Writing a holiday book? Writing a piece set in a historical era, find music that matches the tone of that time. Soundtracks: Fantasy writers love to listen to some good Lord of the Rings music.

Noisli: This website provides background noises that have proven to increase productivity. Granted, if you enjoy golf or baseball, you might want to flip to a channel that you can easily tune out. Sports/HGTV/etc.: Whenever my mom has to write a paper for her master’s program, she turns on the TV to an HGTV show, or at least a show with fewer stakes than Daredevil or any other edge-of-your-seat program. If you listen to anything from movie soundtracks to classical Bach, you might just find a rhythm that can help your writing tempo. Instrumental music: Let’s take it a step further, no words at all.

But if I can’t recognize the words in the song, I can’t sing along. Songs in other languages: I don’t know about you, but when Twenty-One Pilots starts blaring, I begin to have more words for the rap than for the Word doc in front of me. Consider the following avenues of noise to break up that block: Why the cure will help: Although some writers, like myself, prefer to work in absolute silence, others need some background noise to help them improve their productivity. What the cure is: Finding which noises help you write (some ways to break up that writer’s block)

Noisli music