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I was wondering, what sort of rituals do you have to warm up before writing? I realized I didn't have any, except for a game of Pinball, perhaps (which, in hindsight, leads to other games, and the internet, and a million other distractions) and that this, perhaps, could be the cause of my dry spell. Maybe I need something to prime the pump, to warm the engine, to...okay, that's all I really have. But still...
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Read something. Seriuosly, it works. I do that when I get home from work, as a "cool down" exercise. I forget about work and get my mind in creative gear by reading. Then it is off to the computer to write! Posts: 471 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I read about writing. Hatrack here is a great source, or I read an article about writing floating around the internet, or something like that. I don't do it every time I'm going to write, but it always gets me pumped up to write.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Holy crap, Kathleen and I posted that at the same time without reading each other's posts. Great minds think alike.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Sometimes I need read something, and sometimes I need to write in my notebook, but most of the time I just sit down and start working. It helps if you've ended the previous day's work in the middle of a scene.
Posts: 130 | Registered: Apr 2007
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I used to have a hard time with it... until I tried the morning BIC method. Every morning, I get up and sit down at the computer. The best way for me to write is to forget what's going on around me, and since I'm (a) so very not a morning person, and (b) not a coffee drinker, I can usually manage to get into the flow and get some pages out before I realize I'm concious.
Plus, I hold my internet access hostage until I've written something. I'll do quite a bit for my email and message boards. Who says addiction can't be used contructively?
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Generally, I listen to an Eminem song or something by McSolaar, rip out the internet connection, and make a cup of coffee. Posts: 697 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Well, come to think of it, he kind of is, if you tune out the words and just listen to the music. So sorry, Phanto.
Posts: 552 | Registered: Jan 2002
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(Thanks for catching that, Kathleen! You're quick )
Wetwilly: I agree. I don't listen to his harder stuff, but it takes talent to get as far as he has. Not saying that it's poetic, but it sticks. It's targeted to his niche, it may be cruel and some of it disgusting + prejudiced, but no one can call him a worthless artist.
Sometimes I don't see something right when it goes up, and I appreciate help at such times (as in a "something you should know on Hatrack" email, perhaps).
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Well, given Kathleen's quick eye, I don't know which song you've quoted, but you have to understand, I'm not disagreeing with you. Eminem is a lyrical master (if he indeed writes his own stuff. My cousin claims the more brilliant of his work is co-written by Dr. Dre).
I like listening to some of his more pissed off music when I have to write a pissed off scene and am not feeling particularly pissed off. (I wonder if I've filled my quota of "pissed off".)
But hey, if you really thing the quote would drive your point home, e-mail it to me.
Now, back on topic, I have to add, for my first post, that I do have a kind of warm up (but not really) that a few of you have already mentioned: reading. Whether it's fiction or non-ficion, reading for the sake of reading really greases those mental gears. Sometimes, something I've read sparks an idea and I have to get it down or risk spontaneous human combustion. This is especially fulfilling because I don't read to warm up.
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By the time I sit down to actually write, I may have already worked on a story, scene, or character in my head for days, weeks or even months, so I have something to write about. It helps if I have something to start with.
Then, I sit in my office, with no tv, radio, stereo, etc. No noise or sound; no distractions. If I have someone else's rhythms and speech patterns in my ears, it’s very hard for me to find my own.
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I suppose I don't really have any set warm-up routine.
But, often I'll grab the acoustic or go play on the Rhodes piano for a bit to relax. Maybe I'll write a song w/ lyrics or maybe I'll just play along to Radiohead or some other band I like.
Other times, I'm just tooling around the house and I suddenly realize that I know exactly where my story is going next -- fully formed and ready to be typed. So, I have to set aside the general life distractions and actually work on my story.
And then there's times when I'm out in town and/or on a train and I realize I'm suddenly warmed-up and inspired. Then I pull out my PDA (and the wireless keyboard if I thought to bring it with me) and start writing bits and pieces.
Sometimes a quick bout of gaming on the PS2 helps...
But, when I struggle for ideas, I will usually read something, write it out as is, and then rewrite it -- painstakingly enough, one sentence at a time. I suppose that would count as warming up.
posted
When it comes to a fully-formed story popping up from nowhere (or, if you prefer, from endless months working it out in your head, if subconsciuously), I know what you mean. I've been working on a comic book mini-series for some time (because I'm a nerd, and that's what we do in our spare time; nerd or geek. I can't decide), and despite several false starts, and several drafts, and several characters coming and going, I one day found myself walking around the house with a ponderous frown, suddenly going "Wait. If I...and then...with the...Oh my God!! It works!!" I banged out the first issue in a few hours, with a few days' worth of editing before it was as perfect as a mere mortal could make it. Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing (except a few choice expletives, if a publisher was a little softer than I'd intended).
Now, if only all fiction was that easy. *sighs wistfully, then goes to bleed some more*
I realize this isn't the place to ask, but if anyone wants to critique it, and give it a good scrubbing for that stuff I, being human, might have missed, I'd be happy to e-mail it over.
CVG
Note: The bleeding thing: Relax, folks. It's still a metaphore.
[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited August 15, 2004).]
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