Music and Writing

Writing in a crowded place is tough. Words float to my table like soap bubbles, and like a schoolchild, I follow them. The way a conversation moves; the way a person phrases his ideas; these things transport me.

Being transported is fun, but if I'm trying to meet a word count or a deadline, it's bad. I need a way to drown out the voices. I turn to my headphones, but I sometimes find more soap bubbles: lyrics. They fill up my senses like a night in the forest; the stain on my notebook says nothing to me; and the words just c[o]me out wrong. In order to enjoy writing in a café (as in #4 of my five favorite places to write), I turn to a trusty set of instrumentals.

The playlist includes the album Miles of Styles by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra and Shawn Lee, tracks from The John Scofield Band and Dave Brubeck, and this happy tune, 102% by The New Mastersounds:



Are you easily distracted by conversations in a café or lyrics in a song? How do you deaden the sounds around you so you can better focus?

This is the fourth entry regarding my five favorite places to write. If you'd like, you may check out the others: My house, empty; First thing in the morning; and Librarians rock.