10 Best Songs for Writers and About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Experience

Resistance is the number one enemy for most writers. Every writer knows that the hardest part about writing is not in writing itself but the ability to sit down and start. Some writers plan their work extremely well but they are big failures when it comes to execution.

Sitting down to write is not easy. And even if you manage to sit down, starting your task or project is daunting. Writers who don’t fight resistant never achieve anything worthwhile.

One of the best ways to fight resistance is listening to music while writing. Most of us listen to music during our leisure time. We listen to music so that we can feel good about ourselves. Listen to music when writing will make your mind associate writing with pleasure instead of pain. You’ll start looking forward to your amazing writing sessions.

Scientific researches show that listening to music while studying or reading has immense benefits to students. Writers can greatly improve their performance and productivity by listening to music while writing.

You want to do the best you can to improve your writing skills and performance. Therefore, it’s important to select the songs that will help you perform at your best. When you get a song that relates to what you do on a daily basis, you’ll be motivated to perform better.

I am writing this article to help you improve your performance as well. Once you start listening to them, you’ll never want to pause when writing. Here are the ten best songs for writers.

Unwritten – Natasha Beddingfield

You might need to play this song and dance before sitting down and starting your session. This song is all about the possibilities you have as a writer. Just listening Natasha’s beautiful voice will spark your creativity and ignite your interest in writing. In the song Natasha says that nobody can speak words using your lips.

Natasha describes what writing is all about. She starts by encouraging writers who stare at the blank page or the blinking cursor on their computer screen. She tells them to open their windows and let the sun lighten up their minds and help them find the words they couldn’t so that they can accomplish their goals and do the best they can.

Every Day I Write the Book – Elvis Costello

Similar to most songs on this list, Elvis claims in an interview that it took him about ten minutes to write this song. Initially, this song was to be played as a rock ballad however, Elvis was not pleased with the arrangement and he therefore chose the more lighthearted beat.

This song is about a love story that’s similar to those we read in romantic novels. The one great thing about this song is that it chronologically follows the book structure in its lyrics. For instance, chapter one is about not getting along. Chapter is all about falling in love and chapter 3 is about standing by me and sticking to your promises.  You should always play this song when you the story you are writing about and your life do not relate with each other.

I’m writing a Novel – John Misty

The artist John Misty was a drummer for the Fleet Foxes. His real name is Josh Tillman. He wrote this amazing song in ten minutes just like Elvis. The story he describes with is song is humorous in a good way.

 In the song, he says that he’s writing a novel because no one has done it before and he will never leave his canyon because he has been surrounded on all sides by people who write novels and live on amusement rides. You should play this song when you start taking your writing too seriously.

Open Book – Cake

This song tells a story about a woman who was very captivating and mysterious at the same time that it consumes “your” life. With trumpet solos and dissonant chords, you will focus more on your writing than the love story. In the song, Cake narrates how the woman is writing and creating a plot.

As it gets more interesting, she finds it difficult to put it away and “you” just think she is an open book however, you don’t know which page you should turn to. The best time to listen to this song is when you have hard to understand character in your piece of writing.

Losing it – Rush

This song captures what most writers go through from time to time. And that is the tragedy of the downward fall. Regardless of the level you are right now or your age, you will definitely relate to this amazing song by Rush. He describes how most writers feel after tumbling down.

He describes a male writer who now has a white beard and glassy eyes. His face is also lined. He is angry because thirty years ago, words would simply flow with great precision and passion. At the moment, his mind is dull and dark because indecision and sickness. You should play this song when you start feeling depressed about your writing.

Mr Writer – Stereophonics

Stereophonics is among the artists who wrote his song in less than ten minutes as he states in an interview. In this song, he targets the journalist who gave him a poor review however, most journalists started thinking that this song was targeting them.

Apart from personal issues, this song paints animosity either between the character and the author or the characters. You should play this song when your character reveals itself in your story.

If You Could Read My Mind – Gordon Lightfoot

If you’ve listened to this song, you are probably singing it right now in your head. What motivated Gordon to write such an amazing home? His broken marriage, an empty home in Toronto and being idle as he says in his song.

This love is about a love story that didn’t have a happy ending. The good thing about this song is how the artist conveys his thoughts and emotions through his lyrics. He blends together the art of writing and love in a fantastic way. You should definitely play this song when you are having a difficult time expressing your emotions when writing.

I Typed for Miles – Jets to Brazil

Every writer should always remember the first few lines of this song. The singer says that he lives in hotel and he must keep on writing if he wants to be better than everyone.

Very few people can live the writer’s life especially in the beginning. When starting out, most writers feel like they are out of order with themselves. Finding the right words is the most difficult thing. You should listen to this inspiring song regularly.

Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend

This song is about writing the way you write without being obsessed about grammar. This song is based on a book and the lyrics describe the chapters clearly. You should play this song when you start thinking of using full stops and punctuation marks when writing.

Rewrite – Paul Simon

This song is based on the Vietnam war and how the author tries to rewrite his life. The writings do apply to your writing career especially when you need some motivation to revise and edit your work.

Conclusion

Did your favorite song appear on this list? Lucky you! Writers are faced with tons of problems every single day. The most surprising thing is that most of these problems are within. These songs will inspire because they remind you that you are not alone and there is always a way to solve your problems. Happy writing!

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Tiffany Harper is a talented writer from New York (USA), an extremely active woman, and a real leader. She began her career as a journalist and preceded it as a writer. Now she works as a subject matter expert with resume writing service, mostly in leisure and lifestyle areas. She likes to write while traveling and meeting new people, feel free to contact her on Twitter.