[Writer’s Playlist
by: Woody Woodger
American University held its first Visiting Writers Series on Wednesday the 29th of September featuring poet, nonfiction writer, and music critic Hanif Abdurraqib. The entire talk was enlightening. Abdurraqib’s wisdom poured out of my Zoom screen and puddled around my keys. A little Dr. Suse-esque fish even popped out from between the 9 and the I keys to scold me for sneaking a glass of Safeway Brand, yet still puckeringly dry...um...milkshake.
While the entirety of his talk inspired, one moment at the end really stuck out to me. Maybe it was that the Red Fish and I really started to enjoy our milkshakes, but when Abdurraqib was asked about what music he listens to as he writes, I was flabbergasted to hear him say, “writing is a painful process to me,” and that is why he writes in total silence. This is “to honor that pain,” he said.
And I was surprised. I, like many other writers I’ve asked, listen to something when I write. And I legitimately believed there would be no one on earth who would prefer to listen to the world’s distractions over any other option.
But I do know that every writer has their preferences. Some writers I’ve talked to say they choose their writing music so they can be in the right “mood” for the piece. This is too cumbersome to me. This way of choosing music presumes I would actually have a mood in mind before I started anything. This method sounds like the water birth of music choosing: unimaginably laborious to set up and then, once situated, far too ceremonial to be satisfying.
Then I hear the other end of the spectrum. The “yeah, put on absolutely anything and I can write to it” kind of person. These interlopers are frustrating for me because I can’t help unflurling my insecurities over the situation, like a dusty tarp over the cursed pot in the attic. As vengeance for their enviable ability, I make these “anything goes” people have an insufferable snootiness to take fault with. A simple, “Oh, I don't car]