Where do you writers get your diligence to sit down and write?

[sultryslayer]

I am sure this has been asked before but I need help finding some diligence. I only complete things when I have a reason to finish things. Any advice for a procrastinator?

 

[shereads]

All you need is a patron saint.

That would be me.



Now write, and sin no more.

 

[Guest]

This might help with what not to do. Best, Perdita

procrastination tools

 

[shereads]

I'm a terrible procrastinator, but I've found a pleasant way to force myself to start and/or finish an assignment. I take the laptop (use a pad and pen if you must) to a quiet little cafe. The ones in bookstores are ideal, if you can force yourself not to look at any books, but that doesn't work for me. There's a Starbucks with comfy couches and a workdesk or two in the back where I have no distractions.

With nothing to do except sip your coffee and stare into space - and with no internet access to distract your laptop - you'll find yourself writing in no time.

And because you're out of the house or office, it doesn't seem like a chore.

I used to do this in a restaurant that has a lovely outdoor balcony, but waiters become understandably irritable when one person orders a salad and uses the table for four hours.



Try it, if you can find a Starbucks nearby (ha!)

It also works without a laptop, but for me the pad and pen only work for jotting down ideas, not for serious writing. My handwriting is atrocious after years of typing.


Hello, Perdita.



Waves at you and hopes we're buddies again...

 

[Guest]

Waving back, ella

Perdita (all loosened up and with a hunnybunny to cuddle)

 

[sultryslayer]

I'm a terrible procrastinator, but I've found a pleasant way to force myself to start and/or finish an assignment. I take the laptop (use a pad and pen if you must) to a quiet little cafe. The ones in bookstores are ideal, if you can force yourself not to look at any books, but that doesn't work for me. There's a Starbucks with comfy couches and a workdesk or two in the back where I have no distractions.

With nothing to do except sip your coffee and stare into space - and with no internet access to distract your laptop - you'll find yourself writing in no time.

And because you're out of the house or office, it doesn't seem like a chore.

I used to do this in a restaurant that has a lovely outdoor balcony, but waiters become understandably irritable when one person orders a salad and uses the table for four hours.



Try it, if you can find a Starbucks nearby (ha!)

It also works without a laptop, but for me the pad and pen only work for jotting down ideas, not for serious writing. My handwriting is atrocious after years of typing.
___________________________________________________


That is a great idea. This way I won't have the distraction of tv but I may have the distraction of cute boys. Sounds good to me.

 

[English Lady]

Well I just write when i can..go along with my procrastinations. I have word open to write my story but i often have lit/email/my own webpage open too so when i get to a block on my story i can do something different for a few minutes. It works for me but then I write for pleasure. I don't think i could make myself write even if i wanted to!

 

[raphy]

I don't find that I have to be very diligent to write - I love to do it

Raph, unhelpfully

 

[dr_mabeuse]

If you just want to loosen up and practice, you might consider joining a game on the Sexual Role-playing Board. Then you have people waiting for your response, so it's impossible to sluff off, plus you're assured of getting instant feedback, and you have the added interest of playing off someone else's imagination.

I've written some good stuff there (if I do say so myself) because I dont have the time to think too much about what I'm going to write, and that seems to work well for me. The games can get pretty intense too.

---dr.M.

 

[The_Darkness]

writing for some of us just come naturally. We pick up pen or pencil and find anything from a cocktail napkin to an actual designated tablet and start throwing ideas down on the paper. However, for those of us who need to hone that skill, there's several simple little things you can do.

Virtually none of the following have to do with any one genre of writing, or even writing a complete story, but they will make you a better writer, and with some fairly fast improvement.

I'm a terrible procrastinator, but I've found a pleasant way to force myself to start and/or finish an assignment. I take the laptop (use a pad and pen if you must) to a quiet little cafe. The ones in bookstores are ideal, if you can force yourself not to look at any books, but that doesn't work for me. There's a Starbucks with comfy couches and a workdesk or two in the back where I have no distractions.

