More about Writing: the Problem of Noise
Right now I’m sitting at Mayorga Cafe on the edges of downtown Silver Spring tending to a little writing and otherwise trying to perform miracles (which in my case always includes actually finishing something) before my time runs out.
As a full-time mother who also happens to be a full-time thinker/idea-churner/creative type, I am always doing a juggling act between staying tuned into the magic/chaos of kids/house AND the relentless demands of my Muse who sometimes comes up with the best rabbit holes to chase down at the most inopportune moments.
Having office hours helps. I like to set up shop at a nearby cafe or coffee shop the second I drop Carter off at school. I’ve been amazed at how cooperative my Muse can be when I promise to let her out to play regularly. But we’re still adjusting to the start of the school year, the addition of two new wild things who practically live here (Osman and Fatih-chan) and everything that goes along with that. So for right now it’s catch as catch-can.
I find I *can* work at home, but the background noise has to be just right. For whatever reason, it’s very difficult for me to filter or tune out distracting sounds. I can hear the conversation in the upstairs bedroom at the same volume as the game the kids are playing outside as the NPR playing in the kitchen. Dave calls it my bionic ears, and it’s just maddening. Add to this my crazy multi-tasking brain which can kind of keep track of all that information, too–mostly who’s fighting with who, about what and where. I swear most of my tiredness comes from the curse (or blessing) of being able to hold so much input. Someone else I know called it the art of Minding Everyone Else’s Business.
Anyway. I’ve found my best option is to set up shop in the dining room–a rather central location acoustically in our house–and pick one song to listen to on repeat for hours on end. Right now my favorite is Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I have no idea (ironically) what she’s saying, but something about that constant repetition both comforts me and helps me stay focused on my work. The kids tend to stay on the periphery of my work area–no new noise alerting them to potential excitement in another part of the house–and I can still hear them should someone decide to do something really exciting like bungee cord from the upstairs windows (a possibility, trust me).
Right now even the quiet room at Mayorga is distracting for me–all tiny found sounds command my constant attention–so I do the same thing with my headphones and Ipod here. Sometimes (like today) I need the kind of song that really blisses me out, since I don’t have the potential magic/interruption of my kids at home to keep me grounded–so today it’s Hold On by Sarah McLachlan. I have it cranked so loud–volume is everything if I really want to produce–and imagine the Universe conspiring on my behalf with every word. I guess the music becomes a kind of white noise to help me focus on the words in my head.
Other repeat favorites: Blue Angel by Rose Polenzani and Stardust Motel by Andrew Norsworthy.
What about you–dear handful of readers? What do you need sound-wise to get your creative work done?
September 24th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
My husband and oldest daughter always perform better with music playing, but I’m more of a “silence is golden” type. Music makes my muse antsy. I love music when I’m trying to get housework done, but my brain can’t handle it and writing at the same time.
September 24th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
I LOVE people who can listen to the same song over and over! My family thinks I’m strange in that regard. One More Dollar by Gillian Welch or Oh Very Young by Cat Stevens or All the Heavens by Third Day, are some good ones that I could listen to all day.
September 24th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
I find pink noise helpful (right now rain and stream are two of the tracks on the Muse-summoning iPod). The sounds are random enough to prevent my musician-self from getting caught up in melodies and rhythms.
September 24th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
It has to be something without lyrics. I tend to go back and forth between “Kind Of Blue” by Miles Davis and “The Telluride Sessions” by Strength in Numbers. However, it generally has to be background more than really present to me — Muzak to cover the noise in my brain.
What is more interesting to me is what I have to listen to to prepare myself to write. Sometimes listening to the right music will inspire a mood or theme, although I confess that hasn’t happened too much lately. Paul Simon is always good when I simply need to get in the mode of stream of consciousness.
Ciao.
September 25th, 2006 at 11:12 am
I haven’t found music to be the thing that gets my juices going, though I do like music. I don’t particularly have an ear for hearing the lyrics to music that have words, and ambient wordless music doesn’t seem to do much for me either, though I do prefer musical noise over talk radio noise. Where I feel a little more energized is either hanging out and working at Starbucks or the public library, where there is a regular flow of people meandering around. But, I haven’t quite figured out what it is about those environments that make it work for me; working from my quiet home office drives me mad in a few hours or so, with regular predictability!
September 25th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I love the sound of water when I work–a fountain, a stream, rain. My little hole at the library has a fountain outside of it. The trick, though, is to not begin work with a full bladder…
September 25th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
i do that one song on repeat thing too! Today it’s “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard…
September 26th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
I fixate on certain songs that are lock & key with my insatiable need for melancholy input. Today it’s “Mercy Now” by Mary Gauthier.
September 26th, 2006 at 11:45 pm
I need Silence. Or at least it’s what I preferfor work. When it’s possible. Which is for about an hour and a half when both my kids are at school. Doesn’t seem like nearly enough time to get anything done but for my first taste of getting a little bit of my solitary life back, it’s golden.
I too have this crazy innate ability to hear everything and everyone that is talking, anywhere in the local area. And indeed, it can be maddening.
As for music? I find so much inspiration from it. My all time favorites are The Innocence Mission and Jane Silberry. But I cannot work while I listen. I just have to listen and take in every lovely voice and lilting lyric. And then, usually, I cry.
September 27th, 2006 at 1:50 am
I tend to connect with the noise of life happening around me. There is a little cafe downtown where I can enjoy a wonderful smoothie and delicious cookies as I sit at the counter looking out over the downtown streets. Other little coffee shops and eateries also work where I can sit in the background. Even for this introvert, there is something energizing about sitting in the midst of a room full of stories to inspire my own stories.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:32 pm
[…] It’s noon, and I’ve been treated to an empty–albeit slightly messy–house. No strategies needed for noise. I have my first choice now, simple silence. I have mother’s little helperto keep me going til the chaos of kids returns, and a good hour at the keyboard to write a little letter to you, my invisible friends. […]