I thought you all might enjoy getting a little glimpse of what my writing habits are like. Perhaps something I do will inspire or challenge you. Now, just because I do things this way, doesn’t mean everyone should. There are so many ways to write that each person needs to find what works for them. Enjoy.
– Is there a certain snack you like to eat while writing?
No, I can’t say that there is. You see, I am either writing just before a meal or right after and I’ve never been much on distracting myself with food while my brain is creating. Perhaps it is just me. I never have been able to multi task very well.
– When do you normally write? Night, afternoon, or morning?
Over the years I’ve tried several different times. Early mornings might work, but I have so many other things that I need to work on that I couldn’t focus. Afternoons are out. I just can’t get my brain to work well in middle of the day. That left night. I have discovered that my creative juices (is that what your brain runs on?) are more active in the evening and I also don’t have the pressure of needing to work on other projects.
In the past year, however, I’ve realized that if I start writing about 5 pm, take a break for supper and then jump back into writing until I go to bed, I am much more inclined to write, the words flow better and my word count gets higher. So, I usually try to write from about 5 until 6. Then from 7 until 8 and then, after a short break, I write until about 9:15. That is what works well for me.
– Where do you write?
My best place for years was my bed. I would sit there with NEO (you’ll meet him next week), my notebook, paper and pen, and just write. Now, while I still like my bed and still use it now and then, I was growing tired of sitting most of the day. (I sit to quilt, I sit to edit, I sit to design, I sit when I do other things on the computer, and I sit when I write.) That is when I got creative. I wanted to stand up, but my desks were too short to put NEO on and type with comfort. What was I going to do?
That’s when I saw it. My music stand. Why not? Now I stand beside my bed with my notebooks, paper and pen on my bed, NEO on my music stand (which I can adjust to just the right height) and write. I was amazed at how my word count increased just by standing up. I’m not sure if some kink in my brain was undone when I stood, but I could hardly keep my fingers moving fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. Now I usually write standing beside my bed.
– How often do you write a new novel?
Whenever I feel like it. 🙂 Okay, to be more specific, usually 2-3 times a year. Sometimes I’ll start another one or two, but I won’t work on them much and it might be another few years before the story is actually done. If I had more time, I might be tempted to write more, but being a self-published author means I have to do all the extra work like laying out the book, either designing or getting someone to design the cover, editing, correcting, publishing. That all takes time and often when I’m working on the finishing stages of a book, I don’t have any desire to start another book just yet. That’s when the short stories get written.
– Do you listen to music while you write?
Absolutely NOT! I can’t think creatively when music of any sort is playing. I can edit and correct and design with music on (classical) but I cannot compose while listening to music. Like I mentioned before, I don’t do well multi tasking. When I listen to music, I like to be able to really listen to it. Now I might listen to it before I write, but not during.
What about you? Do you have any behind the scenes you’d like to share? Leave a comment and let me know. Feel free to answer any or all of these questions in a comment or on your blog and leave the link. I’d love to read your answers.
Next week I’ll bring you part 2 of what it’s like behind the writing scene for me. I hope you enjoy it.
Those are great!!! I'm going to have to implement some of those. 😉
What are you thinking of implementing, Kate? I'd love to hear about it.