Talking with some writer friends of mine has made me think (or feel like) I am the only writer I know who generally writes in silence (no music or calming "sea sounds" DVDs) and private (usually at home, in my writing room).
I so want to be that writer all nestled into a corner table at the local cafe among other writers and coffee sippers reading their novels (we totally have that coffee shop near me, by the way) but I'm just not. I get easily distracted and taken off track. Even my favorite classical music at home has me stopping to appreciate the complexities of Mozart's manic style and the crisp precision of Bach, instead of solidifying my own passing acquaintance with my always struggling narrative arc.
So out of curiouslty, I was just wondering how and where other people write. I'm talking about the planned writing we do, since I have plenty of those "pull over on the side of the road and jot things down" or "scribble notes on gum wrappters and body parts so I can deal with them later" moments. But what does your scheduled writing time look like? Have you ever tried a different approach just to see what the outcome might be?
As I mentioned, I have gone the coffee shop route and all I really ended up with was a belly full of coffee and several hours of a really active Facebook wall, but I think there is a lot to be said for writing "in the middle of it all" - life, activity, people, noise, reality. Putting it all together in the silence of my writing room works on a technical level, but I often worry that the pulse of my work, some living, breathing element of it all, is missing from the process, too.
Feel free to share!
~~ And keep writing
My best writing is done at my desk, on my old PC, fan on, dog beside me, Diet Coke and chocolate at the ready, sometimes in silence, sometimes with music playing.
ReplyDeleteSimone that sounds lovely and like you have really made it your practice -- but with variations based on the what will serve you best in that moment, too. I should have mentioned that my dog Beckett is also a "given" - the only unknown with him is whether he will choose to nap on my feet or beside them. Happy writing to you :)
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