How (and Why) You Should Make a Story Playlist

A story playlist can open up whole new worlds of brainstorming and inspiration. After all, creativity feeds creativity. Art feeds art. Music feeds thought process and nurtures creativity. We can’t paint while we write, but we can listen to music. Doing so while writing can boost productivity, word count, and helps you get to know your story on a deeper level.

 

Why make a story playlist?

It’s true that for some people, music inhibits the writing process. And that’s okay! But for those of us who utilize music to move into the creative headspace, manuscript playlists can be powerful and effective.

Music can enhance so many elements of story, as demonstrated by the power of movie soundtracks. Songs have the ability to denote mood, theme, even plot points. They have power over our emotions and can leave people with such strong impressions that they will forever associate a song with a movie, book, or place.

If music has such a powerful impact on us as consumers of story, why wouldn’t we use it to craft our own tales?

No lyrics? No problem.

For those who enjoy music but can’t concentrate with words going into your ear while trying to write words, an instrumental playlist is the way for you.

Author Max Porter found that songs with lyrics distorted the sense of his story and vision. So he composed his own instrumental music to write to instead. You can listen to his interview on Cillian Murphy’s Radio 6 show, where he discusses the process, and can find Porter’s Niceness instrumental playlist on Spotify.

Not all (or most) of us are as talented as Max Porter, but luckily we don’t have to be. The world contains so much music, we can pick and choose without having to create our own.

On the most basic level, to design a soundtrack for your Work in Progress is very fun — imagining your story on the big screen, picking out the songs that most wholly represent the words that you’ve put on the page. If you take the time with your playlist, you’ll have something to return you to the headspace of this story. When you hear these particular resonating songs, your mind will instantly travel back to your story and all of your ideas associated with it.

Lyrics? Yes, please!

Then there are those of us who find aid and creative boost in lyrical music. We connect with lyrics, drawing them into our story like they belong. These playlists can be immensely helpful to the writing process in a multitude of ways. Some writers find it helpful to have lyrics for the times they’re walking, doing the dishes, or participating in other mindless activities so that they can ponder their story through the songs. 

There’s no such thing as too many playlists, so you can also make one for writing and one for plotting, or one that’s wholly instrumental and one that’s wholly lyrical. Whatever you’re hoping to put together, we’ve got tips to make it happen.