Just curious really, what are your writing habits?
How often do you feel compelled to write? Are you an everyday sort of person or once a week? At what times typically does the mood take you? Are you more productive at 3AM in the morning rather than the afternoon? Presumably most people have constraints on their time, do you find your self jotting notes down in between attending to the kids, or knocking out the odd paragraph on your computer at work while the boss isn't looking?
Where do you write? I found that I'm more productive since I brought a lap top. This has something to do with being able to write in the middle of the night when the mood takes me (as it often does) without turning the lights on and waking my girlfriend, but also being able to expose myself to different stimuli whilst having instant access to a writing medium. Right now - on a bright day - I find the seat by the kitchen window looking out on the garden is a great spot. Though I've written stuff in just about every nook and cranny of my house providing there's a flat surface to park my bum on.
As I said, just curious really. I realise I'm rambling and that's a lot of questions, so feel free to just answer one or any or none.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Currently I try to write five hundred words a day---but I skip one-to-three days a week, depending on how busy my "real life" has been. (I have yet to write any today---what I post here doesn't count.)
I've wondered if a laptop would help. I used to have a one-lung laptop word processor---it was easy to pull that baby out and type something up just about any time. Now I have to crawl into my (cramped, cluttered, paper-strewn, and extremely messy) home office and type there.
One thing that increased my writing of late is buying an ergonomic keyboard last year, to replace the cruddy one that came with this computer. That one made my hands and wrists ache. This one doesn't. (I didn't have that problem with my previous computer and its keyboard, for some reason. And as a postal worker, I'm extremely conscious of repetitive motion syndrome.)
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
I write every weekday during my son's nap time. I use a laptop and I sit on the couch -- although I may have to change that because it's hurting my back.
I find that if I wait until the mood hits me, it doesn't. Instead, I set out to create the mood.
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
I make myself write every day. When things are going good, I'll start by writing an hour or so before work (longhand), then in the evening I'll type that in and add to it until I'm tired. I average 700 words/day over long stretches of time that way, and over 1000/day for occasional periods of good flow.
At minimum, when life presses hard, I spend 30 minutes/day.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
I don't get the luxury of writing habits. I have to work full time, I get home to help with honors homework and runs to piano lessons. Now, I have to play physical therapist to a mother-in-law with a broken hip. Sometimes, I get to write after 9:00. So far, I've hit 5000 words per week in 2007, but I have a deficit 0f 1911 words for this week. If I can find enough time today...
Better get going.
Posted by Lynda (Member # 3574) on :
I write or edit every day. I'm currently in editing mode and sick to death of it, since my second novel is sitting there in first draft form wanting to be polished, filled out, etc. But I want to finish this latest polish of the first one and get the query process started before delving into writing again, because once I get "lost" in a story (or "in the zone"), I might write 5000 words in a day or more (sometimes a lot more). I'll forget to eat lunch until 3 PM sometimes when the flow is going well. I have a very comfortable office and work at my desktop most of the time, but if we're going on a long driving trip, I'll write on my laptop while my hubby drives (he enjoys driving and I enjoy writing or reading - we're a very compatible pair!). If I'm in the middle of something I don't want to leave, I'll take my laptop with me to the doctor's (or wherever I have an appointment) and write while I'm waiting for my appointment. Memory sticks are a real boon to working between two computers, but I find I have to keep the files in Word when I do that. The two different novel writing softwares I have don't share files easily, which is frustrating.
Lynda
Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :
When I write it depends on all the circumstances in life. I work casually so I can't plan ahead too far, I often go out with my mum for shopping (living at home and barely working usually leaves a lot of housework to do) and since I love my video games I play them quite a lot.
I know I shouldn't play games THAT often but I do, bad habit I'm forcing myself out of. I'd usually play for 7-8 hours a day, on a good day, but now down to 3-4.
I wrote yesterday for the first time in about 5 days, so I should really go for it now.
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
I write on an irresponsibly sporadic schedule.
Usually, it's just whenever I feel like it (or whenever I can guilt myself into it), but once in a while, I can force myself to adhere to some kind of program. These times are my most productive, even if what I produce is utter waste.
My medium changes on a whim. Most often, it's a computer, but I go through these phases where I can't write anything unless it's on a typewriter, or on paper. It's weird, I know, but it is what it is.
Likewise, I can usually write with any amount of noise (and will in fact listen to almost anything to drown out my tinnitus while writing), but sometimes, I can't get a word out if there's even the slightest whisper of sound.
Again, it is what it is.
Reading, I find, helps stoke them fires of creativity, but it's been hard finding a good book, lately. I think I'm getting tired of sci-fi/fantasy, which is weird, because it's mostly what I like to write.
Go figure that one out, if you can.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
On writing when "in the zone"---if the Spirit moves me, I can also turn out the rough draft of a fairly lengthy story (novelette or better) in about a week or two. But the Spirit rarely moves me in that way these days, and I go for the slow-but-sure of five hundred words a day.
I do tend to speed up when I'm approaching the end of a novel. I might've spent years working on the rest of it---but nearly all my novels came to an end [in rough draft] in a burst of twenty-to-forty pages in a single day. (There comes a time when you just want the damned thing to be over and finished.)
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I write every day.
I am my own boss, so I can write about the same time, too. Some days I can only get in a paragraph or two, and some days I can break a couple of thousand words. It's been said that writing at the same time everyday--whether it's a little or a lot--is the best way to eliminate writer's block. I found that it is true for me.
Posted by RMatthewWare (Member # 4831) on :
I work a three-day, thirty-six hour week. Those days I really have no time to write anything. The other days I try to work on a laptop. Our main computer is a Mac. I bought a PC laptop and have found that I'm more successful in my writing when I can lean back on the couch.
