It's often complained by writers that they simply can't begin to write. To many, the process of beginning is by far the most challenging aspect.

To our authors across the forum: What gets you writing?

Do you require sudden inspiration, or is it done through sheer force of will alone? Is there any particular ritual that needs to be done, any music that you must listen to?

For me, it's three New Age songs (Nocturne, Songs from a Secret Garden, and Passacaglia - all by Secret Garden for most things. Tiesto chimes in for the fast paced stuff.) that I loop over and over. But even they must come after some particular realization, some new thought or outlook on the story that gets me excited.

Very rarely am I able to simply sit down and make myself write.

Share your thoughts - perhaps you'll have some advice for us all.

 

mmm.

Conversation actually. I'm certain a portion of IRC hates me because I talk about my stories when I sit down to write them.

Once I start talking shit out like that, I start picturing all these details of little things here and there. Eventually it'll pan out into and idea. Slap some scene appropriate music on and once I get beyond the first hundred or so words, its smooth going.

Rammstien or Killswitch Engage for a fight scene. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or maybe Soundgarden at times, for something less actiony and more grungy and unpolished without being emo and angsty.

But beyond that, its just finding an idea, talking it out and getting a feel for it and running with it.

And as an afterthought:

Gabriel & Dresden, Kyau & Albert, and Klute FTW.

 

Tea, Caffeine. Stimulates my attention. It's the only way to stop myself from losing focus/rambling/losing interest.

When I'm sick, writing seems to come more naturally, for whatever reason. Though, I would not suggest inducing yourself with something to get the creative juices flowing .

 

Simple - I don't write at all most of the time.

There's that laziness period. If I do nothing for long enough, eventually I can start writing. The trick is getting a long enough lead on the laziness so that it will pass. Most school days, "long enough" means going to bed at 12, so it means nothing gets done.

Well, I'm shit out of ideas.

 

Reading is a good start, in some cases. I'll read a novel or fic that inspires me, or find a writing style that intrigues me, and start tearing plot devices apart, wondering, "What would I have done differently?"

Then my creative juices get flowing, and sometimes it leads somewhere, while at others it doesn't. Not much of a process for me, but that's one thing that gets me in the mood, so to speak.

 

These days, I write up a plot document every time I start a story. With Denarian Knight, I pretty much know what's going to be in every chapter. Sometimes I'll go and elaborate on the lines I give by adding specific dialogue lines and nothing else. I find that having one of these means that even when I'm bored, disinterested and just too lazy to write, I know where I am and I can trudge through it. It also helps when you read ahead of it and say to yourself 'well, fuck, I need to get these boring filler chapters done so I can get to the good shit'.


Reading good-quality reviews about your story helps, as well. Nothing like a little ego-boost to get the muse up and running

 

You Whore ^_^

 

Alcohol. The bottle of Smirnoff currently nesting in my TV cabinet is all I need to lure the muse. Being utterly point-of-collapse exhausted and having enough caffeine in my system to stun a horse is good too, but all three in combination tends to result in me waking up the next day with no memory of what happened and a decent chunk of text sitting on my desktop - usually from something completely unrelated to what I was planning on writing.

Apart from that, having someone to bounce ideas off is a godsend. #thestudy on DLP IRC is damn good for that purpose, in my experience.

 

Reading the canon, or extremely good fanon, of whatever universe it is. With my current fic that means I get out a chapter every time I read a warhammer 40K book.

 

Strangely enough, my muse tends to strike me just as I'm about to go to sleep, which is bad for my sleeping habits but good for my writing . Either that or I'll have a sudden spark of inspiration at a completely random moment and feel the need to write.

Best example of that was start of the university year, at the registration thing. I'd just handed in a couple of forms and suddenly this idea hit, can't remember what it was (I think it was Byakugan Rising, but I'm not sure). I ended up writing half the first chapter at the bus stand in one of my little notebooks.

Aekiel

 

Getting reviews, having sudden and unexpected inspiration, conversation, and taking a walk all help me get started. I think developing a habit of writing regularly helps too.

 

I have yet to figure out a way to get me writing; I am a proffesional procrastinator. In fact for the last five hours (read days) I've been trying to figure out a way to engage my brain into one of my business assigments, as you can see I am failing miserably.

