Having settled into the TamCave, my very own writing den (see aliens, robots and harmonicas), there was one thing missing. All the sounds.

I like to write to sounds. Sitting in silence freaks my brain out a bit – I realise I’m staring out of the window and straining to hear the click and tick of the radiators kicking in. Time passes and the cursor on the screen blinks, waiting patiently for me to make it dance. But how can it dance when it has nothing to dance to?

So I like to have music on, picking the music for the mood of the piece, for the background to the words. Picking music that would become the soundtrack to the book. Grind Spark had a playlist on repeat, a writing ear-worm that kept rhythm with the characters. So I collect songs, albums and playlists that I can have ready to call on when the need to break the silence hits.

Generally I stick to instrumental music – or if it’s not instrumental then songs and albums that I know really well so I don’t get distracted by the invasion of words in my ear. There’s also a lot of mighty fine soundtrack music that totally fits the bill for my writing moods at the moment. So here’s just some of the albums and playlists that are keeping my ears busy while my fingers type, for your auditory enjoyment.

What are your favourite writing ear-worms? What keeps your ears occupied so your words can run riot? What’s the soundtrack to your WIP?