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Your writing routine

hmm my routine is far less driven by compulsion than described and I certainly don't need the aid of coffee or other stimulants to get the creative juices flowing. I admit to alternating between periods of frantic activity and periods of total inactivity. I will write a huge quantity in a short space of time when inspired. If stuck then I have to just wait and let things brew in the back of my mind for a bit, then I'll leap up in the middle of the night with the idea fully formed and HAVE to get it down. If I miss that moment that inspiration flows the strongest then what I write is the second best recollection of the great idea I used to have.

I also have 2 or 3 projects on the go at once and as evidenced in various threads will toss out bits n pieces at the drop of a hat. I find this process allows me to continue working on other projects while one or two are in a 'brewing' stage.

I do admit that I 'work' for longer hours in the day than I would if I went to a J.O.B. but it's not exactly 'work'.

I can see how the use of certain chemical products could enhance the process in terms of being able to stay in the 'zone' for hours on end. And certainly with maths - I'm by no means a mathematical genius (not even close) but I have had moments were my understanding of something was on an instinctive level that I'm sure approximated how those who are mathematically gifted must operate. You can't 'logic' the numbers with slog, you have to experience the maths on a creative level.
 
Good article SFG....I loved the bit about Faulkner.
During his most fertile years, from the late 1920s through the early ’40s, Faulkner worked at an astonishing pace, often completing three thousand words a day and occasionally twice that amount. (He once wrote to his mother that he had managed ten thousand words in one day, working between 10: 00 A.M. and midnight— a personal record.) “I write when the spirit moves me,” Faulkner said, “and the spirit moves me every day.”

Read more: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bakadesuyo/~3/ykyhTFbaPtM/#ixzz2SNHXkxp0
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Oh! The sentences he could write!!

I can't honestly say I am a "writer". Only very occasionally something absolutely drives me, will not let up, and I'll write it down. :) Doesn't matter what time of day or night, when and if it comes...if I don't write it immediately, it's gone.
 
Peder said:
No routine. Not much output. Not a source of income. Nothing published. No concern. :)
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Pretty much this. This year I've produced maybe 10,000 words for about a half dozen short stories, two of which I may be done with but I'm not sure. Another I finished that I'd started 2 years ago and it felt good completing it. It's rare that I finish stuff, regardless of how inspired I am with my work.

I think the most time I've spent writing consistently was three years ago, I wrote for one week, every day, and produced 20,000 words. The novel/novella is still unfinished.

If I only had the discipline and my hands would cooperate--I have moderate CTS and it keeps me away from the keyboard; just knowing that I'm gonna hurt the next day is enough for me to say, screw it. Sometimes though the creative pull is just too strong and I'll knock out a few thousand words in just a couple hours. And sometimes the reward is my hands won't harass me later. I bought one of those Microsoft Ergonomic keyboards but I don't think it's worth a darn.

When I do write, I don't have a problem knocking out 1,000 words in an hour. I know for some, they're lucky if they can tap out half that amount--I read about someone consistently doing 250 words an hour, and that seems so pitifully low--I'd hope that includes polishing everything written. At a rate like that I certainly wouldn't be very inspired :p
 
A convincing and accurate picture, Stunatra! It is one, even without carpal tunnel, that I and perhaps many others can relate to in many ways. The inspirations come, and may even get started in written form, but there is always diversion waiting to sidetrack progress.
 
If I've got a clear vision where I want a story to go, I can write for hours at a time without taking a break. 10,000 words in a day? I don't think so, but I might have. I don't keep track. If I did, they would likely have been garbage that I would have had to edit, edit and probably edit again before they were any good.

One thing I always do; if I'm not sure if I'm contributing to the plot or if I'm just not 'feeling it' - I stop. There was one point in my last novel that I stopped writing for two entire months just because I wasn't sure how to describe three of my characters walking from a parking into a building. In the end, I just had them do it without a lot of flourish, but by the time I decided that was how I was going to do it, I was sure it was the right way.

The family always comes first. The J.O.B. always comes second. If ever I sell enough books to call it 'profitable', maybe writing will take over second place.

Oh - and IDEAS. I always, always, always take the time to write out new ideas for new books when they come to me. I have dozens of folders in my 'books' folder that contain outlines. Some have plots from start to finish, some are half done and some are barely done. It's just too easy to forget a great idea for a book... I want to keep as many available as possible.
 
I am so with you on feeling it - if you aren't then what is going down on the page just isn't going to be your best.
 
Can I extend an invitation to the writers to join "Write a Short Story in A Week" thread .... we have a lot of fun taking turns to think up a topic for the next one and you can write as much or as little as you like and its a fun way to get the creative juices flowing as well as actually having to turn in a finished story ;)
 
I create deadlines, they turn frankensteinian. So I beat them.

Daily targets: While writing a first draft, an increase of 1500 words per day
While editing / revising, 3000 words per day.

Stimulant: I open an ebook, something I have read earlier and liked, in a second window and switch between writing and reading. And tea.

Works for me.
 
Gita V.Reddy said:
I create deadlines, they turn frankensteinian. So I beat them.
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ha, ha! That's funny to a large degree.

As for me, I just like to hear myself talk in grand style. So, I write poetry. There's nothing better than listening to your higher and lower self talk to each other. I just capture that in words. lol.

That being said, I take a near-daily attempt at sophisticating my everyday language into lyrical poetry. My muse speaks, I just complicate. After all, is not lyrical poetry just a complication trying to work itself out?
 
stigmaticman said:
As for me, I just like to hear myself talk in grand style. So, I write poetry. There's nothing better than listening to your higher and lower self talk to each other. I just capture that in words. lol.

That being said, I take a near-daily attempt at sophisticating my everyday language into lyrical poetry. My muse speaks, I just complicate. After all, is not lyrical poetry just a complication trying to work itself out?
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My muse speaks, I just complicate. Love it!
 
as in every domain, it takes hard work :) you can try a mimick of the style of the writer you like, just to learn some literary technique, and then try to apply what you've learned on your own style. In this sense, I recommend Nabokov's lectures
 
Cristian Velan said:
as in every domain, it takes hard work :) you can try a mimick of the style of the writer you like, just to learn some literary technique, and then try to apply what you've learned on your own style. In this sense, I recommend Nabokov's lectures
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I think that one should always try to remain authentic to one's self. Develop your own style. Speak in your own voice. about things you know about. First sound advice any aspirant writer gets is 'write what you know' 'in your own words'.
 
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