The Practice--Mood Music for Authors & Writing Practices

Music acts as a bridge to inspiration

As many of you know writing represents a lonely road. But what if you enhance your writing experience with the right music or set the mood if you're a fiction writer?

Most of my previous writing revolved around music, but I listened to the music I was reviewing or researching which didn't give me options of setting a mood or music therapy when I felt stressed. In fact, I recall in the early days of music writing, reviewing louder music while recovering from migraines (not pleasurable). I'm going to include six practices you where you can combine music with writing.

I recommend instrumental music as opposed to music with text as I have found that the lyrical music interferes with the writing process in the form of typos and losing one's train of thought. I also recommend slower to medium tempo music unless you can think super fast and type even faster. Faster music pumps the adrenaline which leaves you exhausted later, kind of like a sugar or caffeine high does. I also recommend following melancholic with uplifting music because melancholic music lowers your frequency which leads to irritation and low-vibration emotions and situations. (Trust me on this one).

Remember to treat music with respect as you grow your music consciousness. Don't use music as audio wallpaper to drown out other noises in your environment. If you would like to create a healthy audio environment, play nature sounds instead such as whales, dolphins, or ocean waves. Music deserves our respect because it is powerful as it entrains us to its frequencies. I often write in silence so I can go deeper into the thoughts and emotions of my characters. But I also like to play around with theme music for each of my characters. Both practices harvest fruit. Decide which is best for you.

• Listen to thematic music that fits the themes of your novel, situations, or characters for those of you writing fiction. I'm currently writing a novel with the Greek characters Orpheus and Eurydice set in modern times and I have thought of listening to Greek music in the background or orchestral music with Orpheus as the main character. I also entertained listening to troubadour music but unfortunately, that has text.

• Listen to mood music at a slow or medium tempo so that you drop into the emotions and situations of your characters. Now, this represents a challenge if you write darker material because you'll need to follow up with more uplifting music to clean out your aura and chakras when you complete your writing for the day.

• If you write non-fiction, consider listening to Bach or other medium tempo baroque music since this creates a flow of inspiration as I learned when writing my book, Whole Music. Slower Mozart, alap of Indian ragas, Native American flute, harp, and solo piano music also enhances the writing experience. Basically, you want to use music to create flow.

• Listen to music before you start writing as a ritual to inspire or motivate you to sit in the chair and start writing. I enjoyed listening to Stevie Wonder's classics prior to launching into my writing when I was working on my book Whole Music, but I preferred silence while I wrote a memoir, only listening to music later to clear my foul moods.

• Finally, if you're feeling too hyperactive or energetic to sit down and write, listen to music for relaxation and do a meditation. If you have any, get out singing bowls and tuning forks to calm your nerves and prepare you to write. Native American flute or medium tempo piano music (I recommend Chopin or Bach) can also center you so you can write.