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| This is a popcorn ceiling. Gross. |
There are those sleepless nights in the middle of hot
summers when you lie awake staring at the ceiling, thinking about the characters
in your manuscript. They have to go here and do this, wear certain clothes
or speak in a certain way. Your mind is full of conversation and sleep seems
distant and very unimportant. Perhaps it’s the furthest thing from your mind. Here
in the desert, most of the year is like a hot summer and the only way to curb my busy characters is to write it down and get it out early in
the morning. Sometimes I tiptoe out of bed at five A.M. so I can scribble down
ideas and by ten in the morning--I’m drained, tired and ready for a nap.
I've heard of
authors who write through the entire evening and sleep in the day. Or those who
write as if they’re at work from 8 to 5. Many studies have shown that we do our
best thinking in the morning and I have to admit that even though I’m not a
morning person, it works the best for me. After coffee is even better but
honestly I feel that the caffeine in coffee makes my characters something
different from the way I originally imagined them. Writing after coffee makes
them faster and a little bit scattered—perhaps more
interesting though—but less
detailed and more action oriented. I guess that’s why some famous writers chose
alcohol to slow down the pace and blur their sensitivity to pain so they could
write colorful and vivid details.
When do you
write? Do you feel that what you eat or drink affects the outcome? Should we
monitor our chocolate, caffeine, booze, sugar etc. before jotting another line?
I write when I feel inspired by it, but I'm generally more productive in the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteMy brain cells don't engage until mid-morning, so writing early would be a mess for me. (Not to mention that I'm either at work, asleep, or getting ready for church in the morning.)
ReplyDeleteEvenings work best for me. After a guitar practice session, my mind is clear and I can write for several hours. I don't write late though. Too tired after ten at night!
I frequently awaken 3AM, write for 2 or three hours and go back to bed. Or I write whenever I can tear myself away from social media and email. Rough drafts seem to come best in the night when I'm least critical of of what I call "vomit" writing, presumably when the rational brain is still asleep. I do my best final revision/polishing later in the day with a cappuccino. I don't mind you "monitoring" my wine, caffeine or chocolate; just don't try to regulate it. :)
ReplyDeleteI try to write while my granddaughter is at school. This presents a big problem in the summer since she is always hanging around bugging me. I think coffee helps people to be more productive. Wine on the other hand could be a problem especially if you drink the whole box.
ReplyDeleteI usually write early in the morning and drink lots of tea and water. So I visit the bathroom frequently.
ReplyDeleteHugs and chocolate,
Shelly
I'm usually most productive early in the morning before anyone else is awake. That being said, those days are rare now that my son has started kindergarten and has to get up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready for school. Now I do most of my writing when my daughter takes her afternoon nap and later when my children are in bed. Still, I'm never as productive as I am in those quiet, early morning hours. Luckily, I can find those hours most Saturdays. :)
ReplyDeleteFor me writing is a continuous process and there’s never a time when I’m not thinking about some aspect of it whether it be something I’ve written, am writing or am hoping to write. When I actually sit down and do the putting-the-words-down-on-paper bit has never been especially important to me; when the words come into focus I stop what I’m doing and devote my time to them. I’ve never been the kind of writer who sits down at the same time every day and writes for a fixed amount of time and repeats the process until the job is done. I can do that with non-fiction—and do—but not with anything else. I have learned over the course of five novels over twenty years that I have a long gestation period; I have to live with a project for a long time—sometimes an uncomfortably long time (it’s two years since I’ve finished my last book)—before I can get started. Once I do the work progresses quite quickly and in clumps. I also edit as I write which slows down the progress but that’s what works for me and, as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke…
ReplyDeleteI don’t overanalyse the writing process. The worst thing anyone can do is compare oneself to others. We’re all different and we have to learn what works for us. And that may mean trying out what works for others—a bit like a diet I suppose—and seeing if it fits with us or upsets us. The caricature of the drunken writer is just that, an urban myth; if I took a drink before writing I’d fall asleep. I do drink coffee (decaffeinated) and it’s as good an excuse to get up as any and take a short break from staring at the screen; the same goes for the peeing that goes with drinking too much coffee. Other than that I don’t think it helps or hinders. I do usually have music on (classical, no lyrics) but that’s more of a throwback to when I was a kid living at home; the music drowned out the TV next door. It’s three in the morning here just now and I’m working in silence so as not to disturb my wife. At the moment I’m going through a phase of waking up in the early hours and so that’s when I’m working; I’ve always liked the early hours but there’s nothing magical about them.
I’m not the kind of writer who forces it. Because of this I’ve only a limited output—let’s face there are those who would’ve twenty books to their name by now over the same time period—but I find if I do write when I’m not ready there’s an artificiality to the work and I’m not happy with that. Now that I’m in my fifties though and I start comparing my output to date to that of some of the famous writers out there it’s not that bad and I’ve written more than some who’ll be remembered for generations on the basis of a handful of works; the same as me, F Scott Fitzgerald only wrote five novels over twenty years although he did write more short stories but I’m not dead yet.
