Every author is different, and there’s no correct way to write a book. However, I love reading about fellow authors and their methods. Sometimes I find inspiration and try new things. Because some days—okay, a lot of days—it can be hard to achieve Butt In Chair and start writing no matter how well written the story is inside my head. Especially when I work a demanding full-time job and am exhausted by the time I arrive home in the evening. Any tip or trick is welcomed.
First I must have my 5 WRITER’S MUST-HAVES
- Music (mood)
- Scented candles (atmosphere)
- Planner (organization)
- Coffee (stimulate)
- Comfy chair/desk (workspace)
Let’s start with music. I can’t have music as in lyrics, but I need a white noise of some sort. Absolute silence is actually distracting to me, and I wind up losing my train of thought. The next thing I know I’m surfing Facebook for twenty minutes and no productivity has occurred on my latest novel.
Brain FM https://www1.brain.fm is something I’ve tried and enjoyed. I ran through my free trials but haven’t yet bitten the bullet and paid for a subscription. There are two songs that I play on repeat that works the same for my brain as brain.fm:
- StarWaves by M83
- Everloving by Moby
Usually I’m on a StarWaves kick, and when my brain hears the beginning strands of that song, it knows it’s time to write. I never listen to either one of those two songs unless it’s time to work, and that has helped train my brain to be focused.
Organization is key to being productive in a lot of things, and writing is no exception. Journals have annoyed me because they never fit my needs. Then, via a fellow writer, I discovered Bullet Journals (or BuJo) this past year. I’m in love.
If you know nothing about Bullet Journaling, here’s the place to start: http://bulletjournal.com
Hours of my time have been spent on Pinterest discovering ideas for what I wanted in my BuJo. Starting with the journal itself, the Leuchtturn 1917 Dotted Journal is probably the most common journal used. However, the journal I prefer is Scribbles That Matter https://www.amazon.com/ScribblesThatMatter
Dotted journals are the most usual, but I’ve seen examples of grid journals being used. There are a million different ways you can create your journal… key word: create. You make it fit your lifestyle. People include everything from daily lists to habit trackers. A fun thing I’m trying this year is A Year in Pixels. I have a square for each day of the year and a key for different types of days: Amazing, fantastic days to Stressed-out, frantic days. All the different types of days are color coded, and by the end of 2018 I will have a colorful page of small squares showing at a glance how my year turned out.
BuJo has been the best method of keeping track of my life and writing schedule so far. I keep track of my daily word counts, publishing deadlines, editor deadlines, and even a few habits I want to track and improve on.
Good workspace is a must. Probably not just for writing, but if you have Butt In Chair problems as I do, it’s important to find something that works. I write my first drafts in Scrivener. http://literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview The manuscript has to go to my editor in Microsoft Word—which is easy for me to export into from Scrivener, but not so easy to import back in once I’ve revised the final edits.
I own a large iMac, but that doesn’t work well with writing. Image design, yes. Writing, no. My method of writing all first drafts of my books is by using an iPad and a cheap bluetooth keyboard. I haven’t even spent the hundred bucks for a iPad keyboard and case, but picked up a $20.00 keyboard at Best Buy. I like writing on a smaller screen, and it’s mobile. If I can leave the house to write, all the better. I’m less tempted to goof off when sitting inside a cafe. The home environment is so distracting.
