Favorite writing habits

[indigogaia]

Hello writers,

I am working on putting a consistent plan in place for daily writing. No expectations for output other than building tolerance for the practice itself.

For those of you who are like me and the writing takes effort, what are some of your tried and true strategies, habits, etc? Music? Lighting? Timers? Word length goals?

I am digging into the challenges posted here and I think they will help with the craft part, just need to corral my thoughts to generate the best, plausible stories. I do appreciate the parameters and find they are challenging.

I am not a prolific writer but it means something to me. I’ve gotten a few under my belt. My older ones could use some editing and revising. If I’ve done it correctly, you should see the link in my signature to my stories including my first one under a different name. It’s me. I just lost that login info early on. If you have any feedback or just want to read some older stories, I’d welcome the discussion.

Looking forward to being a more active part of this community.

Crush it today.

 

[Privates1stClass]

Set aside some time to write every day. Pick a time when you're pretty sure you won't be interrupted. Then put an effort into getting words on the page. They don't have to be Shakespeare-like, just put your thoughts into print (they can be edited later).
After a couple weeks of this habit, I think you'll find it easier to write your stories.
Looking forward to reading more of them.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

When at all possible, music. And it's music that usually relates to whatever theme I'm working on, if there is such a thing at the moment. If not, then I'm usually listening to early 70's rock, or classical. Lots of Zeppelin, Floyd, and Wagner.

I prefer my lighting dim or nonexistent, frankly. Although if I'm writing something trippy, maybe blacklight and a lava lamp would be fun.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'll second music, the other thing is to be in a comfortable place, and alone. Can't write in the living room with your family puttering around or all manner of distractions.

 

[Euphony]

I'll second music, the other thing is to be in a comfortable place, and alone. Can't write in the living room with your family puttering around or all manner of distractions.

I find it fascinating the popularity of music while writing.
I'm, admittedly, a music fiend but find it absolutely overstimulating while word crafting. I'll use it to fire up neurons before hand (love it for that) but while digging around my cortex for words, it's just too much.

*edit* Ambient drone I can sometimes pull off while writing but more often I'm firing up the white noise machine to keep distractions to a minimum.

 

[lovecraft68]

I find it fascinating the popularity of music while writing.
I'm, admittedly, a music fiend but find it absolutely overstimulating while word crafting. I'll use it to fire up neurons before hand (love it for that) but while digging around my cortex for words, it's just too much.

*edit* Ambient drone I can sometimes pull off while writing but more often I'm firing up the white noise machine to keep distractions to a minimum.

I not only need music but it needs to be loud and heavy. I thrive in chaos and have issues in calm and silence, so the obnoxious music serves to focus me where it would drive most people nuts

 

[Euphony]

I not only need music but it needs to be loud and heavy. I thrive in chaos and have issues in calm and silence, so the obnoxious music serves to focus me where it would drive most people nuts

It's weird b/c in another time in my life, I could absolutely see me acting identically (though I wasn't writing much then but I did everything ELSE to metal so can't imagine it'd be different)

I've always admired your pacing and (not giving it full or even majority credit but) wonder your music isn't pushing you forward in its own way.

I get blubberous and could totally see the deprivation chamber style I'm running being a factor.

 

[CTR69]

When at all possible, music. And it's music that usually relates to whatever theme I'm working on, if there is such a thing at the moment. If not, then I'm usually listening to early 70's rock, or classical. Lots of Zeppelin, Floyd, and Wagner.

I prefer my lighting dim or nonexistent, frankly. Although if I'm writing something trippy, maybe blacklight and a lava lamp would be fun.

This. I find 'Gentleman ' Deep ' Radio' on YT the best stream for sexy smut writings.

 

[BiscuitHammer]

I not only need music but it needs to be loud and heavy. I thrive in chaos and have issues in calm and silence, so the obnoxious music serves to focus me where it would drive most people nuts

Oddly, you know what I find really quite effective while I'm writing? That droning Sarkaukar chant from the Dune 2021 movie. I found an hour-long loop of it, and it really gets me in a zone.

Granted, so does khoomi, and the demon chanting from Doom, but I'm weird that way...

 

[GrantBricksly]

Yes to the music: I have Pandora set to play mix of genre's and just turn that on as soon as I get ready. (I tried TV for a while, but I found it distracting)

Comfort: I need a comfortable seat. If I am uncomfortable, I can't concentrate.

Goals: It helps me to have a goal to shoot for. I go with word count. I try to hit an average of 3k words a day. I don't ALWAYS hit it, but I usually get pretty close. And on good days, I will shoot well past it.

Take breaks! Get up and walk around when you need to. Don't sit there and stare at the screen/paper/typewriter/medium of writing. Get up, walk around, think/talk out your ideas.

Drinks: Keep a glass of water, coffee, energy drink, etc nearby. You'll need it.

