I know some of you guys just want some time to chill and hand out or maybe look forward to a challenge, so here's one for you guys! When creating any writing piece, what tools do you need? (Example: I need red pens and a nice thick notebook)
A computer. Preferably with some music. But I need the computer. I write too slowly to keep up with my head and get frustrated too easily.
What do I personally need? Lots of notebooks, and waterman ink cartridges Oh, and some inspiration, which I often find irritatingly hard to come by. EDIT: Actually, music helps me too. Pink Floyd, usually, though it tends to be heavier and faster for fight/battle scenes, and for some reason I've been a little orchestral on my latest project... Strange...
A marble front composition book and at least a dozen perfectly sharpened #2 pencils, iced tea, and an empty table at Waffle House, Denny's or the Truck Stop. I have never been able to do the raw creative work on a computer.
I'm the other way around. I am best off entering notes and ideas, or actual writing, directly into a computer. For one thing, My handwriting is atrocious, and I tend to suffer from writer's cramp, so there is no pleasure for me in scribbling on paper. The rare exception is if I come up with an idea when no computer is handy. I always have a pen on me, and usually have business cards as well. Any scrap of paper will do, because it's only there to record key reminders until I am back at a computer.
I need my laptop, the Internet, a thesaurus and a cup of tea. I feel more at ease when I have the Internet at hand and a warm cup of tea to help me think. I also think nice surroundings help, maybe a balcony with a nice outlook or a sunny spot in your favourite part of the house.
These days I use the Internet for Dictionary, Thesaurus and most general research, even though I have several hardcopy references as well. But the Internet has yet to replace tea.
WoW, you guys really did take this forum to the next level! lol! Well, when I write I need either blue or red pens, my laptop, and a great view with a glass of pepsi! lol! Well, then I think it's time for a new question! lol! What inspires you to write? (Example: pictures, people, movies, ect.) Good Luck!
I have to be sitting at my desk by the window, in complete silence. (Since I'm the father of a teenager, this means I can't start writing til everyone else is in bed.) I need my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, my Roget's Thesaurus, and my Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary to hand. Everything has to be obsessively tidy or it doesn't work. An empty coffee cup or an unanswered letter in the room means I can't write. I also need something to write with, and something to write on. If I'm hand-writing, that means my fountain pen with a fresh ink cartridge and some decent-quality 100 gsm A4 paper. If I'm writing on the computer, it has to be the exactly correct package (I use Open Office as a word processor) and exactly the correct template (I've got a story template with paperback-book sized pages, line spacing and formatting, so it looks as if a paperback is literally appearing on screen as I type). What inspires me to write is sitting down in front of a blank screen with nothing else to do except fill the page with prose. I'm not one of these people who gets a scene in their head during the day, composes it, then comes back home and writes it out on the page; I have to empty my mind of everything else and let the words sort of come.
Emotion. I need to be feeling some intense emotion to write well. It doesn't even have to be the same type of emotion that I'm putting into the story. I wrote a comedy while depressed, and some of the most tragic stories I've ever written I was actually in a good mood while writing it, until I realized I was crying. Thats why I generally listen to music while I write. The right stuff can really get me feeling, something. As long as I've got the emotion I'm inspired.
I think I just answered this question in anther thread. The bills that have to be paid inspires me to write the romance novels. With my non-genre work, the characters in my head refuse to let me go until I have captured them on paper.
nothing but whatever is handy to write with/on... i'll bite my finger and use blood on the wall, if nothing else is available! as for what inspires me, anything and everything...
I've actually done that. Though it was on a napkin. And I didn't bite my finger, I cut it with a steak knife...
It wasn't too bad, but in the end I just wrote with the tip of the knife. It's where having used a quill comes in handy, I suppose. It was just a few lines for a poem I'd been working on, which came to me suddenly, and I knew I wouldn't remember. It was in quite a post restaurant too... Lol
Banzai, that's a little disturbing. You could always have just asked for a pen... But I suppose that would have been entirely too boring. For me, when I'm doing my planning I have to have something to handwrite on, and music is a must. When I'm actually writing, computer is necessary, music is usually a must (unless it's really good music, in which case I lose focus and spend an hour singing and not writing), and access to the Internet so I can do research, etc. Oh, and tea. And food that goes with tea (like cheese, and apples, and grapes...). That way I can pretend I'm a really cool writer from the past and don't actually have a high-speed computer in front of me. if I'm in a coffee shop that makes it perfect. That said, quills are immensely inspiring. I feel like I can write anything with a quill in hand and parchment to roll up and seal with wax (I'm hopelessly romantic about anything even remotely literary). Other inspiration...usually words. Random phrases that I hear in passing, a word on a sign...anything with letters. it can get rather annoying, wlaking down the street and assaulted by plot ideas from all sides.
believe me, quills aren't the least bit romantic to one who's old enough to have had to write penmanship exercises with a wooden nib-holder and inkwell [and a nun standing by with ruler ready to rap knuckles that wouldn't comply well enough!]... though i must admit i once fitted a ballpoint refill into a big, pretty feather i found on the beach, to make a fake one... and used it! [but not for anything taking more than a few words]...
Quills are incredibly romantic, it's just that their bloody tough to write with (or at least I've always thought so). They make my hand ache after a page or so
WoW! Very interesting theories over there. lol! I'm glad you all are having a blast! Although I'm not too sure about the knife/blood, nor the quill. None sound too appealing, lol! Quills are very frustrating to work with, and blood, just a bit frightening to nearby viewers, don't you think? lol! Anyways, as for today's subject, i noted that a lot of you guys need music to focus. So, with that being said today's lovely exquisite topic is: What's your favorite song. If that topic doesn't appeal to you, than you guys are more than welcome to give us all a heads up on both your writing styles, and writing genres. Good Luck with today's mission! lol! Signing out!
Favorite songs is a topic better taken to the Lounge. There are also threads about writing styles and preferred genres in the General Writing forum under Community Interaction.
No, quills are romantic even with the wooden nib-holders...though the wooden ones do make my hand cramp after a little while...I just spent about three hours paraphrasing Madison's Federalist 10 onto parchment with ink and my hand is killing me... My problem with quills is I can never find any good ones. I live in Colorado, and for some reason birds here refuse to drop feathers anywhere (and I dislike going out and buying feathers...). To stay somewhat on topic, I've also noticed that challenges really inspire me. I'm a very goal-oriented person, and if someone challenges me to write for a prompt, then I get a million ideas I never would have thought of earlier.
A notebook I like the feel of, but it has to be cheap so I don’t worry about writing crap and have no excuse not to write no matter where I am. Then my mac to type it in and check the spelling. Dictionaries are great, but I usually don’t use them before first edit anyway, I think I am too lazy. As for inspiration, riding the bus works best for me. I have no clue why. Doesn’t work in trains or cars...
WoW! Love the reponses! Sorry i haven't been commenting as often as I probably should, but I've been piled down with so much work, I've lost track! Well, I'm back now, so let's get this party started! lol! First off, sorry about the mix up with the music Cogito! I forgot that this forum is strictly for plots! Anyways, this week's forum starter is, genres! What's your favorite genre, followed by a short detailed paragraph of an attempt based off the chosen genre. While writing your detailed piece of litereature, I want you guys to really focus on trying to focus on your current moods. Good Luck!
