The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

[_Lynn_]

STILL runs laps around me.

I went months without writing at all. Whenever I sat down at the computer, everything disappeared from my head. Every thought, each idea, all possibilities . . . gone. I stopped trying.

I cleared all the chaos from around me and the ideas returned. I've said it to others many times . . . whenever I see a mess (chaos), I can't write. When things are in order, and all the chores around me are done, my brain calms down and I can write.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I went months without writing at all. Whenever I sat down at the computer, everything disappeared from my head. Every thought, each idea, all possibilities . . . gone. I stopped trying.

I cleared all the chaos from around me and the ideas returned. I've said it to others many times . . . whenever I see a mess (chaos), I can't write. When things are in order, and all the chores around me are done, my brain calms down and I can write.

I can relate. I am much more mentally ordered when my environment is well ordered as well. Right now, things are a bit of chaos. Hoping to work on that Sunday, but I have to work tomorrow.

 

[NotWise]

I can relate.

Not me. There are always distractions while I write, but my best results come when the story itself closes out all the extraneous effect and there's nothing but me and the tale. I wrote 20,000 words in a day once because I didn't care about anything but the story.

 

[Son_of_Battles]

I find that a couple things happen to me when I don't read something I've written for a while - either I'm surprised at how much I do like it, or I can pick out the problems and fix them.

I reread my stuff over and over before it goes out. I think it's better to cringe over a story before it goes out than after.

A couple months ago I reread my most popular story, and despite the nice rating and the "W" in the listing, I found the same dialog repeated twice in the story. It made me unhappy.

As near as I can recall, I'd copied the conversation from an early part of the story to a later part of the story, then forgot to replace the early part. The story is fairly long, so I can only hope that few people noticed. Those folks who did comment found other things to comment about.

The thing with me is, I've only been writing for a year. the first story I ever wrote was Women's Studies, and it has been over a year since I posted chapter one. I know I have grown as a writer since then, and I really don't want to go back and see how bad I was. I'll leave that cringe-fest until I finish the series and do a full re-edit and rewrite.

 

[Son_of_Battles]

Not me. There are always distractions while I write, but my best results come when the story itself closes out all the extraneous effect and there's nothing but me and the tale. I wrote 20,000 words in a day once because I didn't care about anything but the story.

I'm with you. Distractions don't matter to me so much. The day I came up with the idea for my novel, I wrote for nearly 24 hours straight clocking in at about 36k words. I have never written so much at one time since then, and I doubt I ever will again. After that I was burned out for three weeks though.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Not me. There are always distractions while I write, but my best results come when the story itself closes out all the extraneous effect and there's nothing but me and the tale. I wrote 20,000 words in a day once because I didn't care about anything but the story.

Sadly, I cannot do that. I can force myself to write under most circumstances but the flow which produces my best writing requires some measure of . . . limiting intrusions. I find that when my child is around some part of my attention is always on her, for example. The coffee house, with ear buds in and my white noise app on, seems to work best right now. Any mess is not my responsibility.

 

[MagicaPractica]

The thing with me is, I've only been writing for a year. the first story I ever wrote was Women's Studies, and it has been over a year since I posted chapter one. I know I have grown as a writer since then, and I really don't want to go back and see how bad I was. I'll leave that cringe-fest until I finish the series and do a full re-edit and rewrite.

Understandable. I was thinking more in terms of newly written material. Several writers recommend putting newly written material away for a week to a few months before editing in order to achieve some measure of distance. That used to feel unreasonable but now I find that life moves so fast that the time passes without me doing it intentionally even.

 

[Son_of_Battles]

Sadly, I cannot do that. I can force myself to write under most circumstances but the flow which produces my best writing requires some measure of . . . limiting intrusions. I find that when my child is around some part of my attention is always on her, for example. The coffee house, with ear buds in and my white noise app on, seems to work best right now. Any mess is not my responsibility.

White noise is good, but I prefer the buzz of an AM radio. I hear that shit and I can just tune everything else out.

 

[_Lynn_]

Not me. There are always distractions while I write, but my best results come when the story itself closes out all the extraneous effect and there's nothing but me and the tale. I wrote 20,000 words in a day once because I didn't care about anything but the story.

Distractions aren't the same as the chaos of a messy apartment. I have OCD that despises anything out of place. When things are disorderly, that equals chaos, and that causes my brain to become chaotic, too.

Another factor is the bipolar. My brain works best when the bipolar is 'asleep', so to speak. A messy desk, unfinished dishes, or a basket of unfolded clothing keep my brain from remaining quiet.

 

[Son_of_Battles]

Distractions aren't the same as the chaos of a messy apartment. I have OCD that despises anything out of place. When things are disorderly, that equals chaos, and that causes my brain to become chaotic, too.

Another factor is the bipolar. My brain works best when the bipolar is 'asleep', so to speak. A messy desk, unfinished dishes, or a basket of unfolded clothing keep my brain from remaining quiet.

whatever you do, don't look at my desk... I have a huge desk, which is great for containing piles of papers, a bunch of odds and ends strewn around it, and the infamous leaning tower of Dr. Pepper cans I have going on...

 

[TxRad]

whatever you do, don't look at my desk... I have a huge desk, which is great for containing piles of papers, a bunch of odds and ends strewn around it, and the infamous leaning tower of Dr. Pepper cans I have going on...

She would have a heart attack if she ever saw my desk.

It looks like one hell of a mess but I can lay my hands on anything and everything I need without even looking in that direction most of the time.

 

[Handley_Page]

She would have a heart attack if she ever saw my desk.

It looks like one hell of a mess but I can lay my hands on anything and everything I need without even looking in that direction most of the time.

