Well Hello!
Welcome to day two - everyone still with us?
The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
I love this quote because I find it true on several levels. First of all, a writer, most of us anyway, doesn’t only write. Most of us have many other things in our day which demand our attention. In my case, I’ve got three young children from 5th grade to preschool so I have to run around a lot, deal with homework oversight, help with projects, deal with teacher conferences, laundry, cooking, shopping, all the basics of being mom as well as the work of being a writer who wants to sell more contracts.
So from the beginning, I’ve not counted on muses or perfect moments of silence because for me, it’s not possible. I simply write in the margins of my life and in doing so, I still manage to get my words in as long as I put writing where it needs to be in my life. Writing is my job as much as my kids are my job so when I sit down to write at night, that’s my big block of work and I’m very selfish with it. But I have a pad with me everywhere I go as well. Just yesterday while waiting for my sons to get out of school, I managed to sketch out a scene I’d been mulling over and I wrote it out last night.
I often mull over story problems while I do mundane things so my mind can wander. I plot while I do the dishes and most especially while ironing. There’s something about the rhythmic movement of ironing that helps me let go of the knot of the story and simply relax and get it untangled.
Essentially, I guess what I’m saying is, when when you can, where you can. We don’t all have a schedule that allows for six or seven hours of writing every day and even those authors who do now, didn’t a few years ago. We can only have the schedule, the life that we have so we’ve got to make the best of it.
So if you don’t have a lot of time at night, can you write on your lunch hour? You don’t need fancy equipment, just a pad of paper will do, even notecards if you’re plotting. If you have twenty minutes in the dentist’s office, that’s time you can write a few paragraphs.
Lots of people talk about writing, talk about being a writer, but a writer writes. Doesn’t matter if it’s ten minutes here and an hour there, get it down on paper and eventually, you’ll finish the book. BE a writer!
Anyone else have tips? Plotting while doing dishes or laundry? Notecards in your purse? Share!
November 11th, 2008 at 6:19 am
My brain seems to work better while I’m showering. And often when I don’t mean to think about the story, but it comes up. So it seems the shower is my happy-brain place
Have a lovely day!
November 11th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Great post!
And I have to say, I get inspiration when I’m showering too, Tez! Or taking a bath, or just getting washed and dressed in the bathroom. I always try to remember to take a note pad and pencil in with me… although sometimes the notes are smudgy because I scribble stuff down while my hands are still wet!
November 11th, 2008 at 7:35 am
I actually get my best lines of dialogue when I’m playing a conversation between characters in my mind as I walk the dog. I also think of some of my best material when I’m driving. Perhaps its the motion of it all that stimulates my brain.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I have found that taking a walk helps alot, or stepping away from the computer in general helps.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I used to have a three hour daily commute via subway and train. The subway was great for thinking, and then I would write on the train. I started with a notebook and pen and finally treated myself to a used laptop. I wrote three books during my commute! I need to find ways to become that efficient again now that I drive to work.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:00 am
The treadmill is where I flesh out most of my ideas…I blast the music and will find myself talking out lines of dialogue as I ’see’ the scenes like a movie in my head. Which is why I only walk at home and can’t ever use a gym, as people will think I’m a crazy person on a treadmill.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:21 am
I like to write/plot on the subway as well. There is something about the rocking back and forth, the constant shuffle as people get on and off, that helps my mind wander and drift, but stay on task.
Perhaps it has to do with I’m trapped in one spot for 40 minutes or so.
I also like busy sidewalks. I’ll sit on a bench or chair and watch people walk by, and again, my brain will check out and stories happen.
Crazy how we all have our different zones, isn’t it?
November 11th, 2008 at 10:24 am
For some odd reason, plot kinks suddenly unravel when I’m not exactly in a place where I can write. Like traffic jams. Stoplights. In the shower. In line for something or other…
November 11th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I have a small notebook in my purse. When I’m standing in a line, I’ll pull it out and a pen and write. My best ideas come when I’m standing at the bank. I look around and hope no one thinks that I’m just a crazy person scribbling like mad.
Some ideas come to me right before I fall asleep. I tend to be the director because I can see and hear the scenes just like movie. The scene will replay with one thing different. It could be a line of dialogue, a character’s action or just the setting. The scene will run through several times until it feels right. It tends to rerun until I write it down. There’s been several times when I haven’t been able to sleep until I write at least a line of dialogue or a quick sketch of the scene.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Honestly, this is bad, but I get most of my ideas when I’m at work. I have one of those overly mundane jobs that requires the intelligence of a tea spoon, so to keep myself entertained and get through those drawn out hours- I think of my stories.
The other thing that really helps me is my best friend- since we were 15 we’ve been cooking up stories together so when I get caught up, I go to her and get her advice, sometimes she even hops in the character’s skin for me and role-plays the scene with me to get it flowing.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I think that the mundane chores of the day (showering, doing dishes or laundry, walking the dog) allow us to keep our hands busy while our minds are working. Like keeping one half of the brain occupied so the other can wander. I do that all the time. I can wash my hair without thinking about it, which leaves my mind free to work on a scene or character snarl. Same with dishes and laundry. I still work full time at a day job, but sometimes on weekends I have “writing days” where I plan to only write…and do the laundry. Seems like that dryer buzzer goes off just when I need a break *g*
I haven’t written my day’s pages yet but I know what I am GOING to write as soon as I have a moment (lunch hour maybe). That’s more than I usually get from my muse!
November 11th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Ideas and dialogue come to me at a very annoying time. Right when I’m trying to fall asleep, usually when I’m about half-awake. So, I either have to force myself to get up and write the gems down or fall asleep and forget them by in my muddled state.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
My ideas usually come as I’m lying in bed, but fortunately (??) I often have trouble falling asleep so I can go over and over the idea until it’s firm in my mind.
