The Best Types of Music for Inspiration While Writing

The work of a writer is often a lonesome one. Writers spend the better part of their day in quiet places writing, and when in that zone many distractions can befall them. It is not easy to write for hours without going through some form of distraction, which can break your rhythm. Some of the most prolific writers, however, find music inspiration a motivating factor that allows them to think better and write more.

Music helps to rejuvenate the brain and unlock more ideas in your head. With cool and smooth music playing in the background, you can block out all other elements of distractions from your mind. But, how do you select the music to listen to while writing? Are all music genres even suitable to help inspire you to write and remain in your groove all day?

How to Select Music to Listen to While Writing

Not all music will cut it when it comes to motivating you to write. It all depends on which music you love. If you do not love a particular music genre, then you will not be inspired by it. So it’s important to find a collection of songs in your preferred genre that will set the right mood for you. Of course, it can be a daunting task to find this collection of songs, but with the right criterion you will be able to hack it without much hustle.

Here’re some tips that will help you arrive at the best background music for your writing inspiration:

1. Pick music that relates to what you are writing.

Music that relates to your story or writing theme sets the right mood and entices your brain to generate more ideas. For example, if you are writing a romantic novel, you could listen to cool blues and rhythmic love songs. It can help to spice up your writing as you will be able to move with the flow.

2. Go for music you like.

Select a music genre that not only relates to what you are writing, but also that you actually like. This will ignite your passion in what you are doing. As a writer, you have to be in the right mood to produce your best work. Choose a genre you like to create the mood you want, and then create a playlist you will use during your writing sessions. The goal here is to calm your nerves, create the right mood. It will boost your productivity in terms of the quality and quantity of work output. For example, choose:

Songs you can sing along.
Songs that remind you of a special day or someone.
Music that gives you peace of mind
Inspirational tunes such as gospel music

3. Consider rhythm above lyrics.

You do not need lyrics to enjoy music. In most cases, you may not even be concentrating on the message the lyrics are giving while writing. What matters is the rhythm of the song you are listening to. Select instrumental music without lyrics from popular artists like Mono to inspire your when writing. In fact, the words or lyrics in songs may be a distraction, especially if they do not relate to the topic you are writing about.

4. Try songs with natural sounds.

Choose songs with natural sounds like those of the wind blowing, birds, and ocean. The songs should have serene sounds as opposed to sounds of the thunder if you want to relax and warm up to them. There is a sense of tranquility and joy that comes with listening to calm, natural sounds while writing. Songs do not have to come with lyrics as they work better that way. Record such sounds and place them on repeat for the entire time you will be writing. You can choose a specific sound at a time and interchange from time to time.

5. Choose songs with a consistent rhythm.

A rhythm goes a long way to making sure you are in the groove of writing. There are songs that do not have a consistent rhythm. The rhythm keeps changing now and then, and you lose your concentration every time that happens. A loss of focus means you can struggle to pick up your story line where you left it. You have to start all over again and generate new ideas in order to continue with the story line. With such intrusions, you may end up doing too little after a lengthy period of time writing.

6. Play low volume music.

Do not confuse low volume with slow music. It is not the same. As much as you want to get away from all distractions, music can be one of those things that render you unproductive in your writing. If you are listening to music at high volume, it can strain your brain and cause fatigue to kick in. Keep the volume to a low level where you can easily write without straining your ears and brain at the same time. Low volume music works best. In most cases, you do not even have to know what the message in the song is all about. All you need is the background beats to get the right inspiration going.

7. Stick to the same genre of music.

Change is good, but not when it comes to listening to music while writing. You have to stay in the same lane during the entire writing period or session. This will help you to concentrate and maintain the right rhythm for both your songs and writing topics. As a writer, consistency is important for your mood, creativity and motivation to produce great copy. With good music from the same genre playing all day, you will be able to pick up on that groove, maintain the right mood and move with it all day.

8. Slow and smooth music helps too.

Songs with a lot of hype may be good when you have friends over or at a party. However, when you are engaged in an activity that uses a lot of brainpower like writing, you need to listen to slow and smooth music. Popular smooth music genres such as Jazz, soul, and blues will give you just the right aptitude to write. Slow music allows you to think, organize and generate more ideas that you can then put down in your writing. Keep the smooth rhythm going and so will your thinking and writing go at the same time.