Music

I need to have music in order to write.

Well, I don't so much need it, as I vastly prefer it. My musical tastes have changed much over the many years since I was forced to sit through my sister Carol's endless repetitions of Billy Idol albums, ranging from obsession over classical music to local indie stuff to where I am now: eclectic, ecumenical, and synthesized. I love music the way I love books - there are some artists I return to over and over again, but I am delighted by a good book or a good song even if it's outside of the bounds of my comfort zone.

The classical opening of DJ Tiësto's "Forever Today" forced me to stop writing and simply listen. Waves of a lush artificial orchestral drowned out my thoughts. I think I could cut it out of the greater song (which is firmly trance) and put it on an endless loop and never grow tired of it. There is a track from the video game Final Fantasy Tactics that is much the same; a room mate once left "Apoplexy" on loop all day, and not one of us complained because it is simply that fascinating.

That is where music and books differ. Music that is especially compelling can go on endlessly and we don't mind (for a time.) But when a story is finished, it is finished, often for months or years until a reader remembers just how amazing it was and wants to experience it all over again. No one finishes a book and jumps right back to the beginning for another re-read immediately afterward unless they're cramming for a test.

When I'm writing, I need to have a soundtrack. When I'm reading, I don't. I like to read in silence, just me and the book, the author's voice weaving a narrative thread through my mind. At that point, music becomes a distraction, not an aid.