Comments on: What conditions help you write?

By: Mac

Mac — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:38:42 +0000

Basically what JD Kennedy said, except that I prefer mt. dew or coffee to tea. A cup of Earl Grey is wonderful in the morning, not so much at night. As for the music, I really like The Wall.

By: JD Kennedy

JD Kennedy — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:41:41 +0000

Late at night, alone, cup of tea with Pink Floyd plugged in. Normally a bad mood helps.

By: Eva

Eva — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 08:08:12 +0000

I have to work with music! What ever is on the radio is okay for me. Sometimes, i zone into my writing so much that i even forget that i have music in the background and what song was actually playing at the time. it lets me know that i’ve acutally written something whether on paper or on the laptop. I always write in my room and mainly on the floor mainly because i don’t feel like sitting at my desk (i just can’t be bothered, maybe??!). I like to write in the afternoons when the sun is bright and shining in my room as my window faces the west side everything gets lit up. I just don’t like the dull light that light bulbs give off, it hurts my eyes a lot. Haha.

By: Joe Odious

Joe Odious — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 07:24:57 +0000

I write in silence, given the unavoidable furnace clanking and banging; the computer is off, so no music or word processor; a yellow legal pad and black pen, writing two lines for every line available; using a tv tray as a desk because my primary desk is occupied by my computer monitor, keyboard, and discarded ideas; I write at midnight with the last cup of coffee wearing off. If my writing is good I won’t need coffee to stay awake; if my writing isn’t good, then I keep at it until I don’t know where the plot will go, and I sleep, usually to wake up an hour later with an improvement to the story. Later I type what I’ve written in my neat hand (if I dare boast) and make minor revisions upon typing. Then I print double spaced, and grab my red pen for major revisions. Often the editing is more inspirational than the writing. When I write, it feels like there is one perfect way of putting things down, but if I stop to long to figure out what perfect is I’ll lose the voice of the piece in convoluted sentences. It is in editing that I can take forever to adjust phrases, paragraphs, even pages, without losing my ideas and plot.