Shereads, you are a veritiable font of knowledge

Step one, find out where you write best. I've found I write best at the laundromat (for some reason).

Step two, find out HOW you right best. Some people need a keyboard in front of them, some need a pencil and paper. Some need some kind of distraction in the back ground (TV, radio, etc) and some need specific music (Beethoven's 9th). I write best with some music in the back ground and with pencil and paper.

Other stuff that works.

Focus writing. This is a little exercise that you can use for simply improving the flow of ideas in the old bean. Take an item...and this can be ANYTHING...and set it in front of you. Look at it, study it, and write for 20 minutes straight. Don't correct grammar, don't go back and erase, just write. Often you may find out you have a story that is clearly inspired by the object, but has nothing to do with said object.

Character sketching. Go some place (Starbucks works like a champ) and pick some one. Write down details about that person. Describe how that person is dressed, what they are doing, how observant they are of their surroundings, little details of how they look, and any thing else that catches your eye. Just be careful of the location you do this in; you don't want to get your ass kicked for stalking or something.

There are more, but this post is getting huge. I'll post more later.

 

[gauchecritic]

I am sure this has been asked before but I need help finding some diligence. I only complete things when I have a reason to finish things. Any advice for a procrastinator?

There're only 2 things that will make me finish something. One is a competition deadline (Valentine's day comp. was the last one with hours to spare) or the second, if I know what the ending is.

If I have the story blocked and peopled in my head and know the opening and the end then I just can't write fast enough. That's when the characters decide they don't like what's happening and go off and start sub-plots that I really don't have time for and it is so frustrating getting them back into line and keeping the story sensible. (dreams and flashbacks help here.)

Gauche

 

[Guest]

I think I am alittle different from other authors in that I will write a (@#)$(*#@ load of stories or poetry for a few days and then completely walk away from it for another few days sometimes up to a week just to clear out my mind and go forward again.

However, some things that I use when I am writing and I get stuck or the characters are just NOT pleased with what I am doing....

- cards games online... there was some study a zillion years ago that actually said that when students are studying for tests and the like that every hour or so they should stop and play a hand or two of solitaire, I had thought that was strange but the logic seems to be that there is something that your brain does when your are playing cards that reconnects and refocuses your attention to what you were doing

- I go and read stories in a category that I haven't written a story for yet, I pick one that I am not currently writing and one that I have not read and just wander through some of them, it gives my head a break but also keeps me in ummm 'hot' form...lol

- I play either some music on the pc or one of the music channels on the TV (long live the little boxes with the music stations), I pick the music that I need to help me with whatever mood I am searching for at that time.

I guess that we all relate to different things or find different ways to get around the blocks. Good luck to you and happy writing.

Always,
Elizabetht

 

[sultryslayer]

If you just want to loosen up and practice, you might consider joining a game on the Sexual Role-playing Board. Then you have people waiting for your response, so it's impossible to sluff off, plus you're assured of getting instant feedback, and you have the added interest of playing off someone else's imagination.

I've written some good stuff there (if I do say so myself) because I dont have the time to think too much about what I'm going to write, and that seems to work well for me. The games can get pretty intense too.

---dr.M.

That is a great idea. Thanks.

 

[kellycummings]

I am one of the worst procrastinators in the world but I usually finish my stories because it's fun to do. If I find them boring and they become too hard to write I usually give up and start another one that holds my attention longer.
Now excuse me while I go take out the garbage...nah, I can do that tomorrow, maybe I'll lay down instead.

 

[shereads]

If you just want to loosen up and practice, you might consider joining a game on the Sexual Role-playing Board. Then you have people waiting for your response, so it's impossible to sluff off,

Ahem.

 

[pop_54]

I am sure this has been asked before but I need help finding some diligence. I only complete things when I have a reason to finish things. Any advice for a procrastinator?

It helps if you don't have a real life friend sultry If you do, you will struggle as I do.

Diligence, read discipline, you really have to make yourself do it sometimes, but don't force yourself, that's a different thing and never works.

