Favorite writing habits

[spankableBelle]

Writing sprints.

I love them and they help so much, especially if I'm struggling with focus, or motivation, or just need to put my butt in the chair.

 

[SamScribble]

I only write when I am in the mood. And I make sure that I am in the mood at 6:30 every morning.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

No music, no nothing, no distractions. Settle into my imagination cocoon until the stream of ideas starts flowing. Don't set aside time every day (unless you are retired or otherwise have loads of time every day). Sitting down for an hour every night between dinner and bed gets me nowhere. Set aside long periods of time when you have them (entire afternoons or more) to get that stream flowing and continue flowing and don't let it stop. Shut out the world and dream until your fingers insist on typing. If it's not coming don't force it.

That's me anyways. I know someone else who does the opposite, chipping and hacking here and there daily. That works for him. I get nowhere with that.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

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.

Music, I have a three hour playlist, all music no songs as I can’t get caught up in lyrics whilst writing.

It has classical, movie soundtracks, TV soundtracks, pop music, all sorts. I find it keeps me on the right path and the mix is eclectic.

Iron Man III
Transformers
Raiders of the lost ark
Witness
The Missuon
St Elmo’s fire
Dances with Wolves
Highlander (Michael Kamen’s score)
Sunshine
Shawshank Redemption
Superman the Movie
Professor T
ST: TNG - The Inner Light

To give a taste of what’s on there.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

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!)

Funnily enough I was about to start a thread about what works for you, because when I get stuck, or even if I’m not stuck but just connecting the dots, what I find is really effective is going for a walk.

This morning I was walking and working on a scene and by doing so created a new key character for my latest 8 part story (even though I’m 5 parts in, in terms of rough drafts).

It was a magic eight-ball.

Genius. I love my brain.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

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.

Ideally comfortable and alone, but otherwise snatch what moments you can. If I didn't write in the living room with people eating dinner and watching TV, or at the bus stop, or sometimes in particularly boring meetings, I'd have written about 10% of what I have over the last 10 years. Or even less.