Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Writing habits

This is topic Writing habits in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Valtam (Member # 2833) on :

I'm curious to know, what habits do you have when you write?

I tend to listen to music when I write. I find something that fits the mood or setting and start writing. I also find that I can express myself better on a computer's word processor than when writing on a pad of paper.

Posted by Isaiah13 (Member # 2283) on :

Hmm, I tend to drink more than I probably should. I've tried listening to music, but I get distracted if there are lyrics in the song. Classical's not bad, but I still do better with silence. I do a lot of my rough stuff in a notebook, and then transfer it to my computer if I think it has any merit. If I hit a wall, I'll usually take a half hour break to read, and then return to the chair regardless of whether I feel like it or not.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 2240) on :

I have an elephant hat - made from water buffalo leather, dyed a rich reddish brown, with imprints of elephants around it - that I wear when I'm writing. I started wearing it as a signal to reinforce to my brain that this means it's writing time. So far, it's worked very well. I wrote 210 pages of a novel in the first week I used it, and it's decent quality writing, too, not throwaway stuff.

I only wear it for writing, though. Not revising, editing, or plotting.

Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :

I've found I have a lot of difficulty writing without music. That does not mean I listen to it all the time, but in the intervals I can snatches of it.
I have a statue of an elephant made of wood that's beside my computer; it gives me something to look at.

Posted by 'Graff (Member # 2648) on :

I find that I'm overly distracted by music. My brain plays funny tricks on me and starts to add harmonies that aren't in the recording, harmonies I proceed to hum or sing.

When I get serious writing done and the only impetus I have is my own discipline, I find that it helps to completely disengage from the outside world. I'll shut doors, unplug wireless adapters for my modem, and turn off all music. When I've written a decent stretch and feel that I've earned a break, I'll turn on a snippet of music--but never anything with lyrics, no matter how much I hunger for a particular song. Only instrumental pieces, mostly Baroque and Classical.

Speaking of hunger, I usually write best on an empty stomach, two hours or so before a scheduled meal. The hunger serves as a mini cattle prod.

The other writing I get done is through Flash and monthly challenges, though I find that school assignments have the same drive and push required. Basically, I work best when an impartial, unforgiving, crass person determines whether my writing falls into the acceptable alloted time-frame--whether that person is a professor or mike munsil.

That being said, setting hard-and-fast deadlines are the way to go. No eating before 1,000 words, or no going out until I've reworked this sticky bit.

But that could just be me.

----------
Wellington

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

If I'm here typing on my computer, I usually have the TV on in the other room, usually on one of the news channels. (If I'm typing on my old typewriter in the other room, it's usually in a place where I can still hear (but can't see) the TV.) I used to listen to music (and sometimes still do), but, being a news junkie, I worry about missing something important.

If I'm really into what I'm doing, I won't hear it, music or news. But that's not that often...

I find when I sit at the computer / typewriter, and am between thoughts on just how to phrase the next sentence, I tend to fiddle with any objects that happen to be lying nearby. There's quite a supply built up around this computer right now...but, really, anything'll do.

Posted by Valtam (Member # 2833) on :

It's interesting how a lot of you guys share the habit with me of listening to music while you concentrate on writing. I've always focused better with something else tugging at my attention for some reason. It can't be too loud, but just enough sound to drown out the other thousand thoughts works wonders, it seems. Usually I listen to movie scores or classical music, I even have a CD of opera scores beautifully done in violin that I got from the Paris opera house. Sometimes, however, I listen to something as hard and fast as metal.

Posted by Monolith (Member # 2034) on :

I tell you what, I do pretty good with or without music, which has to be alternative or heavy metal. It gives some of my work a dark side, but hey, most of the times, it works to my advantage.

That's just what I do when I write.

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

I really want an elephant hat.

My most productive writing time is on airplanes. I put in earplugs so I don't hear anything and I just start typing and then 5k words later the plane lands. I'm planning on writing most of my Nano novel this year on planes to Thailand and back. If I were a rich and famous eccentric author I'd maybe book plane trips at crucial production times just to get some writing done.

At home, I have music on and a candle lit. I usually work in tiny spurts alternating with tiny breaks: write for a minute, then go read a blog entry or something, then write some more, etc. I just don't work straight through (even in flashes, when time is limited; even at work).

Posted by Thunderduck (Member # 2802) on :

I find that absolute silence is what I need to place myself within my works. I found that while writing with music on I tended to write to a beat, or a certain rythym. The family is also a great distraction so I reserve late nights and early mornings as my personal time to get creative.

Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :

I used to listen to music, but it became too much of a distraction because I'd always rewind a song I liked to hear the beginning if I was too focused on writing the first time around.

Now, I more often than not write outside. I take my notebooks, paper (lined and clear), and how-to books, and I head to the backyard deck, where I stare at the page until something hits, usually consuming dangerous amounts of coffee.

It works. If you stare at the page long enough (which I just can't do on the computer--too many distractions), the words tend to come. If not immediately (and often, most certaintly not immediately) than after some thought, when you make a connection, or have a though you hadn't had before.

And if it doesn't, I work on something else for a while. I have five projects I carry around in notebooks. In any case, I'm writing something.