Same here. Lynn would melt if she saw my place, let alone the desktop. But I can
usually find what I'm looking for - most of the time.
As for "words per day", well, that IS a problem. Sometimes I can type almost as fast as I think (spell-check off, etc.) so at least the idea gets on the screen.
The problem currently is "what bloody words?" I cannot seem to work out what happens in the end.

Time, I think, for a decent coffee.

 

[TxRad]

Got the bottom and outsides of the boat glassed and three coats of epoxy on the hull so I've been writing some while it finishes drying.

Coffee sounds like a good idea.

 

[Handley_Page]

Got the bottom and outsides of the boat glassed and three coats of epoxy on the hull so I've been writing some while it finishes drying.

Coffee sounds like a good idea.

How long does it take to 'go off' ?

Join me in a coffee ?
I'd suggest sitting in the garden, but the wind's unfriendly and the sun cannot make its mind up.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Good Morning! I'm off to work.

 

[TxRad]

How long does it take to 'go off' ?

Join me in a coffee ?
I'd suggest sitting in the garden, but the wind's unfriendly and the sun cannot make its mind up.

It's according to how I mix it. For gluing pieces together I mix it for an hours working time. For fiberglass, I mix it according to how long the runs are. For panting the exterior, I have approximately 55-60 square feet and like to get two coats on before it starts getting tacky. The plywood adsorbs most of the first coat and the second started to slick in spots. I let that dry, do a light sanding with 220 grit nd apply a thicker coat for the finish under coat which gets sanded again before primer and paint.

It takes longer to fiberglass the seams, coat, primer, and paint, than it does to assemble the thing. Then I flip it over and primer and paint the insides (2 coats of each) before I install the floor, box the gunnels, install the seat, and front deck. Then that is installed and the primer and paint continues.

Without all the epoxy, primer, and paint, I could build three boats to one but they wouldn't last very long. With touchup and keeping the insides dried, I figure one of my boats will last over twenty years.

Got a cup of coffee on the desk right now. It's just breaking day and already in the high 70's with 50+% humidity. I think I'll keep my coffee and me right here. The afternoon highs are in the 95-98 degree range with feel like temps of 105-107.

Good Morning! I'm off to work.

Have a good day.

Uh, wait. Why are you working on a Saturday or did i misplace a few days?

 

[NotWise]

Got a cup of coffee on the desk right now. It's just breaking day and already in the high 70's with 50+% humidity. I think I'll keep my coffee and me right here. The afternoon highs are in the 95-98 degree range with feel like temps of 105-107.

Uck. All activities will be sweaty activities.

Here the monsoon moisture is back and we're supposed to have chances of rain for the next few days. We'll see, but the dew point rose from 18F at 4:00PM yesterday (7% humidity) to 54F at 9:00AM, and for the moment the humidity is 50%.

I left my thumb drive with my stories in my office yesterday, and I may not be able to get it back before Monday. I'm going into withdrawal.

 

[Handley_Page]

I managed this afternoon to watchg a film I'd recorded off the TV.
'American President' [Mick Douglas & Annette Bening].
And I stayed awake !

And now a coffee, please.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I haven't had a single thing that I thought worth putting on paper. I've tried to write more chapters of a couple of stories and let them drop. I always try to write a story with the sex just in 'because that's what we do' but I don't have any ideas. Maybe it's time to start something completely new with hardly any erotica in it at all. At least it would be a change!

 

[NotWise]

Maybe it's time to start something completely new with hardly any erotica in it at all. At least it would be a change!

That's an idea. Generally less sex seems to mean lower ratings, but that trend can be overwhelmed, or ignored if you don't care much about ratings.

My "Unlikely Angels" series has five chapters without sex, and three out of five are "Hot." There are reasons other than a lack of sex for the other two getting a lower rating.

"The Third Ring" has no explicit sex, and I've considered writing out what little non-explicit sex there is. That story has a rating well over Hot, and more than 100 votes on just over 3800 views.

To me the characters and story are the most important aspect, and writing in extra sex to make some readers happy sometimes gets in the way. In my most recent story I removed two long sex scenes and rewrote the story around a couple others because they weren't telling the story. In that case there's still plenty of sex.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Have a good day.

Uh, wait. Why are you working on a Saturday or did i misplace a few days?

*shrug* It was my Saturday to work. At least it was a quiet one, end of summer and all.

 

[_Lynn_]

whatever you do, don't look at my desk... I have a huge desk, which is great for containing piles of papers, a bunch of odds and ends strewn around it, and the infamous leaning tower of Dr. Pepper cans I have going on...

She would have a heart attack if she ever saw my desk.

It looks like one hell of a mess but I can lay my hands on anything and everything I need without even looking in that direction most of the time.

Same here. Lynn would melt if she saw my place, let alone the desktop. But I can
usually find what I'm looking for - most of the time.
As for "words per day", well, that IS a problem. Sometimes I can type almost as fast as I think (spell-check off, etc.) so at least the idea gets on the screen.
The problem currently is "what bloody words?" I cannot seem to work out what happens in the end.

Time, I think, for a decent coffee.

So I guess none of you vacuum inside the desk drawers either.

 

[NotWise]

So I guess none of you vacuum inside the desk drawers either.

Right. I'm more likely to name the spiders in my desk drawers than I am to vacuum them out.

 

[_Lynn_]

Right. I'm more likely to name the spiders in my desk drawers than I am to vacuum them out.

Mine have velvet lining that gets dusty and needs vacuuming.

 

[MagicaPractica]

*yawn* Oh my God, if this child doesn't sleep soon I'm finally gonna try slipping some whiskey in her warm milk. I'll try the Advil first. I'm suspecting growing pains. Rotten night for it, I'm not feeling wonderful either and I need to clean house tomorrow, I mean in a few hours. Parental company coming this week.