Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Write Mode

It's funny, but I always catch myself really in the mood to write when I absolutely can't. The best ideas always seem to show up when:
  1. I'm driving, and it would be dangerous to write.
  2. I'm working, and I really need to focus on doing what I'm paid to do rather than write.
  3. I'm at home, too tired and ADD to write.
Excuses all, but #2 is the most interesting to me. I guess when you're editing program logs* and stuff, it's easy to let the mind wander. If I'm working by myself, I start thinking of ideas for blog posts, or little sparks of stories, or hey, wouldn't it be neat if I finished my novel or wrote a bunch of poetry and did the open mic thing like a "real" writer?

Then I come home, eat dinner, and typically end up struggling to turn the speed of my mind down and let the words flow. Doesn't always work.

I'm trying though. One solution I plan to try is dedicating one lunch break a week to words. Normally, I don't like eating out by myself, but it was kind of refreshing to take a day last week and enjoy a quiet Chick-fil-A salad and Angry Conversations with God. This week, I think I'll tackle one of my growing list of writing projects and see what happens.

So curious to the writerly types... what (if anything) do you do to get to your writing mode?



* To clarify... program log - what we call the station playlists in the biz. :) I create, edit, and manage these for our HD stations, The Rock and YHot. So now you know.
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2 comments:

  1. When you finish your novel and write a lot of poetry, I think you should do the open mic thing! I would cheer you on!
    You also have a good idea to take a lunch brake and dedicate it to writing. I should find a day to dedicate to drawing, just not sure when or where.

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  2. I come up with my best ideas while I'm washing dishes. It's my least favorite chore, and the only way I can get through it is to escape to my "writing world." Of course I'm too tired afterwards to do much writing, but the good ideas tend to stick around.

    When I make time to sit down and actually write, I put on my headphones to block out distractions, line up the coffee, juice, and water on my desk so I don't have to get up (read that: so I don't have an EXCUSE to get up) and look over what I want to work on to see if it's worth continuing or not. Usually this gets me into the writing mode quickly--unless I get distracted by reading other people's blogs...

    Carol

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