The sound makes the idea: Why the right music for writing sends our creativity into vibration.

As you may know, the word music comes to us from the Greek muses, goddesses of inspiration. And indeed, music exerts an influence on our inspiration, ideas and creativity. It has been proven that music can change our hormonal balance and thus evoke mood variations–like in a piece by Vivaldi. The right mood is also important in writing. But one’s own mood and the mood of the protagonists do not always match. It is difficult to write about heartbreak when you yourself are experiencing an emotional high that makes Romeo and Juliet seem apathetic. It can be equally difficult to build up tension when you feel as if someone has cut the line to your own emotions. In cases like these, the right music for writing can bring the writer’s soul back into vibration. But there are even more reasons to use music as a background for writing. We at novum publishing have tracked down precisely these reasons for you.

With feeling or reason? What is the right music for writing?

Memories

Writing is a constant process of remembering: What did the winter rose on the side of the road look like? What colour was the water in the pool? What did the air smell like after the rain had washed the streets clean? Music can bring back our memories and update the images in our consciousness. It is true that there is no scientific evidence that music awakens memories more reliably than pictures. But our memories, when they are associated with music, are more strongly linked to emotions. And what we feel, we also remember. For example, if we heard a certain song during our first kiss, the emotional content of that moment is stored in our memory with exactly that song. When we hear this song again, we immediately feel transported back to that moment. What we remember may only be a feeling. But it is this feeling that lays the track to our pictorial memory and allows us to trace it in depth.

Emotions

When we listen to music, half our brain is active. According to neurological findings, depending on the type of music, we release huge amounts of happiness, bonding or stress hormones as soon as we hear a song. So, with the right music, authors can certainly put themselves in the right mood. Adrenalin, serotonin, dopamine or oxytocin are practically on call in our playlists. Which sounds arouse which emotions varies from person to person. After all, there are people who find heavy metal songs and vocals that are primarily performed in a screaming voice relaxing. If you are not sure which music arouses the right emotions in you, then why not turn to film music? World-class composers such as Ennio Morricone, John Williams or Hans Zimmer always strike the right note.

Concentration

Do you know the “Mozart effect”? It is now a proven fact that classical music improves our brain activity and thus our ability to concentrate and remember things. Just 20 minutes of Mozart’s “Violin Concerto No. 3” spur our brain to peak performance. According to studies, writers should pay more attention to the tempo of music than to its genre. The behavioural researcher Dr. Emma Gray recommends songs with a speed of 145 beats per minute to trigger creative processes. According to the researcher, modern artists such as Miley Cyrus or Katy Perry are perfect for the time before or the breaks during writing. The creative process itself should be accompanied by songs between 80 and 145 beats per minute to stimulate the imagination. The right frequency, by the way, puts the brain into the so-called alpha state, which promises mental clarity and concentration.

Whether you are before or in the process of creating, the reasons for musical accompaniment speak for themselves.

Are you suffering from creative burnout? With these writing prompts for stimulating your imagination your storytelling will soon reach new stratospheres.

What experiences have you had with music while putting pen to paper? Do you find music rather irritating when writing? Or can you even recommend music titles that set the creative process in vibration? Feel free to share your experiences with the right music for writing with us in the comments!

Let your keyboard run free,

Your team at novum publishing