This post gives meaning to the phrase, "There's a method to the madness"
Out of curiosity, what was the song you had on loop? I've never used the technique of listening to only one song while writing or working on stuff like that, but I heard Stephen King mention that he does it to help with distractions too.
As the post says, this was created over the span of a few days. I recall two songs on repeat. This one and this one. The process there is selecting a youtube playlist, several songs I've not heard play, one hits me in the head the right way in that moment, so I put it on loop. Become far more focused. The predictable sounds replace the unpredictable thoughts/distractions. It's comforting.
I didn't know Stephen King did it as well.
Oh right, I thought you might have had one song that is the go-to one for getting creative and working on art.
I have a similar process to you man. When I want to get some writing done - mainly for fiction - I throw some stuff on that isn't too lyrical, as when it's just music I find it easier to focus on what I'm thinking about. I mainly go for techno, as it's just a repetitive beat that just lets my mind wonder a bit. It works for sci-fi and can help to paint a bit of a picture to get started.
Yeah, his process is; every day at 6 or 7 he heads to his office and puts on a pair of headphones of a song on loop, and then he just gets writing. I took a bit of a leaf out of his book, especially when he was talking about writing with no idea, and just going for it regardless. He is a beast.
I used to really enjoy writing fiction and humor as well which is by far the most challenging; often misconstrued. Creativity in general seems to place one in a vulnerable position, making it increasingly difficult to just go for it. Having something productive to drown out the noise, like music, becomes a necessity. Much better than self medicating with powerful and destructive substances, for instance.
Couldn't agree more there, I used to smoke weed - well hash - but gave it up a few years ago. I've stayed off it so long because I noticed that my productivitey went through the roof especially as far as writing goes. Also, in general it wasn't doing me any favours anymore.
Yeah, when writing, I always try to sprinkle some humour in. It's tough to appeal to everyone so there isn't much point in trying. I tend to do what I like, and that's about it and is probably the best way to stay motivated to create.
I think the attitude of, "I'm doing this for me, not you," is important for anyone who's creating stuff.