Noise or Silence

I have always had a problem with silence. When I used to write I could have the tv or radio going and people could walk in talk to me and I would never miss a beat in my writing. Then, Dec. 9 2020 occurred and my world changed. My brain decided that it was going to reset; I had a stroke. I was in the hospital for 2 days and the silence that I had in my head was deafening and un-nerving. My characters had stopped talking to me...

"Now what?" That was the first question I asked myself when I arrived home and put my things up from being in the hospital. I stood in my bedroom looking around, praying for some type of noise. Nothing. A year and half later, one of my secondary characters broke through the silence as I was driving to my second job. I pulled into the parking lot of my job and tears streamed down my face. They were tears of absolute joy. From that day forward I could freely write and my characters were speaking again. However, I still was not able to write and listen to music. It was a frustrating time for me.

It has taken me almost four years to finally be able to listen to music and write at the same time. I love to listen to music when I write because it tends to help me to set the pace of my writing and the flow of the story; If it is Old Southern Rock the flow might be more action packed and fast paced, where if it is Blues or Jazz then the flow maybe more laid back or more romantic.

Music has always been a major part of my life. During the recovery process from the stroke music helped with my healing. Writing also helped with my healing. If I was having a rough day and things were scattered mentally, then I would sit down listen to a song, turn it off, and sit down to edit. When I couldn't have both writing and music at the same time, it was an incredibly difficult time for me and depression would start to seep in. I hope I never have to go through something like that again.

I know that everyone is different and not everyone likes noise when they write or read. What about you? Do you prefer noise or silence? Why?

As a writer do you like it be silent while you write or do you like there to be some noise? As a reader do you like it silent or do you like to have noise?