something. Just normal talking floating in from other offices makes me much less efficient, writing and reading.

This makes me worry about children. There's too much noise in the environment -- TV, music. If I were raising a child now, I would eliminate most of the music that played.; 2/24/15, 12:54 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "... I have music playing in my mind, essentially all the time I'm awake and much of the time when I'm sleeping. This is a blessing, not a curse."

Ugh! I would hate that. I don't get music playing in my head as I did when I was younger. I played music much more in the old days. Now, I rarely play music, and I much prefer spoken word if I'm walking or driving. If I'm reading and writing, I want silence.; 2/24/15, 12:55 PM
Anthony said...: For me I have difficulty working without some form of music, usually light classical or, ummmm, New Age.; 2/24/15, 1:06 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: You can listen to MUSIC, you just can't listen to SONGS, unless those songs are in a language incomprehensible to you.; 2/24/15, 1:20 PM
pm317 said...: Just normal talking floating in from other offices makes me much less efficient, writing and reading.

Tell me about it. I have an old guy next door with a high nasal and deep throat talker who is chatty and picks up his phone every hour.. Fortunately I can work from home. Last time I was at work, I played Dvorak all day. Once someone like that starts to irritate you, it becomes even more irritating everytime you hear their voice. Some psychological reaction.; 2/24/15, 1:23 PM
Rick Caird said...: For what it is worth, I cannot multitask. I recall working on some programming with a CD in the background. Suddenly, I realized the same CD ha been playing for 6 hours. I can either work, or I can listen to the music. I cannot do both. The trade off is concentration for multitasking. I go with concentration.; 2/24/15, 2:34 PM
KLDAVIS said...: I listen to music without lyrics (Classical, EDM) or with lyrics in other languages (Seu Jorge singing Bowie in Portuguese is a favorite).; 2/24/15, 2:40 PM
Pianoman said...: @pm317: "Tell me about it. I have an old guy next door with a high nasal and deep throat talker who is chatty and picks up his phone every hour.."

I used to sit between a person who had a high nasal voice and slurped his noodles every day (he was from Taiwan, I guess it's not rude to do that there), and a person who would announce to the world every thought that came into her head. So she would suddenly say in a loud voice, "Okay, I'm going to pee now, and then I'll finish this invoice."

I invested in a pair of high-quality Sony wireless headphones out of self-preservation. Best $100 I ever spent. I still have them, almost 10 years later.

There's just no way to focus when you're surrounded by that kind of distraction.; 2/24/15, 3:30 PM
cold pizza said...: I write. Youtube has some great collections of relaxation and spa music (3+ hour blocks). Background music is fine. It's all a matter of focus. -CP; 2/24/15, 4:34 PM
eddie willers said...: L. Frank Baum listened to Pink Floyd as he wrote.; 2/24/15, 5:18 PM
richard mcenroe said...: We'll all get enough silence soon enough, Ann, so listen to music while you can.; 2/24/15, 7:16 PM
pm317 said...: Pianoman said...
---------------

Thanks, this guy is local, American.. and talks incessantly.. we are in individual offices and I can still hear him through the wall. I think I will invest in a headphone, because I can't hide from my own office forever. I have been very productive, but.. :); 2/24/15, 7:44 PM
Martin L. Shoemaker said...: Anyone who says there's only one way to create is an ignorant ass.

Anyone who says there's only one way to create and HE happens to be privileged to know it when everyone else doesn't is a pompous, ignorant ass.; 2/24/15, 8:47 PM
Bob R said...: "For that reason you can't..." Once again, Pullman spelled the word "I" incorrectly.

That said, I'm the same way: I can't "listen" to music and write. I can do minor writing tasks with very familiar music in the background. I'm certainly not listening critically.; 2/25/15, 10:28 AM