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Thursday, March 8, 2012

A writer's best friends

Let's discuss the "tools of the trade." Honestly, they vary for everyone, but in my perfect writing world, this is what I need...

  1. A laptop. I have that, and it's perfect; it has two word processors (neither of which are Word) and WordPad, for my notes, outlines, random things to remember, character outlines, etc. I am very happy with my laptop situation. (One of my best friends uses an actual Word Processor -- just a keyboard and a screen, I guess, like the real writers use. I love the idea, but I have no money.)
  2. Coffee. Any type of caffeinated beverage. Really. I drink coffee with a half of a cup of sugar in it and a splash of half-n-half or cream (right now, I have the powdered creamer, and it's peppermint mocha. Mmmmmmm). It keeps me awake at first, and then it puts me in the perfect writing daze; basically, it's like Ritalin. It makes me focus on my writing and nothing else, which is nice. I'm caffeinated now.
  3. Internet access. Or no Internet access. On the one hand, I use it for research and perfect background music; on the other hand, I use it for webcomics and blogs (like How To Be A Dad, one of my favorites). It's a love/hate relationship.
  4. Books. When I can't think of something to write, the best thing to do is read. If I get on the Internet, I can be there for hours, and my brain is completely distracted by the tons of information pouring into it. A book is a good, wholesome distraction that can allow for half or part of my brain to be thinking about my story.
  5. Like a football fan, I have "lucky" things. If I'm wearing my favorite outfit, my Circle pendant, and some comfy socks, I'm more likely to get things written than if I wear anything else.
  6. The will to avoid my friends. I have the best friends ever. They're mostly writers, and we talk on Facebook about non-important things, very important things, or anything random that pops into our strange writer brains. Seriously, we can be very weird, and logging into Facebook is like logging out of life for a while (30 minutes to 7 hours). I love them all to pieces, but I have to avoid them sometimes if I ever want to put another word into my story. (Now, I should note that I can't write alone; if no one reads my work and supports, I get bored or discouraged. Beth is my very biggest fan, even if I don't talk to her quite as much as some of my other friends, and I would call myself her biggest fan. She's an amazing writer, a really good friend, and a very supportive reader.)
  7. Last but certainly not least is... MUSIC! Now, some people like the instrumental stuff, soundtracks from popular movies and all that jazz. I like stuff with words. Do you want to guess how many times I've listened to "Our Time is Running Out" by Muse while writing Redemption? Guess away because I lost count; I've put it on repeat for hours before (especially during NaNoWriMo).
So there it is. I may think of some more later, but I probably won't add them. When I started writing this, my brain was clear, but I've had almost a full cup of coffee since then, and I'm all spacey now. So... Love ya, readers.

1 comment:

  1. Love your list! I have several of the same tools like a laptop, books and my kindle, music (both instrumental and lyrical), and the will to avoid my friends (which I am still not very skilled at). Haha I had to do a double take when I saw my name! I am very honored to be your biggest fan! And yes, I would say you are my biggest fan as well! Thank you for the compliments! Not sure I deserve them, but they sure are nice to get! :) You are also an amazing author, wonderful friend and supportive reader! When you have a friend and a fan it's hard to give up! :)

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