tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post9087098718771534133..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: The sound of silence - Karen BushKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29686972007167795252017-05-11T16:25:18.868+01:002017-05-11T16:25:18.868+01:00A low background murmur is OK, even helpful, in th...A low background murmur is OK, even helpful, in the way you describe. That's why I find writing on trains often works. Interestingly, if conversation becomes one-sided, i.e. some idiot near me is boring their traveling companions rigid by droning on and on about their favorite subject, that becomes too noticeable and wrecks all concentration for reading and writing. If that happens I just have to move carriages! It's funny how the mind can dismiss normal conversation but not a single voice. Maybe that's why people making phone calls on trains are so irritating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-28105837862160879572017-05-10T13:02:09.684+01:002017-05-10T13:02:09.684+01:00I could never write with any of the things you men...I could never write with any of the things you mention going on, Karen. Distant lawnmowers, isolated shouts, even builders, painters and so on doing exterior work are all OK, but only if there's silence i my immediate surroundings. I suppose it's just the usual pathetic male inability to multi-task, but music, conversation, telly would drive me crazy and I'd give up.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-23925428145453062672017-05-10T09:29:02.776+01:002017-05-10T09:29:02.776+01:00I can't write or read with the radio or TV - b...I can't write or read with the radio or TV - but can write in cafes! Music - I find music seeps into the writing sometime, which is useful if i want to freewrite and just see what happens. But I don't need the Ride of the Valkyrie if I'm trying to write a soothing scene of marital harmony. <br /><br />And reading? At home I need quiet to read. But then I can read in cafes and on buses.<br /><br />As for dogs - we had a dog that used to sing when I practised the piano, but only when I played a scale of Emajoy!JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.com