Nugget #94 -- Inspired or Not, Trudge On

Quite often I simply have to trudge through the stuff I simply 

don't feel like doing. It doesn't make for the most inspired
fiction, but it does make fiction take shape. And sometimes
that's the best you can get, and all that you need in that moment.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#202) -- Day and Night Writing

What environment works best for you when writing?

When I write during the day, I like a mixture of people and quiet. I really do write best in a room with other folks around, just not talking to me. For some reason I need the background noise of other conversations and music. Because of that, I think my ideal writing location is a place like Starbucks or Barnes & Noble.

Having mentioned that, there are times when I need to be alone to write, and that's usually if I'm writing late at night. When I'm during that, I like to keep the rest of the house dark except directly over where I'm writing, and put on brown noise or really mellow, ambient music at a low volume.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#22) -- Punching the Clock

How many hours a day do you write on average? -- John Morgan Neal

Not enough. I'd love to be able to say that I sit down at nine and work until four or five and get in my eight hours of solid work, but that would be a huge lie -- huge as in large enough to trample Toyko and battle Mothra.

The simple truth is that I write as much as I can, whatever that happens to be. When you write full-time, there are always a thousand distractions to tear you away from the keyboard. I still have to deal with the bill collectors and phone calls from family just like everyone else. And when you supplement that writing income with other revenue streams (like Web design and freelance editing jobs), you really begin to appreciate those juggling lessons that you got in clown school at Ringling Bros. University.

I have found that if I leave the house to write, for example going to the "office away from home," i.e., Starbucks, I tend to get more writing done because I'm away from the distractions. (But that can also get expensive, so it's a tradeoff.)

Then, on top of all that, you also have the non-writing stuff that is part of your job as a writer, the stuff that helps to keep your name out there in front of people (for those of us without our own team of publisher-paid public relations folks and marketers). There are all kinds of things like that to deal with: press releases, posting to promotional outlets, doing interviews, drumming up new business from editors, etc.

So... all that to say, if I can get a solid three-four hours of pure, unadulterated fiction-writing time in each day, I consider that day a resounding success.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#5) -- Work Routine

Describe your typical work routine. -- ComicsCareer.com

 
Typical? What’s that mean?

Actually, this pic pretty much sums it up.

Heh.

I usually write at Starbucks. That’s why I can simulate the “office” experience and stop every now and then to talk to the folks at the counter. I've tried writing at home, but there are just too many distractions unless I'm writing late into the night. Maybe it's my ADD and the voices in my head that compel me to check out what new movies have been added to Netflix.Or, maybe it's the "Dad, what do you think about this?" or my wife's thinly veiled threats of what might happen if I don't stop long enough to help her fold the laundry or set the table for dinner. (And yes, "thinly" was used sarcastically, for those of you who don't pick up on this kind of thing naturally.)

For editing though, I have to lock myself at my kitchen table and turn off everything in the house that makes noise except ambient music really low. Then I just work until I hear my kids’ buses drive by the house.