Your Writing Mood

Wondering how other Authors get in the mood or that mindset that allows the write the good stories that they do. I am in a bit of a bind beings that I have lots of ideas for stories to right but just can't seem to get in the right mood for writing. I know that if I don't get in the mood my writing will seem more like a chore then a pleasure.

Do you listen to music? If so, What kind..

Do you undress?

Do you watch a porno for ideas?

Tell me what you do to make your writing flow and feel good to write rather then being a chore. I love to write but just can't seem to get in the mood to write lately. Sure I can write emails but can't seem to get in the frame of mind to write. Any help or pointers would help. I really want to get out of this funk and back to writing.

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Most of my writing is not erotica, but journaling/freewriting. I tend to write best if:

1: I am in a certain bad or thoughtful mood where I can't make connections just by thinking. In these situations, I also appreciate the permanence of paper.

2: I am having very vivid, detailed thoughts about characters, and at least a seed of a situation. I used to post out on Nifty quite a bit, under haraldv1. My best story, by far, was something that came about because of a vivid memory of a CBC story. As my username on here indicates, I have a fetish for masks. During the SARS epidemic, there was a story on its spread, and I saw a short scene with two very young adult brunettes who were dressed in a lovely, wintery, preppy manner, but had the requisite masks on, and very vivid, self conscious expressions.

Specific things like that only apply to me, of course, but I think you get the general idea. Seeds are important, be they situations, characters, props, the weather, etc etc. You can just maybe do a freewrite to draw connections between the seeds, and try to develop a readable situation, and polish it from there. Often you end up with something different than you intended, but better in the long run.

Only made one submission so far but...

For me, it works this way. You have to be feeling a little bit horny. I also require the following:

Absence of my partner (she confuses matters and I prefer to be alone to write).

A little alcohol inside me (but not too much)

Wearing very little or nothing at all.

Then, I just close my eyes, fantasise and then when things get going, open my eyes and start writing.

I sit down at the computer and log onto my email and read the messages from the trolls. Somehow the pure lunacy of some of their comments just gets me going. Of course, I've only got three submissions and one just came out today. Before that I just sat and wrote. And wrote and wrote and wrote.

A lot of it was pure crap. Some of it was good. One thing I did was pure genius if I say so myself. I'm still fleshing it out/ editing for clarity that sort of thing. Even when I don't feel like writing I sit down and try to write something. Pretty soon I'm engrossed in it and then it's five am and the alarm upstairs is going off meaning I wrote all night and now I need to do work.

Yeah be careful for what you wish for. It becomes an obsession.

MJL

Writing usually gets me in the mood. The further past the first sentence I get the faster the ideas flow.

CowboyPride said:

I have a current story idea and going a little deeper then the song lyrics to a Garth Brooks song did. Listing to ATB right now which is kind of helping but need something better. But I have to set my servers up and get my music back up and going.

Here is part of the song. See if you can guess which song I am going to do... If you read the underlying message you can imagine all sorts of scenarios.

"Til she came to me one evening
Hot cup of coffee and a smile
In a dress that I was certain
She hadn't worn in quite a while
There was a difference in her laughter
There was a softness in her eyes
And on the air there was a hunger
Even a boy could recognize"

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Dunno what you should do, but...

If I wanted to write a story stemming from that song, but were having trouble getting it started; I would use something I read once about how reporters write news stories. I'd get out a piece of note paper (or open a "Notes on 'That Summer' " file); and, using whatever clues I could find in the song lyrics and making up the rest, start writing out answers to the "Five W's": Who, What, When, Where, & Why?

(note: these are just your notes; so spelling, grammar, completeness, whatever, don't matter - just write something, pretty much anything, down - and then write down some more.)


Who:

Who's the girl? What her name, what does she look like, what's she wearing?
(You can do this (sort of) like a police report: "Jane Doe; 5'4", slender with nice round tits, brown hair, blue eyes, light tan, infectious laugh; wearing waitress uniform - white button-up blouse, black skirt, small black apron, black cross-training shoes, nude pantyhose. Also wearing lacy white bra & silky white panties.")

And who's the guy?
("Joe Schmoe; 6'0", wiry, muscular build; black hair, brown eyes, deep tan, langourous cowboy smile; wearing faded blue plaid cowboy-style workshirt, blue jeans, work boots, gimme cap from Wilco.")


What:

What happens in the story? She brings him a cup of coffee and a smile, he gives her 8 inches of USDA Prime Cowboy Cock? Doe he back her up against the bussing station and take her then and there? Or do they go out to his pickup truck, and when they're done she doesn't mind at all that she accidentally broke her ankle bracelet on the rear-view mirror?


When:

What time of day: morning, evening, etc.; but more importantly, when in their relationship? Did they have something, and then break up, and now it looks like she's ready to give it another try? Will they live happily ever after, or have a "final fling" and go their separate ways?


