How is storry formed?
May. 17th, 2011 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinGot a question on my Twitter the other day, in response (I believe) to one of my "prepping" tweets:
Well, to answer that: I don't have a lot of "rituals", per se. My habits are too protean in nature... I acquire them quickly and drop them just as quickly.
But here's what I generally do. If I get up earlyish (between 7 and 9), I spend some time in the morning checking all the websites I would be wont to check during the day... comics, Cracked, blogs, etc. If I run out of stuff to do but it's still not time to "clock in" and write (I like to start things on the hour or failing that the half hour, because it makes it easy to keep track of stuff) then I might blog or I might put on something relaxing and just lean back for a while.
Then when it's time to get to work, I... do nothing for an hour.
This is what I call "prep time". Prep time might be spent brainstorming, it might be spent basically clearing my mind, it might be spent imagining in minute detail the conversation or narration I'm going to write. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing in my head... if I have ideas coming hot and fast a million miles a minute, I need the prep time to explore that so that when I sit down to write I can focus, and that's when I brainstorm. If I have other things on my mind, I need to clear it. When the stars are perfectly aligned and all my neurons are lining up to complete their appointed tasks, then I spend an hour thinking about what I'm going to write in my first hour of work... because I've found the results of doing that are better than sitting down and writing for two hours straight.
After prep time, I write for an hour. My writing posture would probably make some people giggle. I recline my chair and put my feet up on a footstool, and put the keyboard (and sometimes the mouse) on a lapdesk. I usually put on my headphones when I'm writing. What I listen to is going to be one of the following:
1. A single song on repeat. (Right now that's most likely going to be "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele, but I go through phases.)
2. Relaxation/meditation music, often with masked binaural effects or alleged subliminal messages. Placebo effect or not, I like these things.
3. Unmasked binaural tones. Again, maybe it's the placebo effect but they work for me... and they're also great for blocking out outside noises.
During my prep time I may be at my computer in this position and listening to similar music, or I may be lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, or I may be up moving around, usually fidgeting with something or throwing and catching it. Sometimes my brain works best when my body is being distracted. Sometimes I take a bath during prep. The important thing is that I find something that works for my state of mind, whatever it is at the moment. Trying to do the same thing all the time doesn't work.
Often during one prep period (this one, today) I just take a break completely and piddle around on the internet, blog, have lunch, etc. Sometimes when my "break" is over I find that I'm ready to sit down and start writing immediately, other times I find I need a proper prep period. A lot of the time it's the former case... when I'm on a roll even if I'm turning my conscious attention to other things bits of story still flash behind my eyes.
I have several "rituals" I do before sitting down to write; these help my subconscious muse get ready. What is your process?
Well, to answer that: I don't have a lot of "rituals", per se. My habits are too protean in nature... I acquire them quickly and drop them just as quickly.
But here's what I generally do. If I get up earlyish (between 7 and 9), I spend some time in the morning checking all the websites I would be wont to check during the day... comics, Cracked, blogs, etc. If I run out of stuff to do but it's still not time to "clock in" and write (I like to start things on the hour or failing that the half hour, because it makes it easy to keep track of stuff) then I might blog or I might put on something relaxing and just lean back for a while.
Then when it's time to get to work, I... do nothing for an hour.
This is what I call "prep time". Prep time might be spent brainstorming, it might be spent basically clearing my mind, it might be spent imagining in minute detail the conversation or narration I'm going to write. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing in my head... if I have ideas coming hot and fast a million miles a minute, I need the prep time to explore that so that when I sit down to write I can focus, and that's when I brainstorm. If I have other things on my mind, I need to clear it. When the stars are perfectly aligned and all my neurons are lining up to complete their appointed tasks, then I spend an hour thinking about what I'm going to write in my first hour of work... because I've found the results of doing that are better than sitting down and writing for two hours straight.
After prep time, I write for an hour. My writing posture would probably make some people giggle. I recline my chair and put my feet up on a footstool, and put the keyboard (and sometimes the mouse) on a lapdesk. I usually put on my headphones when I'm writing. What I listen to is going to be one of the following:
1. A single song on repeat. (Right now that's most likely going to be "Rolling In The Deep" by Adele, but I go through phases.)
2. Relaxation/meditation music, often with masked binaural effects or alleged subliminal messages. Placebo effect or not, I like these things.
3. Unmasked binaural tones. Again, maybe it's the placebo effect but they work for me... and they're also great for blocking out outside noises.
During my prep time I may be at my computer in this position and listening to similar music, or I may be lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, or I may be up moving around, usually fidgeting with something or throwing and catching it. Sometimes my brain works best when my body is being distracted. Sometimes I take a bath during prep. The important thing is that I find something that works for my state of mind, whatever it is at the moment. Trying to do the same thing all the time doesn't work.
Often during one prep period (this one, today) I just take a break completely and piddle around on the internet, blog, have lunch, etc. Sometimes when my "break" is over I find that I'm ready to sit down and start writing immediately, other times I find I need a proper prep period. A lot of the time it's the former case... when I'm on a roll even if I'm turning my conscious attention to other things bits of story still flash behind my eyes.