I'm just about to start editing and have switched from my 'starred' Spotify playlist to my 'just music' playlist which features everything from Einaudi and Oldrini piano music to TV Themes, film scores and music from the computer game, Modern Warfare 3. Amongst other things, I sometimes light a candle and sometimes I sit down at the lappy with a stack of rich tea and a flask of coffee (hey, the kitchen seems a world away when the words are flowing ...) So, what do you do whilst writing?
Sometimes I eat. Last night I made cinnamon buns. I also keep favorite books handy and read favorite scenes to keep me inspired. Oh and music, I've been listening to flutey-hoot jazz from old 70's movies.
I like to read extracts from my favourite books when I'm stuck in a rut, while writing. It sort of inspires you to keep trying to improve. When I write, I just write, usually. I can't concentrate on anything else. If I end up on WF, for example, I just waste time and procrastinate!
Don't you just hate it when that happens? The day drags until you finally get the lappy out, then you *just check your messages* and two hours later ... damn ...
i generally tend to listen to music, i am working on And From Black To Blue, and im using Dream Theater as my inspiration as i have had a lot of ideas for this book whilst listening to their music
I drink coffee or hot tea, occasionally watch tv in the background if it's not too intense writing (first draft for example), sugary snacks make occasional appearances, and then I listen to music if need be (I have a few select tracks for different tones/emotions I'm working on in the scene that help get me in the mood). I also keep insence by my computer which helps sometimes.
I'm jealous of all you who can write with distractions in the background or who don't consider music and the like distractions at all. In my pre-writing stages, the tv, radio, my kids, etc. don't bother me. I can even snack and such. When I'm in the zone, though, I need lights and silence so all I hear is the scene in my mind...thus I churn out the most actual work at night. I usually have a drink with me and completely forget it's there after the first sip, ha!
I'm not sure if there are a lot people out there like me. I do all my writing in a public library or on the shores of the 2nd longest beach in the world. I get distracted easily and if there is an interesting source of distraction I stop writing just pull out my rough book and write about the distraction and by doing this I actually came up with a short story while I was doing a research for my novel in the library. I know i'm crazy as I can just do something even when i'm not prepared for it, now this is what I do whilst writing...
Like you, I write to music a lot of the time. For the current WIP I'm writing to the score from War of the Worlds by John Williams, a movie that sucked, but with, as usual, a brilliant score from Williams. I tend to match the score to the mood of the piece. For the next project I'll be listening to the score from Solaris and Moby's Underwater!
When I'm doing revisions and stuff I can get sucked in too (that's usually when I don't have the TV on and stuff). It's funny you mention about forgetting you have a drink because there are many nights where I've sat down with hot coffee or tea and by the time I get around to taking my second sip its ice cold (Then I go microwave it, take another sip, and wait for it to get cold again ).
It's an absolutely impossibility to get up and wander away once a hot drink is poured; it's like tapping some primal instinct. A little marijuana, light jazz, coffee, and I pace. I'm writing a comedy, so I work out a bit in my head, then copy it down.
I lived in a pretty hectic household growing up so I'm used to all kinds of distractions - We had a teen living with us once who picked up his t.v. ( one of the big bulky ones ) and threw it. I was merrily writing, totally oblivious - until it landed. Which by the way sounded like an airplane crashed into the house. I jumped, my pen went zigzaging up the page. I lost my concentration and raced into the hall yelling - What the Hell was that? Just a typical writing day.
@peachalulu Ha! That's just crazy. Can you focus in silence as well or do you function better with some sort of sound around you because that's what your body and mind acclimated to?
I've gotten to the point where I can focus in anything - total quiet, distractions, noise. I'm probably better with music as total silence can make me a little jittery. In my home growing up ( occasionally - not always ) total quiet usually meant someone was up to no good or plotting something no good - lol.
Nothing more than my neurons. I open the editor, and let it opened all the day. I'm self-employed, and sometimes I don't even sleep. So, I write while I'm working, or, at least, I try to write. No music, no additions, only movies while I work (I made handmade plushies, so I can watch something while I sew ) Looks like a peaceful work but isn't, I need to deal with customers, stuff hard to find here, the post office that don't work, my cats... Music only when I'm in the bus, but I don't write, only made annotations of the ideas.
peachalulu, I guessed your humor writing is good. This post is witness. Also you wrote in your previous post : I worry, when you finished your book, you have been obese. So please be careful about feeding yourself.
Say what? Not that I have to justify a snack, but the fact that I mentioned I made cinnamon buns doesn't mean I ate them all in one sitting.
I often drink tea and sometimes I eat a snack. It dependent on what I find in the refrigerator. Sometime nothing
I almost always have a large glass of some beverage beside me at all times, usually some form of diet soda, which I drink from at irregular intervals. I don't eat while writing. If I'm "seriously writing", and not just writing when I don't have to according to my schedule, I don't tend to listen to anything, but I often listen to podcasts; radio or music, with or without lyrics when that's not the case. I always write on my stationary PC from an office-style chair and I try not to do too many other things simultanously, the only frequent exceptions being research, usually online, and looking through my notes on what I'm writing, be it computer documents or maps, notes or reminders on my mobile phone or something I've written on a piece of paper. I have fixed time slots for writing, eating, excersising, "fun" and sleep, and to a lesser degree podcasts and news, escpecially Monday through Thursday, while Friday and Saturday I tend to take care of mostly non-writing stuff I have to do, while I always take all of Sunday off unless I happen to think of an idea I have to write down. I'm not trying to convert anyone into my ways, though, as what works for one person doesn't for another. I love writing, and I write quite slowly, but I also need a lot of time off and to sleep to function properly, and I love music, podcasts, games taking it slow and easy, and so my life revolves greatly around that. We're fortunate as writers, I think, to be able to schedule our schedules this freely, though it can be a curse as well, and for sure very demanding.
Sometimes I listen to music, but depending on the music it can be distracting... Villain scenes are usually sauced with metal.
MOOOOZIK, i find anything that almost disables the conscious thinking of the brain allows creativity to flow better. Bit Like the exercise where try to remember someones voice, the more you focus on it the harder it is to remember and sometimes quieter it is in your mind. Try it lol its fun.