 

[The_Darkness]

The big thing is to just sit down and do it. Sounds like we have a pretty motley crew of procrastinators in here, but we also have some writers that have some pretty decent stories out there as well...and se just force ourselves to finish.

Pop, yeah, not having a life can help. I hate North Dakota. I hate it with every ounce of my being....all 3680 of them. But damn am I getting some work done on various projects.

 

[pop_54]

Wow

The big thing is to just sit down and do it. Sounds like we have a pretty motley crew of procrastinators in here, but we also have some writers that have some pretty decent stories out there as well...and se just force ourselves to finish.

Pop, yeah, not having a life can help. I hate North Dakota. I hate it with every ounce of my being....all 3680 of them. But damn am I getting some work done on various projects.

North Dak sounds grim mate, bit like our town on a Saturday night

 

[The_Darkness]

North Dak sounds grim mate, bit like our town on a Saturday night

Yeah, but I'm getting the hell out of here at the end of the month. Moving back to where I belong. Not much more to do there, but there's more than all 6 people that live in this state....okay so there's more than that, it just feels like there's only 6.

 

[oggbashan]

I write when my Muses tell me to.

They are inconveniently insistent ladies. Nine were enough for the Greeks but I have a football (soccer) team of them.

Sometimes they make me work hard for days. They were very active during NaNoWriMo and the Hs against most of the 12 chapters show that they were in good form.

Sometimes they take a vacation but I, stupid fool, keep writing anyway. The results are NOT inspired but it keeps me occupied until the Muses return.

They were around today so another story was written and edited in 3 hours. How good is it? Not sure.

They'll probably demand another few thousand words by the end of tomorrow.

Harrassed Og

(Can you imagine what it is like to have 13 back-seat drivers?)

 

[Guest]

I like that idea about watching someone and imagining a story about him or her.

That sounds like a good way to come up with new ideas.


Jmt

 

[Guest]

Finding the time to write is sometimes hard for me (I have four kids, three of them are under the age of 5). Usually, early morning, naptime, and after the kids go to bed are the times that I will write. Of course, I can't write during all of those times since I have to have time to do housework as well.

I am in the Challenge Club here in the AH and that helps keep me writing since we have a different challenge every week. I am also participating in the Survivor contest this year and that helps to motivate me as well.

CM

 

[The_Darkness]

I like that idea about watching someone and imagining a story about him or her.

That sounds like a good way to come up with new ideas.

It is. That and it helps with the detail aspect of stories. Stories are generally made or broken in the details. A story could have an extremely thin plot, but as long as there's enough details to put us in the story, it becomes more believeable, and thus the suspension of disbelief is a lot easier to maintain.

Detail is where a majority of writers also need a lot of work, myself included. But if you get used to detailing a story, the story begins to write itself; the environment carries through into play a little more, the characters become fleshed out a lot better, and your stories not only become better reads (and thus you a better author) but they write themselves a lot faster...making them easier to finish.

 

[My Erotic Tail]

How to create and complete~

Well that was a very good question.
Between the IM'S and the dog and phone
and work, distractions-galore...

First-Every bodies different...which is why
there are so many different tales.
So finding what works for you is a must.
Find what drives you... A story thats burns
to be completed. Your inner self telling you
"I have to finish this for me"

Second-Time managemnet...Obviously
you have to do it at your leisure.
Trying to sit down and focus can be
frustrating...so have fun with it...
I find humor a helpful tool...for some
its romance or even the desire to explore
a fantasy. Read on this thread some one
siad jotting things down on a napkin or things.
some people can make a whole story out of
that napkin alone..(probably the Dr...lol)
But if your short on time-that was good advice.

Third- Fun. this is lit, not your profession.
Its creative fun. Alot get real serious...
which if that works for you as a drive..great
but have fun...Hobby..Ambition..Artist..
what ever works for you but enjoy it dont
let it drive you to not have fun with it.....

Fourth-This is only my opinion...he he he

 

[snooper]

I am sure this has been asked before but I need help finding some diligence. ...

In any decent dictionary between dazed and dozing.