While I'm writing I always listen to the radio (internet radio). Between bursts of words I check both my Facebook and Youtube account and now this forum. I'll have a quick text chat on one of them. I would really love to listen to music while I write but although I have a wide interest I would rather something that is more soundtrack in style, and something that runs for longer than ten minutes. During my breaks, which come every time I've felt I've earned it - or my crooked back needs a stretch, I'll go make a coffee and have a fag (cig', for our American friends); and generally bop about in the garden feeling good about myself for the work I've done and do some story development thinking.
I knit and crochet, a hobby I picked up a year and a half ago and have been steadily improving at (now good enough to make simple sweaters and the like). Knitting especially is very, very zen, in a non-specifically philosophical way. It's calming, relaxing, and yet there is some math and creativity to it, so it keeps my brain alive much more than staring open-mouthed at the television does. I also have been known to play the occasional game of chess on the laptop--but I'm not as good a chess-player as I am a knitter. On my breaks, I tend to do household chores, as I'm the only one in the apartment and they won't get done if I don't do them, unfortunately. (Where is my maid? Why can't I train the cat to do housework?)
You're not alone. I find myself good when I'm on Level 1, but that's it. I usually wander the expanse universe of TvTropes. I also Facebook, watch TV, pace the room neurotically, practice guitar and flute, and text my friend. He's texted me almost every day since the last day of school, and I feel so special .
I generally don't do anything but write while I'm writing. I don't listen to music; it screws up the rhythms of my sentences. Sometimes I have a TV on in the background if there's something boring and neutral on, like a golf tournament. But the volume is very low. When I take breaks, I get a snack or play guitar.
while doing my daily morning writing site chores, i eat my breakfast... while writing and working on mentees' work, i do nothing else... while writing my own stuff, either nothing, or occasionally may have some classical music on... not songs, since even if only instrumental, the lyrics will be running in my head and derail my wordwork... i take a break only for my mid-afternoon 'dinner' or when there's nothing more to write... while eating, i'll watch tv or read... when there's no work to do, i'll either do some acrostics and crosswords as 'exercise' or work on the current jigsaw i do for a 'brain break'... while doing those, i'll usually have the tv on...
Lately while I write I listen to my favorite band or song, like Nightmare. ahaha. During breaks from writing I usually play drums, or run around insanely around randomly to think of ideas or take a leave and go shopping or walk around my small town(town of like 600 and main street ends in a dead end LOL!) and watch them question why a teenage guy is wearing skull, checker, rose rings, and purple butterfly glasses and laugh at them internally. And of course there is books when I'm out of drumming energy and my brain refuses to work with me =)
I write when I write. That's the only thing I can do when writing. When I'm not writing I'm reading, playing guitar, listening to music, spending time with friends, studying, and sleeping and eating. That's it.
While I write? I press the keys on the keyboard to make the symbols appear on the screen in an order that conforms with the agreed upon (by majority, not by authority) syntax of the English language. During my breaks I go to the bathroom.
It depends on what I'm writing and if it has an impending due date attached to it. When I'm writing on a deadline, I play soothing, lyric-less music like smooth jazz or minimalistic electronica (because anything else is highly distracting) and sit in the same place I do my homework. It really helps to have a place where your brain realizes that it is time to settle down and focus. I find myself to be pretty prolific and in top form when I stick to this routine. When I need a break, I may let my mind rest from writing and the computer screen, but I keep it working on something intsead of zoning out. My mind has two functions: top form or Lazyville, and when I'm on a deadline, I cant afford to slip into Lazyville. I'll make the dinner I surely forgot to eat, take a shower, do homework (preferably something not word-based --math or chemistry are good options), or something similar, and then go back to writing. I usually do that kind of work during the wee hours of the night, because as much as I love writing, I love to procrastinate even more. xx When I'm writing recreationally, all that goes out the window. Sometimes music plays; sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes the TV is on or I'm making or eating dinner. Sometimes I'm outside; sometimes I'm inside --or in class or across the country. I take frequent but short breaks every few paragraphs. That doesnt bother me so much because there is no such thing as good writing, only good rewriting --so why not have fun or be productive and multitask while you do it?
when i write I prefer not to be distracted so i either work in silence, can work over any noise around me happily or i put on Classic FM. I cant have any temptations like Facebook or tv close enough otherwise its more play and less work. In breaks i feed, read or have a relaxing bath so realign the mind, might even do a work out if its a longer break.
