MUSIC WHILE YOU WRITE?

Do you listen to music while you write? I sometimes have the radio on but it gets lost in the background and I never really 'hear' it. This week, however, I decided to try something different. I've been trying to catch up on my   80 thousand words in 80 days commitment and as you can see from my progress metre, I'm not doing too bad. Last week I was stuck on 12k and I've almost doubled that. 


I decided I'd play some background music to help focus my mind. I'm writing a story set in medieval times, Vikings and all that brings, so Lady Gaga didn't seem very appropriate. Neither really did Eliza Doolittle, or Jamie Cullum - all my favourites. I love opera too, but I find it distracting while I'm working because I either find myself trying to translate it if it's in Italian (and badly at that) or I find myself with my hand clasped to my chest 'singing' (Simon wouldn't label it so) at the top of my voice.
So I chose to listen to some Baroque music. Just what is Baroque music I hear you say - or more likely you're much more cultured than I am and don't need me to tell you. Well, according to Wikipedia, Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1750. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era. The word "baroque" came from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning "misshapen pearl" - something I found quite poetical. I chose this form purely because I didn't think I'd find any Viking music, but I'm sure someone will put me right on that...


So I've been listening to Bach, Handel and Mozart and I must say it had a pleasing effect, I kind of felt relaxed yet in my writing groove and the fingers have been flying all over the keyboard. Whether the words make any sense when it comes to reading them is yet to be discovered!


Until Later...