Sorry, I can’t talk to you right now. I’ve just changed into my writin’ pants.
May 11, 2010 
We all have weird things that help us or hinder us when we’re writing. A non-writer might say, “Yeah, okay, so you say you need to have six perfectly-sharpened pencils lined up next to a notepad exactly four inches away from your keyboard, but that’s all in your head, right?”
HAH, I say to that. Of course it’s all in our heads. But we’re writers. Everything we do comes right out of our heads, so why should it be surprising that we get so tangled up inside our headspace? Artists are basically the only people who get to be totally neurotic on account of it being their job to be a wacko.
Josephine March had a hat she wore when writing her manuscripts. I have a pair of pants. I have had since I was fourteen. No, they’re not the same pants (as much as I’d love to pretend I could still fit into the pants I wore when I was that age) but they might as well be. Loose, stretchy waistband, baggy legs, worn in to the point of blankie-soft fabric. I actually have to break them in before I can write in them — I can’t wear new pants while writing, no matter how originally comfy they are. Usually it’ll be a pair of pajama or yoga pants that get worn in to the point of becoming writin’ pants. This process often takes years.
Now, I wouldn’t say I have to be wearing them to write. I don’t think I have to have anything to write. I can sit in an empty room, naked, with no pens or keyboards in sight and still write (although it’d probably be hard for anyone else to read what’s etched into the walls with my fingernails). But my writin’ pants definitely do help. I also love to have a soda (Diet Dr. Pepper by choice) on hand as a reward when I hit a certain word count, and I absolutely love it when it’s raining. I open my window, no matter the temperature, and listen to the rain. There’s a euphoric excitement about that sound and that smell that just makes the words pour out of me.
I always sit a certain way: one leg folded under me, the other with my knee drawn up to my chest. Curled up this way, often wrapped in a blanket or bathrobe with just my hands peeping out to touch the keyboard, is how I spend vast portions of my life.
I can’t have snacks on hand, because I love to watch TV while I eat, and if there’s a snack around I’ll have the urge to stop writing to eat and watch something while I do. I also can’t have music playing. I wish I could. I make playlists that go with certain stories and novels of mine, but I can’t listen while I write or I get distracted by the story in the music. I need silence. I listen to my playlists in the car or in the shower, where I do a lot of my daydreaming and idea-fashioning. I listen to them before writing sessions, to put myself in the mood.
I’m a total weirdo when it comes to writing. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. I love that about myself. Everyone likes to be unique and different, so long as they’re not TOO different; the nice thing about being a writer is that all writers are total weirdos. I might be an oddball but at least I’m in good company.
Do you guys have weird habits to get your creative juices flowing? I know you do. Let’s hear ‘em.
(P.S. Lurkers, this means you. You know who you are. Either you’re a friend and you don’t comment because you can just IM me later, or you’re a stranger who found your way here via the blog of a friend of mine, and you don’t comment because you don’t know me. Well, suck it up. I want to hear from you, and I don’t bite! And hey, if you drop a line, then you won’t be a stranger anymore.)
; ?>/i/tag@2x.png)
No weird habits like yours, lol. I just need quiet, and I prefer to be reclined.
Oh suuuure, pretend -I’m- the weirdo!
I can’t imagine trying to write while lying down, though. I think I’d fall asleep! I bet you can do it for a lot longer, though, and a lot more comfortably. I might have to try it sometime!
I usually write in bed, or on the couch. Propped up, of course, just legs out.
lol, I love weird writing habits!
I don’t NEED to be wearing/doing/sitting anywhere/anything in particular, but I definitely prefer to write in sweats and an old t-shirt…And when I’m feeling particularly epic, I like to wear a tiara. 🙂 And I definitely like to have a fresh diet coke/coke zero open when I’m writing–I can’t function without caffeine!
Also, I like to wear long sleeves when I’m writing, because I have a glass desk, which gets SUPER-COLD, so when I rest my bare forearms against it, it’s the most miserable thing ever. 😛
Great post!!!!
I remember your tiara collection! That was one of the moments (among many) that made me realize we were DESTINED to be friends. 😉
I love weird writing habits too. I just love seeing what other writers do differently, usually because I can’t imagine trying to do it their way…
Artists are basically the only people who get to be totally neurotic on account of it being their job to be a wacko.
A friend of mine once said (something to the effect of), “Writing: the only job for which it’s an advantage to be certifiably insane.”
I don’t have any writing-related superstitions, except I guess that a clean desk helps clear my mind. Writing quirk, though: when I wrote a lot in the presence of an ex-boyfriend, I learned that I make a lot of funny faces when I write, because I’m imagining saying the things my characters say.
Oh man, I DO THAT TOO. I only rarely actually talk to myself, but my face goes through the facial expressions of my characters when they react to things (especially dialogue). And I only learned this when I was living with. Soooo glad I’m not the only one!
(Well, if you insist.
Okay, so, my habits may be not-so-weird habits. I need caffeine in my system. Coffee is preferred, though also I like tea and pepsi (…but Dr. Pepper sounds marvelous right now). There’s just something writerly about having a cup of coffee on hand, you know? ;p
I need music to overlap the sounds of my house–the general brouhaha that goes on on daily basis is very, very distracting. To this end, I usually zone out and don’t realise someone is calling my name until they yell into my ear. Writing is all-absorbing…
I have a tendency to hunch over my computer and look the screen in the eye and it’s, uh, not good for my posture at all. I’m doing this right now, actually, and need to curb this habit. 😡 Or I recline totally into my chair so that I’m nearly falling off. Not very good either!
Stranger quirks are that I’m usually wrapped in a blanket, since my desk can get very cold. And I also like to have my two porcelain elephants and glass slipper with me, situated to the left of the computer, when I write. Call them muses, writing totems, what have you, but since I’ve put them on my desk they haven’t moved.)
