Okay, so before you all think my mind is in the gutter, hold on for five seconds--or five sentences....
Last night on #writersroad chat (for those of you who don't know what this is-- it's a tweet chat held every Monday at 6PM (PST). It's crazy and a ton of fun!) we talked about taking your writing serious. Now, we can create habits or just smack words down on to the page, but one thing that always comes out is what if I just don't feel like writing. If I'm not in the mood, so to speak, should I write? Because I'm sure it'll be crap and I'll delete it tomorrow.
Now add in me also reading a romance novel last night and it got my brain thinking..... well like other things in life, can we manufacture the mood to make us want to write?
This morning I woke up early--like a whole hour before my alarm. I thought about laying in bed until my alarm went off then I had the following conversation with myself:
Tiny voice in my mind: Girl, you wanna be a writer, get your butt out of bed and go write.
Me: uhhhhh....no.
Ting voice: No, I'm serious! Write. NOW.
Me: I don't feel like it. Maybe later? Like tomorrow?
Tiny voice: You could make coffee and then write.
Me: Did someone say coffee?
Tiny voice: Yes and music you could listen to that music you like...
Needless to say I hauled myself out of bed and sat down at my computer. For a moment I stared at the screen. I don't write in the morning...like EVER. I didn't really even feel like writing this morning. Mostly my brain, I feel just isn't in it's fully functional creative state. But thanks to Tiny voice, I was doing just that. So to put myself in the mood, I provided something highly caffeinated, music (to inspire me) and my computer spit out some words.
And nothing happened, I really wasn't feeling it. But when are you going to find the time? Tiny voice popped in and clearly it didn't get the hint to shut up so it continued, If not now, when? I go to school and it's picking up work wise, and I gotta prep for NANOWRIMO (my brother's going DOWN...again). So I put on some music that always screams my story to me and got to it.
By the time the first song wrapped, I was feeling in the mood to write. In forty-five minutes before my alarm went off I got just under 800 words (and most of them aren't too shabby).
So how to you get yourself into the writing mood? Can you pull it out of thin air or do you wait for it to strike?
Interesting post. I know how you feel! Mostly for me, it's about forcing myself to do it, because whilst I'm perfectly happy to daydream about my WIP for hours, actually writing it down is another matter! Sometimes every sentence feels like I'm poking needles in my eyes, and then other times I get a spurt of enthusiasm and it comes easily. Strangely enough, first thing in the morning works best for me when it comes to writing, although not if it means waking up too early! I also find that a change of place can help me write.
ReplyDeleteDeadlines. Either self-imposed or editor-imposed, they really motivate me.
ReplyDeleteHi Gretchen,
ReplyDeleteI'm popping in from your campaigner group :-)
Glad you got yourself up to write today. As for me, I can just be in the mood or I can force it, but either way it helps if I have a plan about what I want to write about. Also, it helps if I'm not at home where there's less distractions. The bus is good because no interwebs :-)
Anyway, very proud for listening to the tiny voice. I go through phases of writing and not, and I need to change that, so I'm setting a super tiny daily word-count goal of 250/day.
Have a beautiful day!
~ Mel
p.s. i apologize if this is a double post, but nothing seemed to happen when I clicked the button.
I have the same problem. I wait until I get in the mood, and that doesn't really happen. I'm glad you forced yourself to get up and write, I need to do the same thing. Because when I force myself to write, I inevitably enjoy the process.
ReplyDeleteAaj Pucha Hai Dil Ne Ek Sawal HumseDur Reh Kar Aapko Bhi Kya Humara Khyal Aata Hai play bazaar Food and dinner can good satta king Dur Na Jaya Karo Dil Tadap Jata HaiAapke Hi Khyal Mein Din Guzar Jata Hai.
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