I’ve recently gotten ideas for new stories from dreams so maybe that’s a good time for me. Also, my husband is a writer (he writes sci-fi and helps me with my fantasies) so I can talk things out with him. Just this morning I was relating something that happened in church, embellishing a little because we were laughing about the situation, and he said, “That would work well in your book.” It’s funny because I was thinking the same thing.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I write in a notebook while waiting in my car to get my three kids from school. I arrive early and give myself at least 30 minutes of alone time. I can get at least three pages if I plow through them without stopping. I set a timer for 10-15 minutes when I have that in between loads of laundry. And I plot while doing housework, too.
I’ve been “trying” to write for years. I’ve had a lot of difficulty getting out of my own way. I never managed my time right and my youngest was ultra clingy. He is in kindergarten now and I’ve forced myself to focus and produce because I’m not getting any younger and the words will not write themselves.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I tend to write in my lunchbreak at work. Before Sven I had just under 10k written on my novel, but only had the first six chapters planned out. In my lunchbreaks yesterday & today, I moved a couple of chapters and re-planned things up to chapter 12 (only another 10 or so to go) and then I’ll get going again.
I don’t have a laptop yet so it’s longhand during the breaks and then typing things up at home (which is sort of good, but not, as I edit as I type up and ending up doing a second draft in the typing up of the first and it takes a little longer than I initially plan!)
I sometimes get ideas just as I’m nodding off and I’ve learnt to write those down straight away otherwise they’ll be gone by the time I wake up. For short notes I’ve become adept at writing in the dark! For longer notes I will actually make the effort to turn my little torch on!
Merry
=^..^=
November 11th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
It’s funny you should say that about inspiration etc…when iw as really stuggling a month or so back, i got given some excellent advice via Twitter (a micro blogging website i’m on)
I keep the quote in my sidebar to always remind me that i can write even if i’m not in the mood. funnily enough, the person who told me that was you. (here’s a picture of it, in case others want to see it http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/Enticing_thorn/advice.jpg )
I carry a notepad around everywhere i go and i tend to use some of my um.. less interesting lectures to plot out scenes and work out problems with characters etc.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
The bathroom is my idea spot, absolutely. It used to be the shower, in particular, but now, it’s just the bathroom. If I’m stuck, I take a walk that way. Even if I don’t have to go! The simple fact of being in that room jars things loose.
Weird, but it works for me.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Isn’t it amazing how many people get book and scene ideas in the shower or the bathroom!
And I’ve learnt the hard way about thinking I’ll ‘remember it in the morning’.
I won’t!!!
November 11th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Twice a week, I have a two-hour commute into the office. (The rest of the time I have a 30 second commute to my dining room table, so I can’t complain.) This is the time when characters, plot tidbits, and such tend to work themselves out. It’s gotten to the point where I keep soundtrack CDs for whatever I’m working on in the car, so I have an easy way to get into the headspace I need to work through the problem. Then I get to work and email myself any really important things I think I might otherwise forget.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Still here…. yesterday was.. dismal.
Hopefully more today!
November 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
As soon as I step away from the computer, the ideas seem to flow. Breaks always refresh me, so I like to take pad and paper or just lie down in a quiet room to help refill the well. Of course it’s important not to fall asleep
November 11th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
For me, it most often happens at the gym, on the elliptical - I have to stop to write notes to myself. Not good for the total calorie burn, but who cares! I keep paper and pen with me at the gym now. Also, got a great idea yesterday mowing the lawn. Something about exercise gives my mind both the oxygen and freedom to wander. And I love it when ideas strike! Day 2 - so far so good!
November 12th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Yesterday, for the first time in forever, I wrote my pages long-hand. I might have even made word count, but I haven’t typed it in yet. It just felt right for the scene I was working on.
Anyhow, I tend to wake up with ideas for my story, and so I have a pad on my bedside table.
I also have super vivid dreams - anyone else gets smells in their dreams? - and I have added details to scenes that came to me in my dreams.
I have three kids under age 5, so I, too, am forced to write in those between times. Sometimes I worry I don’t have a coherent thought to my name, but somehow, I keep writing… now to get some pages for today done!
November 12th, 2008 at 3:01 am
The gym…because it’s boring. I let my mind wander all over the place. If that doesn’t work then I hit the bag room to get out some of my frustration. Sounds so much cooler than it is. LOL. Sometimes the physical gets my mind working.
Other times it’s during down time. A shower. While on the phone. Or I’ll go to sleep thinking about the idea and wake up with an answer. Those are my favorites.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I’m with all of you on the inspiration points. When I’m working and hitting a little wall I’ll get up and head to the kitchen to get some water or something. Except that halfway to the kitchen I’ll figure out what I need to do and race back to the computer.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I have a spiral in my car that is so torn up and has random writings on different pages for different stories … also when I take a hot bubble bath … that helps, but i have found that i write better when i am sleepy, right before i go to bed … i guess its because i am relax and in the first steps rem sleep … my mind is open to the wondering muses … but the bad thing is that you fall asleep and cant get that scene you had before you went to bed … so i have paper by bed (well i did until my room gets in order, we are changing it around)
November 12th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
“Inspiration”/ideas hit all the time any and every where, so I’ve got notebooks stashed all over the house and always carry one in my bag, but the real secret? When I’m working on a specific story/ms–carting my AlphaSmart wherever I go. Anytime I sit down, that little beauty gets whipped out and I start pecking away…
November 12th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I’m impressed that you iron.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Everyone - great tips! I often find that ideas come to me just as I’m falling asleep so I keep a pen and pad on my nightstand and Jot down a few keywords so I can remember the next day.
AJ - aw, thanks!
Alison - if I don’t, my kids look like urchins.