Strike the ‘Write’ Chord: Music I Listen To While Writing
Do you ever find your mind taking a detour when you’re trying to focus on writing for your business? And I GET IT, writing—it's like, SUPER hard. It's a completely unique form of focus required of your brain because it demands creativity while piecing all the things together.
As a full-time copywriter who literally writes for my clients every.single.dang.day, I often get asked ‘how on EARTH are you able to write so much copy??”’ And I’m here to tell you, it’s not as simple as closing my office door, turning on my office heater, curling up un-ergonomically in my ergonomic chair, and letting the words pour out. If it were that simple, well, let’s just say I would have had much better grades in grade school LOL.
BUT in case you weren’t aware, human brains just aren’t that simple! Our brains are our *biggest commodity* when it comes to strategizing and writing about our business. And the longer I’ve been writing for other business owners (ahem, the best business baddies you’ll ever meet) the MORE I’ve realized that finding out how our brains operate can make (or break!) our ability to create, clarify, and focus. And coming from a human with a self-proclaimed ‘squirrel brain’ I’ve had to put in a ton of effort to learn how to hack my brain and get shit done.
So today, let’s talk about the one teeny tiny piece of my writing process that makes ALL the difference for when I’m writing copy for my clients - utilizing music strategically!
Idk about you, but I’ve always been a big music person. I even have a unique angle since I used to be a state level violin & viola player! So as I got into college, I tried studying the way my friends did…which come to find out meant BLASTING “Get Low” while studying for our accounting exams.
…And I very quickly learned that this was *not* the opportune way to get my over-active squirrel brain to focus on literally anything besides “3 6 9, ONE MORE TIME”
SO during college and now as a full time copywriter, I’ve experimented with many (many) different types of music to discover which types positively and negatively affects my focus. Since my livelihood is heavily reliant on my mind’s ability to focus, I’ve learned some pretty cool tricks along the way.
AND IF WE HAVEN’T MET YET, Hi!! My name is Amber Hopfer. I’m a copywriter and messaging strategist (therapist?) for entrepreneurs and small businesses whose passion is DEEPLY rooted in bringing your dream business words to life! ‘Cause when your words are the only thing your audience has before investing in you, they better pack a punch.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of how we can use different types of music to effectively help our brains focus during the two main phases of the writing process!
Using music to generate fresh ideas, fast!
In the first stage of writing, aka, the idea phrase, I’m allowing myself to be FULLY present and creative. I want my brain to feel safe exploring different ideas, and most importantly, I don’t want to turn on the ‘editing’ part of my brain. Otherwise it will just tell me that any idea I come up with sucks, lol. We’ve all been there okayyy
So for this phase of writing, I really enjoy listening to either acoustic music from my favorite artists (and TSwift fans?) crackling fireplace sounds, rain drops with birds chirping, typing in a quiet library, or even soft classical music.
And JUST IN CASE you didn’t know, most classical music isn’t calm. If you accidentally pick Beethoven’s 5th thinking it’ll be an easy listen, you’re in for a rude awakening…
But seriously, when I’m opening up my thoughts and ideas while making creative decisions and outlines, I want to allow myself to feel safe and calm. I feel like we often forget that our brains are hardwired for literal survival and protection, which means we must allow ourselves to feel safe and not trigger any stress. Even though responding to an email is, in fact, stressful, it’s not the same kinda stress from being chased by a bear. Even though my brain QUITE OFTEN confuses the two (just me?!)
By listening to comforting noises and light lyrical tracks, my brain feels energized and happy, and that’s when I’m able to come up with the best ideas.
Writing Pro Tip! If you’re needing to come up with ideas quickly, set a timer for 4 minutes and write down EVERYTHING that comes to mind. It often takes 45 seconds to get past our ‘safe’ ideas, and that’s when the great and crazy ideas start coming to mind! I normally end up going with number 4 or 5 on the list. The last ones are always desperate attempts to fill space, haha.
Brown noise for quiet thoughts
Now that I’ve got all my crazy ideas centered and my outlines created, I have a very clear vision of not only what I’ll be writing, but also *how* I want it to sound. It’s in this writing and editing phrase where I can FEEL my client’s voice replacing my own thoughts, and the words just start flowing!
Que me huddled in my chair, in a dark room, typing away like a gremlin. “It’s for the art okay?!”
To keep my mind from wandering off so I can write their copy FAST, I listen to brown noise. Brown noise is similar to the popular white noise we’ve all heard of, but it’s different because it has a lower tone. When I was a music major, the lower register sounds and vibrations put me into a really relaxed state, while higher sounds made me feel anxious and panicky. I really enjoy listening to brown noise, because it gives me ENOUGH to listen to, without overriding my nervous system (and she’s v nervous, haha)
What I can’t listen to are songs, noises, or anything with lyrics or talking. How I WISH I could write while listening to podcasts (I’m a hugeeee podcast girlie) but alas, I’ve found that when I listen to lyrics or voices, I end up writing down what’s being said! It’s funny ‘cause it’s true.
While these concepts may seem suspiciously simple, I promise that it’s the THING I can always count on when I need to channel my inner genius for my client’s copy projects. And since we often forget that our brains are hard-wired to keep us hyper aware of our surroundings, using music to redirect my focus has been an absolute game changer in my business.
Maybe this is the thing you didn’t know you needed to try?
Who’s ready?! *raises both hands*
Links:
Taylor Swift Folklore acoustic
If you found this post helpful, don’t be a stranger! To get in touch with me directly, send me a DM on the ‘gram, or email me at amber@ambernicolecreativeco.com.