I'm now writing in the evening, but if I could write whenever I want, I would really love to write in the mornings. I'd listen to some music, stay away from the internet, and write like I used to when it was just me, a yellow legal pad and a pen....
ReplyDeleteI used to write evenings after work, but now I'm fairly regimented in my writing. I still set my alarm like I've got a nine to five job, and I still do most of my cooking on the weekends so I don't have to fuss with it during the week. On a typical day, I wake up by 8am, enjoy my breakfast and wade through emails and FB stuff. Then I write for two hours, break for lunch and house stuff until 1pm, and write for two hours in the afternoon. That gives me another break time before I go pick up hubby from work and about 4k words per day. The best part about the schedule is that I have my evenings completely free for the first time in years!
ReplyDeleteAs I’m not a writer the only thing I can add to this discussion is – thank God, I’m not a writer! I admire you all. Your dedication is astounding.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking constantly, so I have a lot of content in my head, but I don't get the time to set aside for the actual writing. I have to steal time, and then when I do have this stolen time, I get distracted by social media, blogging, and interacting online. :\
ReplyDeleteDon't say it...I should be writing. But I AM! lol
I write (sit at the computer desk and work keyboard) from 2:15 or 2:30 until 4:00 p.m. The story, of course, has been churning in my head; sometimes for days, sometimes since the previous night. No, I do not forget the scene, their clothes, their smells, the movements. Sometimes it is "improved" on as I write and rewrite, but the basic setting and conversation are the same.
ReplyDeleteI write pretty much anytime. I find I'm most productive when my husband is out of the house. The Handsome One is my most strong and splendid distraction. Food, drink, sunlight, moonlight, and whatnot don't seem to effect my writing once I get on with it!
ReplyDeleteI write late at night when the kids are asleep and the house is finally quiet. If I'm on the road, I'll write when I'm all alone in my hotel room all evening. Have to try to squeeze writing in whenever I can.
ReplyDeleteI found you via Jim Murdoch's website. I daren't call it a blog. The question is: WHEN do you write? I suppose I write when I feel I have something to say. Something on the news or in the press will catch my ear or my eye and I'll immediately feel that I ought to respond. That's generally it. But there's one other time I write and that's when my 'better half' is away to some meeting, project or other. Then I write to keep my mind occupied, that is unless I'm reading. As to reading I have just read Bukowski's 'Pulp' and I've just started Fante's 'Wait until spring, Bandini.' I don't count books sent for review as reading I hasten to add. They are analysis.
ReplyDeleteGoodness! That "sneak out at 5 a.m., and by 10 a.m. I'm exhausted" sounds so, so, so familiar! I do just that, actually. Wake at 5 (or so), though usually do the bulk of my writing from 8:30 to 11:00 -- when the kids are in school. And coffee. Lots and lots and lots of coffee. Can't write any other way.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Looks like I'll be browsing this blog a bit more later on. :D
My writing time is usually when I get home from work--afternoons evenings, on weekends. I don't eat while at the computer--unless it's something I really need. Coffee, somethine hot during the cold months, or cold during the warm months, yes. And in the evenings one or two glasses of wine--that's it for me.
ReplyDeleteDoes it have anything to do with the outcome? I don't think so. If I'm tired, I can't sit and write. That's the only thing that might make writing difficult. Otherwise I write all the time, if not in my notes, in my head.
The little I write, my haiku, I usually write when I have a quiet moment or in the afternoon. I have a note book always with me so I jot down ideas then refine them later.
ReplyDeleteFor me when I really like doing my artwork and feel the best is late at night.
I think it was because I worked my way through school classes then work and after getting home, dinner I started homework and art project late at night. Then when I had children and after taking care of them fed, bath and bed, Johnny Carson and I became best friends. That is when I did my art work.
If Hamish wasn't so sick, I would stay up really late and work then sleep in. But with all his meds that have to be given at certain times I have to try and go to bed so I can get up to take care of him and Watson.
cheers, parsnip
I write while my daughter is at school, so between 9am and 3pm. I'll also write at night, but my best work is done during the day.
ReplyDeleteI am most creative in the mornings. Uninterrupted thought flow is key for me then. I can write 8-2 while kids are in school, but I also have a PT job that doesn't always allow me to. I've found 3-4 hour stretches are more productive than longer anyway.I could only write thru the night if I was used to those hours--but i can see how a writer can get so lost in the story they do write til dawn!
ReplyDeleteI write when that inspiration grabs me. If I confined myself to specific hours, well, I just wouldn't write good stories.
ReplyDeleteI write at night mostly, usually somewhere in the 10PM to 4AM range. I'm just a night owl. Otherwise, I write best in the afternoon. I can't do mornings.
ReplyDelete