Where:

I've been guessing they're in a diner, but they could just as easily be in a ranchhouse kitchen. Or an office, or a church basement, or a campsite out among the rimrock.
(If they're not in a diner, the waitress uniform & the bussing station I guessed at also have to go.)


Why:

Why'd they break up? Why does she want to try again? Why now?
If they get together and stay toegther now, what's changed from before?


If, as you've read through my guesses, you been saying "No, no, no! - She's blonde! He's got green eyes! Real cowboys never wear plaid! She brought the coffee out to the horse barn! They broke up because her ex-husband came back to town, and he was being a gentleman about it, and she didn't want him to be!" -
That's perfect!!! You've got your story well underway already!

Now you can take all your answers to those Five W's (whether or not they're different than mine - it'll probably be a better story if they are , and start writing them into a narrative. This is just your first draft, so the same rules still apply: spelling, grammar, completeness, whatever - all don't matter. Just get something written down.


(For example, this is some draft dialogue I scribbled in the middle of the night a while back, for a story in which a contemporary woman is summoned into the Royal Presence because the King wants to have sex with her:

"Jus a moent. You;re the King, ypu're genuine blue-bloedeed heriritry raoyalty,and t=you ant tome to have sex with you?

"Very much so,. On both poits."

"What if i delcined?"

"Oh, I;d have you chained in the Tower until you changed your mind."

Something about the way hesaid that seemd a little too serious.

"Oh, pish. Don't get all wide-eyed. That sort of thing ewentout with the high-butoon shoe."

"A modrn nob;eman wouldn;t think of it?'

"no,. Well, mayvebe he's think of it..."

"I guess you'll be happy to know tha I don't intedn to decline."

"Indded we are."

"oh, pish"

condom prudoced...

"mut protect the Royal Dong."

"Rather. i like that"


I was just getting it all down before I lost the inspiration (and so I could finally get to sleep , paying no attention to anything but the bare ideas of the dialogue.

The same text, still in draft, but all cleaned up and expanded at my later leisure:

"Just a moment. You're the King, genuine blue-blooded hereditary royalty; and you want me to have sex with you?

"Very much so. On both points." Talking was very much not what HM wanted to do; but he was tolerating it like a true gentleman.

"What if I were to decline said honor?" I gave him a mischievous little grin.

"I'd have you chained in the Tower until you changed your mind."

Something about the way he said that seemed a little too serious. My grin disappeared.

"Oh, pish! Don't go getting all wide-eyed - that sort of thing went out with the high-button shoe."

"A modern nobleman wouldn't think of it?"

"Certainly not. Well, perhaps he'd *think* of it..." The Royal Grin could be mischievous, too.

"I guess you'll be happy to know that I don't intend to decline."

"Indeed We are." Delivered in his best Imperious Monarch voice, which was very imperious indeed.

"Oh, pish!" I gave him his own phrase back as I lay down on the bed, looking at him invitingly.

He reached over to an elaborately worked silver box on the antique nightstand, and extracted a modern and very functional-looking condom.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Absolutely. After all, we must protect the Royal Dong."

His snort of laughter was almost undignified. "Rather. I do like that."

Then he stretched out on the bed beside me: six feet four inches of randy naked King.

I often find it easier to get something down, no matter how horrible, and then go back and clean it up, than to try to write something that's better than horrible the first time.)


One more thought on drafts: some writer I read somewhere once said that, once his first draft was finished, he almost always wound up throwing away the first page or two. It's often easiest to start by sort of circling in on your subject, e.g.:

"Sweet Box Canyon was a small, dusty town on the Wyoming border, Its main street had been made wide enough for cattle drives; and, every year, the cattle were still driven right through the middle of town. Jane worked the 8-to-3 shift at Perkie's, the only diner within 50 miles; and, late at night, Joe often sat in his pickup parked half a block away, watching her through the plate glass windows and wondering how he could have been so stupid."

But once you have the draft done and have read it over, you may want to delete some of the beginning so you can drop the reader into in the action as late as possible:

"She set the cup of coffee down in front of him with a smile he hadn't seen in so long that he had thought he'd forgotten what it looked like. Jane's hand lingered on the table of the diner, and Joe placed his gently on top of it."

And then, if we need to know about the the late-night-truck-sitting, or the cattle drives; they can always be worked in later.

OTOH, you may not want to start it either of those ways


Hope some of this way-too-long post helps.

Quince

Wow - really cool to read how some of you work.

I agree on the music: has to be non-intrusive yet inspiring. Tea is lovely. Coffee is great for speediness.

Keeping a notebook with you is also a great idea for writing down little nuggets of conversation, or a description of someone who looks like one of your characters, for stealing a great quote, or jotting notes about a location.

As for getting started, try setting a timer for ten minutes and telling yourself you have to write, but only for ten minutes. Then take a break and do it again. You'll be surprised how much gets written in these bursts.