Music to Write To

By Sean Brenner

Sometimes, taking on a boring writing project is what you need to pay the bills. But boring projects are difficult to stay engaged with, making it harder to get through them. For myself and many other writers, the best way to power through these sorts of projects is a little background music.

If you’re nodding in agreement, you know that a good writing playlist can be one of the most important items in a writer’s toolkit. So what makes a good writing playlist? The answer is subjective, of course, but in this post, I’ll talk about what’s worked for me, and lay out a few broadly applicable guidelines. 

Set the Mood

Setting the right mood for a project helps you find your creative rhythm, and when there’s rhythm, there’s music. 

If you write genre works or about genre, try a genre-based approach to your mood music. For example, if you’re writing sci-fi or about sci-fi, then music from sci-fi media or music that has a sci-fi feel to it can set the mood well. 

In my experience, though, a better approach comes from a more abstract perspective.

Let’s say you’re writing something contemplative or slower paced. Music that is slower and more melodic might be what you need. Maybe your writing will be direct and fast-paced. Something energetic and punchier might work better. If you’re looking to boost your energy so that you can work more quickly, music with lots of aggressive percussion works wonders.

Lyrics or No Lyrics?

If you’re like me, the main thing that differentiates a writing playlist from, say, a workout playlist, is lyrics. For whatever reason, music with lyrics that I can understand throws me off when I’m trying to write or edit. In fact, lyrics in a language I don’t speak have the same effect. If you work the same way, it’s important to curate your playlist to avoid tracks that will pull you out of your writing. 

The Genius of Soundtracks

Whether or not you’re sensitive to lyrics, soundtracks are good places to look for writing music. Soundtrack music is intended to work in the background of a film, TV show, or video game, shaping the mood without overpowering the story. That’s exactly how a good writing playlist works. 

Soundtrack pieces are generally written to emphasize specific moods and feelings. Your work, then, is to collect pieces from various soundtracks that share the mood you’re looking for. Personally, I’m partial to the soundtrack from the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, which has a lot of that aggressive percussion I mentioned earlier.

Video game soundtracks are also a good source of writing music. Since video games are a changeable experience that requires input from the audience, music made for them is often designed to keep the listener engaged and moving forward. The music is also often played on a loop, designed to still be enjoyable after it’s been repeated many times. All these factors make for great writing music. Of course, not every video game soundtrack will have what you need, but there’s plenty of options to choose from. The soundtrack from Half-Life 2 is one of my go-tos.

Make Your Music Playlist Personal

Music tastes are subjective, so the kind of writing music you prefer will be unique to you. (Curious readers can check out a short sample of my writing playlist.) Start by considering the mood you need to set, whether lyrics will work for you, and your favorite soundtracks. Then, create that playlist on your preferred music streaming service and refine it as you go. You may find that what you need changes from project to project, but your building a toolkit that you can revisit whenever you need it. And before you know it, that boring writing project will be done and off your desk.