Posted by Varishta (Member # 2789) on :

Music is a bad idea for me, because I listen to a lot of non-english CDs and internet radio. The upshot of this is that my sentences start to sound like they were put together by a committee of jet-lagged Tuvinians.

I have an odd habit of typing an "outline" on the screen before I start, like this:

morning desc. grey blah.
(add earlier bit about the dog?)
M meets V @ cafe. Fish on wall
"What about the boat?" debate, etc.
traffic jam. rusty truck. fog.
the black case the suit & kippers
setup for Kintek is. scene

As I cover a topic, I delete it. That way, I don't leave anything out.

Lately I've been setting a 500 word minimum, even though I usually do more than that. That way, if I have a slow day and only get 600 words written, I think, "Hey, at least I made my goal!"

Posted by Mechwarrior (Member # 2796) on :

I'm surprised how many people listen to music while writing. I thought I was an oddball (well, at least when it comes to that habit).

Music is the background of my life. Probably the only addiction I have. When I write it drowns out the noise in my head and gives me something to ignore so I can focus on writing.

If an elephant hat can produce such amazing results, I want a 3 piece elephant suit.

Posted by Paul-girtbooks (Member # 2799) on :

I always have music on in the background, but interestingly up until last year I had ALWAYS listened to instrumental music, mainly Vangelis, as I thought lyrics would be distracting.

But toward the end of last year I wrote a novella, featuring two main characters on separate story threads... and I found myself listening to loads of blues music for the male protagonist and grunge music for the female character.

Ever since then I select a piece of music to suit the mood of the scene I'm writing that day (whether it be Mozart or Metallica).

Finally, I LOVE writing when there's other people around me: long train journeys up North to visit my aunt and cousin, cosy bars, the kind with the deep leather seats and dark wood and warm yellow lighting.

With my day job being Monday to Sunday (okay the weekends are overtime, but hey I got my wedding and my honeymoon next June to save up for, so whatcha gonna do?!) all my writing now is done at home. And that's fine, really... but I sure do miss those long train journeys.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 2240) on :

Hey, it wasn't the elephant hat alone that did the trick. It just helped to remind me that this is the time to write.

I'm a plotter. The more detailed the plot, the better for me, and that includes making notations of POV, foreshadowing that needs to go in the scene, and so on. My husband is also a sci-fi writer, and we've recently discovered that we plot very well together for my novels (he isn't a plotter, so it doesn't work for his stories.) We hammer out all the logistics, find and fix every plot hole, and have everything nailed down. My plot outline tends to be, oh, 10-20 pages long. I need that.

See, I've also learned that, for me, when I'm blocked, it's because I don't know where to go next. But if I plot it all out before hand, then I don't have to figure anything out. I can just sit down and write.

In other words, plotting in detail beforehand frees me to write up a storm.

Added to that, I've also been working on developing my writing "muscles" over the last few years, developing my ability to blitz draft. Add to that my competitive streak (I've got a personal best of 65 pages in one day and brain damage at the end of it) with some other incredible blitz drafters, and I've got a winning formula.

In other words, I've just figured out what works for me, and I'm using it to my advantage.

My next blitz drafting week, which is in two weeks, I'm aiming for 35 pages a day. And the one after that, I'll aim for 40 pages a day. Yes, I'm insane. But guess what? It works for me.

Now. About that elephant hat. I have a picture of it up here: http://www.srilanka.laurieashton.com/arc20050717.htm#BlogID1214

[This message has been edited by quidscribis (edited August 28, 2005).]

Posted by Valtam (Member # 2833) on :

I've tried to write out a plot outline, but whenever I do, the story just takes a completely different turn, and often a better one. Writing out exactly what the plot needs to be is, for me, like putting a cheetah in a small cage. It can survive when it's all caged up, but it's only happy when it has space to run.

Posted by NMgal (Member # 2769) on :

LOL...That's a great hat! We need a picture of you wearing it, though, to fully appreciate it.

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

I MUST HAVE AN ELEPHANT HAT.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 2240) on :

LOL

Yeah, yeah, I'll see what I can do about getting a photo of me in the hat. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one around here capable of taking pictures that are actually flattering.

Beth - you might just have to bribe me. :rofl: But you're going to Thailand in November, right? Chances are good you might be able find something there, if not exactly like it, with enough character and style to do the job for you. My sister paid the equivalent of $5 US for mine (in Sri Lanka, where I live). Make sure you bargain hard otherwise you'll likely get gouged.

Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :

Excellent. I will keep my eyes open and hunt one down.

Of course it doesn't have to be that exact elephant hat. Just something equally excellent. Elephants in particular are great, though; I've kind of collected them for years.

Posted by Varishta (Member # 2789) on :

Check this hat out:

http://www.pacificactionsports.com/details.asp?L1=3&sku=2BEBL01B¤t_page=1&pnum=0

I collect elephants, too.

Posted by JRune (Member # 2835) on :

I throw on music, which is a gamble. I know most of my music so well that it's just background, but recently I've rotated a few new artists into the playlist, and I'm not 100% impressed with their work. It's a bit distracting to be in the middle of a particularly good scenario and have Beck start warbling about aphid maneur heists in the background or babbling about being an alien from another sphere.