Ooh, thanks for the comment! I agree, caffeine is an invaluable tool when writing. If nothing else it just helps the concentration!
I’m envious of people who can listen to music when they write. I use a fan for white noise to drown out house sounds, but I definitely wish I could listen to music. 🙁
Love the idea of writing totems! I have a budding mask collection on the wall behind my monitor, and I love to look at them while I think.
PS: I ADORE your icon! That sequence from Anastasia was so fantastic (in every sense of the word). Haunting and lovely and toootally freaky.
It’s Laura from NMS (I have no LiveJournal ID)…I play solitaire or mahjong with the room silent. I found the game distracts the problem solving part of my brain long enough for the creative side to have fun. Those games are easy enough to auto-pilot so it works great!
LAURA?!! I haven’t talked to you in AGES! Ohhhh man, I’m so happy to hear from you!!
I’m totally with you about the games. I have some sort of casual game that I’m accustomed to at any given time, and just let that play out when my brain needs to unwind. The trick is to just, you know, remind myself to stop before five hours go by…
I can’t listen to music either while writing, for the same reason. Makes me sad. ;(
I know what you mean about the rain. There’s just something about it that makes me feel inspired!
On the few occasions when I’ve had to hunker down and get some serious artwork done (and any time I bake), I get a stack of musicals/Disney movies/intellectually undemanding movies I’ve seen a million times and go through them until I’m done. Singing while drawing tends to make it go very quickly, for me. And I can take a break every now and then when my favorite parts show up. Whenever I have a lot of reading to do for class I have to find a nice cafe and bring my reading with me… Not exactly creative… I need noise to concentrate. If it’s too quiet I get distracted by everything going on in my brain.
I’m very similar, although I can’t actually write WHILE watching familiar things. But I definitely have a pile of undemanding things I’ve seen a million times that I rewatch when I need my brain to unwind and chill.
As much as I love hearing how writers work differently from the way I do, I really get a kick out of hearing the similarities.
Maybe somewhere deep in our subconscious there’s a collective mind that writers tap into, a place where the creativity lives, and it’s from that well that these similarities come from…
Man, you totally do the faces your characters are doing while you write them, it’s awesome. My favourite bit is definitely the way you sit, though, with your legs all twisted up. That look of surprise when you try to stand up and find your legs have gone dead on you… never gets old.
Me, I tend to write to the sound of a particular CD on loop – the CD will change for each WIP. The current WIP was written entirely to the sound of Simple Times by Joshua Radin. The advantage of this is that I just have to put it on again, and I’m halfway to the right headspace.
If I’m serious about getting stuff wrote, I have to be in my study, at my desk, focused. If I’m just kind of poking at things and thinking, then I’m with Savannah, reclined all the way, preferably on the couch.
Sigh, you know me too well. At least I have someone around who can say “Yeah, actually, she does have that many quirks.”
I think that’s actually a tremendously good idea, the CD thing. You can sort of train your brain to respond to those songs — like using scents to trigger memories on tests. You hear the music, you get in the headspace. I like it.
I don’t think there’s anything that I HAVE to have, but I definitely find it easier to write with quiet. I’m like you; I can’t write with music.
And I’m more likely to sit down and write for a longer period of time if it’s dark outside. I think it’s just because there are too many distractions during the day.
Interesting. I used to think I had a time of the day for writing (morning) but that seems to have vanished with my 500 words a day thing that I’ve got going. Now it just gets squeezed in whenever. But I do like nighttime for creative pursuits. It just feels right.
Oh dear, I think I might be one of those lurkers xP
My weird writing habit is probably a bit backwards- I can’t write while my desk is tidy. When everything is clean and in its place, I feel restricted and meticulous, and don’t want to write in case the words I type don’t match the tidiness of my writing space. I write best when my desk is a mess, because then it feels lived-in and casual, and I’m not afraid to make mistakes and write complete rubbish. I should probably tidy it up at some point though- I like having an untidy desk, but there’s a limit, really 😛
Hah, I like that. It makes perfect sense to me — I’m not a tidy person either. Next time someone complains about the mess, I’m going to say it’s necessary for my calling…
So glad you de-lurked! Thanks for commenting! 😀
Found this through today’s LTWF’s blog post.
Most of the time, I just cannot write if it’s not gone past 11 pm. Or even midnight. Something changes then and I can write. Before midnight, not much writing gets done, if any. Also, I have to listen to music with earphones, my desk is always a mess and I also do the faces thing. If my MC bites her lip, I bite my lip.
I’ll also sometimes act out gestures, like wringing my hands when the MC is nervous or stressed out.
I cannot write if I’m wearing day clothes (jeans and the like), it has to be my pjs.
During the day, I wear a ring. When I write I take it off.
Sometimes I write sitting on my bed with my back to the wall and my laptop on my legs. Very comfortable, and when the laptop gets too hot I just put a pillow on my legs.
My door HAS to be closed. Ditto my shutters. Which I just realized are open…
I think that’s all my quirks. Which aren’t that quirky, for a writer.
-Kayleigh
Yay, I’m so glad you stopped by! I love hearing about other writers’ quirks, it’s just so interesting to see what we’ve got in common and what we don’t.
I love that you take off your ring to write. I’m not sure why that particular bit stood out to me, but I love it. Like a gangster taking off his rings before beating someone up! Only maybe not so messy…
Thanks for commenting! 😀
If you have a marital or relationship problem you can get help. My boyfriend left me, he broke my heart and cheated on me..but he is finally back with the help of:Try {Robins onbuckler11@} gmail com___________________________________
WIN COURT CASE
GETTING YOUR EX LOVER BACK.
WINNING LOTTERIES.
BREAKING OF GENERATION COURSE.