Arghhh...

[amarie24]

God, I miss writing somethin' awful. I miss all the vast, colorful, and wonderful worlds that I can take comfort and pleasure in and then, in turn, share those worlds with all of you.

I miss it terribly.

Mommy says that, when I conceivably can, I deserve to start setting aside at least one or two hours a week for myself to write. And I must be disciplined about it-one or two hours means just one or two hours.

But, like...my writing process? A lot of it is a freakin' ritual, y'know? I gotta set my tea kettle to heat up or, more rarely, I gotta set my coffee pot going. I gotta take a shower. I gotta pet my cat. I gotta waste time playing an online game and scrolling through my Tumblr dash.

And usually, by the time I actually sit down to put black-and-white ink on the Word document, about 30 to 45 minutes have already passed. It's a ritual.

Still, I...I think I can work faster, work harder to get that creative outlet flowing for myself. Whatch'ya'll think?



--Amarie


P.S In clinical? I learned that I cannot do bed pans for shit (no pun intended, tho I only dealt with urine). Water goes...where it wants to go. -sighs-

Comments

[jewelfox]

I think that's the point of nanowrimo? Something about having to write anything in order to make word count, and that trains you to be creative on the spur of the moment.

Personally, I find that it's easiest to write after something else gets me excited (or indignant).

Good luck with writing! And with bed pans, ugh.

[amarie24]

Ooohh, is that what Nanowrimo's about?! Yeah, I just now looked at its website, and it...looks like you're supposed to actually write a novel and then post some or all of it at the end...I dunno if that's exactly what I'm aiming for, tho. (https://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works)

But thankies SO MUCH for letting me know about it!!! It most certainly is a thought!!!

[redsixwing]

Maybe having a set-aside slot for writing time will help in itself? If I make time for the things I want to do, it's often easier to get into the groove - particularly if I let myself bodge it on occasion and scroll Tumblr instead. xD

In either case, I wish you the best of luck, with that and bedpans too.

[amarie24]

Setting aside time to write will help in and of itself...I see you. I hear you...you're right. Imma try, Red. Imma try so, so very hard.

But...I do think I'll go with Pebble's advice and try very, very very hard not to go w/scrolling Tumblr...because I will scroll. Forever. And ever. And ever. Haha.

Thanks so much for the wish of luck! I do mightily appreciate it, my friend! :D

[silveradept]

Ah, good luck with the bed pans.

And also, here's a writing tip I shamelessly all stealing from Seanan Mcguire.

Buy a die (d6, d8, d10, d12, whatever.) (Buy two. Two d10 are best)

Set the di(c)e to 0. Every 100 words that gets written, advance the die one number. A good warm-up (or full day) is to crank either the d6 or the d10 from 1 to maximum and then write 100 more words to roll over. Especially for NaNo ideas, don't stop to edit, just truck on and keep writing. (Plus, if you get stopped, it's easy to record your progress.)

[amarie24]

Ohhh, this is a truly fascinating idea! But I'm afraid that, 1.) I would just keep turning the dice over and over to keep writing and 2.) I'll have to stop and edit something, unfortunately. It's never anything too big-but a sentence that doesn't "fit" or "flow", or hell, even half a paragraph. Imma edit it as I go usually. :(

Thanks, tho, Silver! Thankies oh-so very, very much!!

[pebblerocker]

I think you absolutely should have a ritual for getting ready to write and getting your brain into the right mode! But maybe you can find which parts of the ritual are the really important ones, the parts that are the most effective at bringing about the right mood, and perform your ritual in an equally relaxed but more productive way. You need your hot drink, or encouragement from Dante, or you need to feel clean, before you can really start - which of those is crucial to your mood? And can you arrange to set aside your writing time for right after you've had the shower you were going to have anyway?

I know that if I need to get anything done, I can't let myself start scrolling Tumblr or playing games before I do it, or nothing ever happens! I am a highly distractable person.

[amarie24]

...This. All of this. I should ponder this. I should extrapolate on this. Which parts of my ritual can I do without? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Thankies, friend. Thankies.