I am one of those people that can not work with sound. I have to turn off all music and basically work in silence. I usually have a cup of tea and some form of nibbling food that helps me write when I'm in a writing mood. These come spadorically throughout the year, and tend to appear just an hour or two before I have to go to work. During these times I can write non stop for hours on end and the stuff I write is usually legible.

I'm so bad that I haven't updated my fic dispite the fact that I have the next five chapters written for it and all I have to do is go back through it and bulk it out/improve it.

It baffles me how other writers can sit down and write. New stories are especially difficult... when I get an idea in my head I plot it out and start to work through what will happen each chapter, but in the end I pick the story to bits, finding plot holes I can't fill and situations I don't understand enough about to write them, until I no longer want to write it. There are always so many things that I don't know.

I'm curious how other writers deal with that... I've read so many stories with amazing discriptions of politics, weapon use/fighting/guns, counties and landscape... and I've got to wonder, do they research all of it, or do they just know these sort of things through school or experiance? Lack of knowledge is a key demotivator for me, and researching can sometimes be so stressfull when the internet is full of useless sites.

 

It is the same for me, especially if I go to bed early and lie around in the darkness for 20+ minutes.

Supposedly, there is a certain brain wave pattern for doing the arts and focusing on things mentally. Binaural beats can induce that state if you want to try and "force" your muse, though I've only managed that once (it's just way too complicated to bother explaining, let alone attempting).

The only thing I can suggest to people who have trouble writing: Think. Think about pointless things. All the time. Get philosophical and poetic to the point its embarrassing. Even if your thoughts are dumb, you'll get in the habit of thinking like you write (or writing like you think... I dunno which one).

Other then that, there's an exercise I learned – take a cup, and ask it questions. Think of questions that are deeper than, "What's your name?" "Why are you yellow?" and you can sometimes invoke a mood that way.

 

I know I'm not really very good at writing, but I do write. What gets me going, is whenever I'm going to read a story I'll open up my Random document. It's where I put the ideas and witty one-liners I think up while reading, as that's when I get the most inspiration.

Talking it out helps too, while it doesn't' get you motivated to actually write the damn thing, it's a neat way to trick yourself into developing a basic outline of what you want to do.

 

Three cans of Red Bull and a good opening line.

 

I have something approaching insomnia, and the ideas usually hit when I'm sitting in my room at night bored out of my fucking mind. That's when I haunt #thestudy. Though usually I have to get a good opener first... it gets far easier after that.

Hmm... some little Teachers' whiskey also helps. Problem is that it gets me sleepy...

 

I really don't write much these days (if ever). But when I was younger (12-15ish), the tiniest little action in my world would give me inspiration to write something. Never the best something (horrible), but something nonetheless.

3 cans? Holy Shit, if that doesn't do the trick, you might as well give up, and go run track or something to get rid of all that energy...

 

It's worked a lot recently. If you're doing it right, writing can be just as exhausting as working out. I've also found it helpful to wear contacts rather than glasses while I work. For some reason the glare from the glasses would help distract me.

Music can help put me in the right mood (I listened to A Perfect Circle's version of "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" while writing Exit Light, Enter Night), but usually once I get into a groove, I don't even hear the music anymore, or notice when it stops.

 

Drugs and music. Also, I second Big D on 'good opening lines'. I'll often write the first paragraph to satisfy the need and then quit.

And then go smoke some more.

 

Oh, yeah, me too. I always have a story file and a fanfic site up simultaneously- I write, read, write, read. I remember I wrote a really good chapter for my unposted HP fanfic while reading LT2000's Nine Tailed Serpent... problem is, I've changed the plot and I don't need it anymore.

I have my equivalent of a Random file, too- it helps. Sometimes I get entirely new plot ideas for other stories. If I wrote all of them, I'd need at least three more lifetimes, so I try to find ways to integrate them into my former projects- my works (About three of them) are a mishmash of most of the crazy ideas I've ever come up with, so when they're finally posted, they'll be... interesting, to say the least. All of them I put down in the file until I can find a good way to insert them into my plot.

Although I'm an irredeemable perfectionist- most likely even if I do finish my fic, I'll try to edit it at least five times before posting...

You know that drinking alcohol is working when you're to focused on writing to drink. Knowing that it's right next to you helps, though...