I was just listening to a really interesting programme on radio 4 about fan fiction - though I was planning to write... and clearly I couldn't think and listen to the programme at the same time. Which got me thinking... Do you listen to music while you work? Do you find music with lyrics interrupts your chain of thought? Specifically, what do you listen to?
Goodness, MK - what's going on that you need to drown out?
We're out in the sticks so the noises are mostly chickens, the goat or the very occasional passing car - though they've just started using industrial machinery to cut wood in the forest which is pretty loud.
I find any songs with lyrics in English really distracting. Currently I'm listening to a radio station with crazy oompaah beer festival type music with Czech lyrics - Radio Dechovka. Maybe it will help me with my Czech. I wonder if it will influence my writing.
At some point I'll put together a play list as suggested by Natalie.
Yep. I have playlists that are associated with each one of my characters. The lead character has about forty tracks tacked onto her name. I prefer to listen to music while I'm thinking up scenes, but I like to have some on in the background while I'm writing.
I too prefer to write in silence. Although not complete silence; the clock ticking in the background, is good; the odd passing car outside my bedroom window; the rain; the sound of the wind rattling through the trees in the garden; dogs barking; the drone of the television drifting up through the floorboards, all these familiar, normal everyday sounds seem to help me keep my mind clear.