I'm in editing mode now, which is a little slower. When I was doing primary writing, I could hammer out a few chapters in a few hours.
I agree with Christine, if I wait until I feel like writing or until I have inspiration, I'll rarely get it. If I sit down and start writing, usually things will come to me.
I try to always have a writing mindset. I try to look at the world and see ideas. One of my best ideas for a novel came from a Russian tabloid. I think it'll be the book I write after this one.
Matt
Posted by RillSoji (Member # 1920) on :
Unless you count the constant IM communications I do all day then I don't actually write a lot. Once a month I will set aside a few hours to work on my book and I do get a lot written out. Most of it doesn't even go into the story itself but it's background stories about my characters or brainstorm sessions with myself about plots. The rest of the month is usually spent building things in my mind so when I have time to write it out, it's all there and ready to go.
My poor husband puts up with me daydreaming a lot. ^_^ Oftentimes we'll be talking about something that will trigger a thought about my book. I'll get really quiet and stare of into space for a few minutes while I follow the train of thought. I totally lose the conversation and tone him out. My husband gave up being irritated with me when I do that. It's almost second nature and takes a lot of concentration NOT to do it! hehe
Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :
My writing habits, like many others, are extremely poor. "Can't do this till I have all of that organized, can't do that till I do the other." People accuse me of never finishing anything. Untrue, it just takes me time and they choose not to notice.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I sit in the car at 6:30 in the morning and 'write' for 45mins. Then drop my daughter at school.
PS: I should probably spell 'write' like 'zzzzz'
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited February 06, 2007).]
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
PPS; I tried the Napoleon Hill law of attraction subconcious programming thing:
"I am a well-established, successful writer, I am a well-established, successful writer, I am a well-established, successful writer."
By the end of three weeks I felt like I should probably just sit back and rest on my laurels.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited February 06, 2007).]
Posted by kmckendry (Member # 4936) on :
My writing habits? That's easy.
I write a decent short story, submit it, get an idea for improving it, wait 20 years and then show up here.
I'm hoping to change that so that it becomes a daily activity, even if some days are only a few minutes.
Keith
Posted by wrenbird (Member # 3245) on :
I, like Christine, write when my daughter is taking her nap. That buys me two hours of solid writing time, though it usually takes me about 30 minutes of aimlessly "researching" on the internet to "get into the zone." But once I'm there, I can be very productive. I also write in the evening. On good weeks, I'll write every day and night, and those weeks I feel so awesome. Nothing feels worse than reaching Wednesday or Thursday and having nothing to show for it.
Posted by Mystic (Member # 2673) on :
First, I call my characters into a room for a board meeting. We discuss old business, and then we move on to new business. The MC continually whines about not getting ALL the good lines, while the antagonist wants his character to be more developed. The supporting characters occasionally sneak their own development onto the storyboard, which usually ends up in me wondering if the story would be more interesting from that person's POV. By then, the MC is threatening to shred my contract with him and he leaves, calling his agent to complain. Everybody leaves with him, and I sit in a room screaming at the top of my lungs for them to get back because we have work to do. So, I start thinking about a new story with scab characters for a while. That usually brings back the original characters because they can't find work anywhere else. After many hours of arguing, we finally decide that my screensaver should be of my dog and not my car. Realizing that we've wasted our workday procrastinating, we go out for a beer together and wonder if we'll ever get that story finished. All the while, my roommate stares at me and asks if I am a paranoid schizophrenic, to which we all say I'm not.
Posted by KStar (Member # 4968) on :
I wish I could plan out my writing schedule. I have to be "in the mood" to write anything I won't immediately delete the next time I look at it. I usually get in bed and just before sleep I realize I MUST WRITE, and then I'm up for hours!
Posted by starsin (Member # 4081) on :
Me...I'm a poor widdle teeanager who can't find the time between playing all his computer games, school, hanging out, and working at a burger joint to write. So...as a solution, I keep my "black-book" on me at all times.
My "black-book" is a little roughly 1.5" x 2" little notebook that is seldom not in my back pocket along with a pen in my front pocket in which I write any and all ideas which pop into my head whenever they pop into my head...whether it occurs at midnight or at 4:00 right after I walk through the door at work.
real writing...I don't do enough of it at all...honest
Posted by Zoot (Member # 3176) on :
LOL.
Mystic, I can fully empathise, though I like to think everyone is a schizo, and non-writers are just people suffering from single person syndrome.
[This message has been edited by Zoot (edited February 12, 2007).]
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
I would write all the time if I could or until I pass out (both have happened). Notes just make things harder for me so I just try to sort it all out in my head. My best ideas usually come when I am at work or in a work related class. I have twice stayed up for nearly 26hours writing, looking into the computer screen for that long really hurts your eyes. I had one short story finished, but my barracks mates got totally smashed and pulled the fuses to the floor and my computer crashed and nothing was saved. Needless to say I learned my lesson and bought a backup battery, and save every thing constantly.
Posted by rcorporon (Member # 2879) on :
I found that by setting up a designated "writing area" for myself, with my own little desk, chair and laptop, I am able to sit down and actually write every day.
Posted by Mig (Member # 3318) on :
Handwriting? Computer? That's so 20th Century. I've got three words for you: Voice Recognition Software.
Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :
I try to do some writing on my WIP every day. I think of this as "Butt in chair" time, but more accurately it's "Brain in gear" time. That is when I'm writing as a writer.
Posted by TMan1969 (Member # 3552) on :
I write usually at night at home, when the kids are asleep and the house is relatively quite, which is usually around 2200 or so. Sometimes if I have days off I also write in the afternoon, between household duties. But I write best at night...