DON'T FORGET TO EAT! I do this all the time. I'll sit down at 9 in the morning, and start working on writing. It might be a great morning, or a slow one...but next thing I know, it will be 4-5 in the afternoon, I've hit my goal, but forgot to eat anything all day. (And if I didn't have drinks nearby, I forgot to drink too!)

 

[Euphony]

For those who use music in some capacity, the website music (hypen) map dot com has been a valuable resource for me.

It's imperfect (I might not grade bands as similar/clustered as they do) but it's given me plenty of pockets of close enough bands/music to help change up things when my brain has committed too much of the current playlist.

I can stay in similar phase without it turning too familiar on me.

 

[FantasySheWrote]

Definitely have something else that you should be doing instead. Nothing brings out creativity like shirking something more important.

Or is this just me?

 

[lovecraft68]

Definitely have something else that you should be doing instead. Nothing brings out creativity like shirking something more important.

Or is this just me?

Most people shirk writing by being here

 

[indigogaia]

Definitely have something else that you should be doing instead. Nothing brings out creativity like shirking something more important.

Or is this just me?

Haha! This is definitely me. I learned way too early that I do my best when it’s crunch time. I wish i could unlearn it but alas…no.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Haha! This is definitely me. I learned way too early that I do my best when it’s crunch time. I wish i could unlearn it but alas…no.

Back when I was in school (I wont bother telling anyone how long ago that was....) I wrote my best papers at 2:00am the morning they were due. One draft, that was it. Any time I did multiple drafts, and wrote it ahead of time, my grade dropped. But those 2am papers, solid A's every time. lol

 

[j267]

Music can help. My lab likes Tito Puente so that's usually what's on.

 

[DarkSollat]

I don't believe in such things. Sure, if you make a life out of writing, you need a schedule. But if you write as a hobby... Do it as a hobby - write when you feel like writing.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Remarkably, music doesn't work for me, which is weird as I am a musician as well. Privacy and a certain amount of free time is what I usually need, but also the drive to write. If it's a sex scene I am writing, then I need the proper mood to do it, as in to awaken my sexual brain . I suppose not everyone does that in the same way. One very important thing in my opinion is to set some goals for each day. It can be number of words or pages; it can be outlining certain scenes and the sequence of events and so on; it can be working on ideas or characters. I found it is a very satisfying approach, as after each writing 'day' you can say I did that and that today and I've fulfilled the daily quota.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I don't usually try to force myself to write every day unless I have a deadline on something I am under contract to complete.

I have a single Excel file that is the lifeblood for all my stories, past, present, and future. Each idea, work in progress, or completed work has a separate worksheet in the file and I will spend some time each day reviewing the status on each. These are my storyboards, and maintaining them allows me to relax and write when the inspiration strikes without forcing anything.

I keep my "house" clean and orderly so that I am free to "party" when the mood strikes.

 

[SimonDoom]

Definitely silence, for me. I love music but I find it distracting when I'm trying to get work or writing done.

I'm admittedly getting to be an old codger on the subject of music. It bugs me when people play music audibly on their devices when hiking in the wilderness or playing golf. That's becoming increasingly the norm. I like music as something I'm paying attention to rather than as a mere soundtrack to whatever I'm really doing.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Definitely silence, for me. I love music but I find it distracting when I'm trying to get work or writing done.

I'm admittedly getting to be an old codger on the subject of music. It bugs me when people play music audibly on their devices when hiking in the wilderness or playing golf. That's becoming increasingly the norm. I like music as something I'm paying attention to rather than as a mere soundtrack to whatever I'm really doing.

I'm right there with you, old codger. Even overly loud music in a business annoys me, regardless of the type.

Music, for me anyway, should be strictly in the background unless I choose to play it myself or am paying to listen to it at a concert or other venue. Otherwise, it's just intrusive.

 

[Dearelliot]

I like my stories, my characters, and the life I build with them, and I need a little peace and quiet to mentally slip away from my world and back into their world so we can get on with their escapade.
I'm retired and live with my wife for many years. We are joined at the hip (so to speak)
I try to get up around 6 am, while I know she wants to sleep until 9 am.
When I wake, after I make coffee and feed the cats, I get the best 3 hours of writing, that I will get all day.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

Nice thread, always interesting to hear about others writing. I will use some tips.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Music can be helpful, but vocals are often distracting. I have a collection of dark ambient, and one of the metal-ish bands I follow often puts out instrumental-only mixes alongside their regular releases.

 

[NikkiSparrow]

I have a cheap, 7-year-old MacBook Air that lives at my bedside, whose sole purpose is writing. When I lay down for the night, 3-4 times a week, I'll pick it up and poke around on a story for a little while before closing my eyes. I have soft music playing in the background, because I always like to fall asleep to the sound of ambient music.

I would not have expected this to be productive writing time for me, but for this particular kind of writing it's been surprisingly useful, and I didn't have to reorganize my day to find it.