This week’s clip is an interview with Stephen King (who needs no introduction) and Audrey Niffenegger (author of The Time Traveller’s Wife, Her Fearful Symmetry and other novels). In it, they discuss their writing habits, their preferred environment and whether they listen to music while they write.

I never listen to music when I’m writing, because if my writing is taking priority in my brain then I don’t even hear the music in the background. And if I’m struggling to concentrate, the music only acts as a distraction.

But everyone is different and many people find background music helpful. One interesting point that both authors made, though, is that the music they listen to when they’re writing has to be familiar. They don’t listen to ‘new’ music – that’s a pleasure they want to enjoy when they can concentrate fully on it.

Another interesting point that Stephen King made is that at the end of a writing session he always leaves a couple of pages unedited. Then, when he starts again the following day, he goes through these pages revising and correcting them and this acts as a springboard to get his creativity flowing again.

So, if you sometimes sit there with blank page in front of you, wondering where to start, it’s a tip you might consider following!

Author: Diana Nadin

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