While I'm writing fiction I feel a bit intimidated by silence. I tend to plumb the depths of my music collection and put something on to match my mood before I really get down to serious writing. Once I'm flowing I don't really notice the music, or I switch it off. Sometimes for inspiration I'll go to a broadsheet website or watch a good movie if I'm having difficulty with ideas. When I feel I have earned a break I will usually pamper myself with a bath/shower, followed by my usual century long lotions and potions routine. It makes me feel refreshed and ready to start again.
I like to have a cup of tea on the desk while I'm writing. Thanks to my mother's ridiculous rule of 'no drinks or food upstairs - unless you're me', I only ever get to do this when she's out, but it does help no end having that bit of something there. Feeling stressed? Have a sip of hot tea (milk, one sugar). I find silence eerie to write in. It feels like I'm in an exam. It's worth pointing out that I've never failed a written exam, so maybe exam conditions wouldn't be bad, but that isn't the point. It's uncomfortable. I'll have some music on in the background. If I'm second drafting, it's always classical and always quiet. First drafts (when it's ideas and getting the raw story down) tend to go to the soundtrack of bands like Dire Straits. Don't ask me why, as other than saying it's habit I couldn't tell you why. Generally I'll go for an hour or 700 words (whichever is sooner), then take a break and go again. I'll get another cup of tea, have a game on Pro Evo, catch up on the news and maybe read a bit of something, and then sit back down in front of the iMac.
It depends on what mood I'm in. I always listen to music, preferably stuff like 'Jefferson Airplane' or 'Jimi Hendrix'. Sometimes I chew bubblegum, other times I drink coffee or something else.
I generally play music. Maybe The Doors or some off-the-wall indie artist. Smoke cigarettes. Maybe some other stuff. (*hint*) I have to be propped up to write, though. If I lay down, I stop caring about it.
I do nothing, cause I'm living in the world of the words and am unable to bi-function. If I have music at all, it's some "new age", white noise kind of Shinto flutes and harps on the very outer fringe of my consciousness. When it stops flowing and I'm looking for the right expression or questioning verification, it's all over and time to drop the plume, pick up a drink and have an inner mind discussion on how to best proceed, perhaps--tomorrow?.
For my script synopsis, it's mostly "Little Honda" by the Beach Boys on repeat, and for my breaks it's mostly Fats Domino or the Eurythmics
Q, What do you do while writing A, Hopefully; get lost in my writing Q, During breaks A, Sadly; waste far too much time on computer card games
I do nothing else while I write. I usually make a cup of tea if I'm sitting down to work on some long fiction but inevitably leave it on the kitchen counter for hours. I don't really take breaks from fiction; I write until I'm done, though I'm trying to work out a system wherein I get reminded to eat. I find everything to be a distraction from the words that are pouring out of my hands. I'm pretty snippy to people who walk in on my writing space, too, though that depends on whether I'm creating something new and will lose it if disturbed or if I'm editing and can look up to answer a quick question.
I write when I am at work mostly. Being a printer I have a few hours to fill during the long nights. So when I have a break from writing fiction, I'm really working!
I usually check facebook or my e-mail during downtime. While writing I almost always have music going, usually the kind depends on what it is I'm writing.
Loud music for the win. I can write in silence - and in all sorts of odd places... I'm very much a "take a notebook and write anywhere I can sit down and don't have to pay attention" kind of writer... but I just prefer blasting loud music at myself to wipe clean all thoughts but useful ones. During breaks I do stuff like wander around the internet.
In the middle of the writing process, there would be some music in my ears to keep the flowing of words. In my breaks... i would... check my facebook?
