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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Music and Writing Quiz: The Results, Part One

The responses from my latest quiz are in, and the results are surprising. (At least for me!)  I cut off the responders at 100, which makes percentages easy for my mathematically-challenged right-brain self. :)

Here's the breakdown:



So over 50% of writers write more than 500+ words a day. That's awesome.



No, answers weren't rigged...it was a complete half and half split. This totally surprised me. I would have thought far more people wrote without music.


About the 50 that wrote with music....



This also completely surprised me. I like some ambient noise, but nothing like lyrics can be floating around in my head if I'm trying to drill out a word count. This 38% ROCKS to be able to do both.

For those who listen to music with lyrics, here's the breakdown of what genre was preferred:



I'd LOVE to know the 80% of "other." Seriously....what do you think? I thought I hit the big genres there. 78% of those who listened to music with lyrics said they did so because it gets/keeps them in the "mood" to write. 30% said they thought they wrote more words with it.

For those who said they listened to music without lyrics, here's the breakdown by genre:



Again, what's the with "other?" What other kinds of lyric-less music are out there? 67% of the responders said they listened to music with no lyrics said they did so to get/keep in the "mood" and 33% said they thought they wrote more words because of it.

FUNNY: I did have 3 folks say that they like to "sing along" with the lyric-less music. Do you suppose they meant they hum along?

Stay tuned for next week when I divulge which group actually was more productive according to average words per day.

Let's Analyze: What about the results surprised you? Didn't surprise you? Which group (those who listen to music v. those who don't) do you think will more productive?

Posted by Jeannie Campbell, LMFT at 6:00 AM
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Tommie Lyn's avatar - Go to profile

Tommie Lyn · 685 weeks ago

You certainly got some interesting results from the quiz. I didn't participate in it, because, unless I'm doing NaNo where I *have* to meet a daily count quota, I don't keep track of how many words I write. But I always listen to music while I write the first draft, and sometimes when I edit. I do that because I've learned that the emotional tone of the finished story is affected, is "set," by whatever music I listened to while writing the first draft.

Incidentally, I select one piece of music (doesn't matter if it has lyrics) when I select the title (which I do before I begin...the title serves as a writing prompt, and the story will flow from it), and I listen to that one song on repeat (using headphones so I don't drive my family crazy, LOL). And the music genre varies greatly, from pop music of the '80s, to the theme song from an old '60's television show, to "Amazing Grace" sung in Cherokee...I don't know what song is going to resonate with me until I finalize a title.
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Caro B.'s avatar

Caro B. · 685 weeks ago

Congrats on another interesting quiz! I participated in the quiz and stated that I listen to music without lyrics that could be categorized as New Age/Other. I usually work at a coffee shop so to drown out the chatter around me, I like to listen to sounds of waves and surf (I grew up near the ocean). Other times, when I need to create a mood, I will choose either New Age, Classical, or anything else that has no lyrics but evokes certain feelings. I've tried music with lyrics but I just cannot concentrate on words in my head if I hear other words around. Unfortunately, that kind of limits the music I can use.

Does anybody know of any Web site or other tool where you can enter keywords and get lyric-less music that fits the keywords well? For example, I'm working on a WWII historical fiction novel and I'm at a loss for soundtracks to create a mood of danger/war.

Thanks!
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Caro B.'s avatar

Caro B. · 685 weeks ago

I forgot to mention that I'm from Canada and Pandora is blocked here.
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Amber Stockton's avatar - Go to profile

Amber Stockton · 684 weeks ago

I noticed your remarks about the "other" option and high percentage of responders who checked that. Since your poll didn't allow for multiple selections, if anyone didn't listen to just one of the options, they likely selected "other". So, if you want a more realistic/accurate result, you'll likely have to allow for multiple choices to be selected.

Still, all in all, your poll produced some interesting results. I was surprised to see the 50-50 split too.

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