Fandom Snowflake Day 11
1/12/19 01:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kateIn your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?
I'm here to talk about something that works amazingly well for me. It may or may not work for you, but I figure most writing stuff is worth a try to find out, yeah? So here goes:
Morning writing.
Yup, just, writing in the morning.
Specifically, for me, writing literally the moment after I wake up. If I get up and go to the bathroom, it doesn't work. If I don't sleep well and wake up thinking of work, it doesn't work.
Or, well - no, not true.
It can still work, but it usually takes a bit of determination and focus-pulling. It's easier when I've got a morning habit going.
This is how I develop my daily writing habit. I start writing in the morning every day. Right now it mostly sucks because a) I am under a lot of stress at work which means b) I'm not usually getting enough sleep and also c) I haven't written in a long time. Which all adds up to morning writing being really tough for me right now. But I am sticking with it! Even if I only write a sentence or two, it is the very first thing I do EVERY MORNING. And I've kept with it so far this year. I had one really brilliant day, where I'd gotten enough sleep and I just rolled over, started typing, and the most amazing scene came out. That's one day out of eleven. It'll get better - I have faith in the process of practice - but it's never easy to start. Starting takes a sort of steely determinedness that I am going to keep going because I know I will see results, even if I don't see results right now.
So anyway, that's what morning writing is like for me right now. But let me tell you what morning writing is like when it's rolling along for weeks and months, when I'm doing it and it's a habit and I don't even think about it, I just wake up every morning and write.
1) I tend to get roughly 1000 words in roughly 1/2 an hour.
2) I power through things that felt like roadblocks the day before without so much as a second thought.
3) My words flow very naturally and I end up with better rhythm, as well as better description.
4) It helps me slowly wake up for the day, and I am more awake earlier in the day (normally it takes me until 11am to be all the way awake).
5) It helps me in my work day. (I think this is because the creativity first thing in the morning just shifts the way my brain looks at the rest of the problems I face for the day.)
6) It makes me much more motivated to write in the evenings. Also edit - I tend to edit the work I did in the morning and then go on to write until I'm stuck. (Which will be solved by the next morning's writing.)
7) I am more able to focus on finishing one story (one of my novel-length or longer pieces).
8) I tend to write more shorts, too (in the evenings, because I have so much overflowing creative energy).
9) I tend to keep more consistent sleep hours, and I get more sleep overall.
10) I feel generally happier.
I know a lot of people who talk like this about exercising first thing in the morning. I think it's a similar mechanism at work, mine is just exercise for my brain. When I have a morning writing habit, it just makes writing so much easier. And I do it even when I don't get enough sleep. I mean, I always have work days/nights that mean I'm going to get less than my ideal amount of sleep. I figure an extra half hour on those days isn't going to make or break me, so I just get up and write, and sometimes I find that it helps make it through the rest of the day.
FYI, for those of you who are night owls (I am, by nature - unfortunately work does not allow me to indulge in my natural habits). I used to write only at night because it always felt... more creative, somehow? More tapped in to that energy? And I still feel like nighttime is my time, there's just a magic about it that feels different to me than the energy of the day. (I also do write a lot at night - but moreso when I've got a morning writing habit!) Even with that, with me believing I could only write well at night... it turned out that morning writing works better for me. At night, if I get stuck, I wander off, or give it up, assuming the muse isn't with me right now. I don't do that in the morning. It's not even an option. There's not even a muse in the mornings - it's a completely different process, it feels totally different, and it makes my creative process (and my evening writing) an entirely different landscape. Don't know how I started it, but I'm so glad I gave it a shot despite my night owl misgivings.
So anyway. That's a thing I like to do, and I'm trying to get back in the habit of right now. Let me know if you try it and it works for you!
I'm here to talk about something that works amazingly well for me. It may or may not work for you, but I figure most writing stuff is worth a try to find out, yeah? So here goes:
Morning writing.
Yup, just, writing in the morning.
Specifically, for me, writing literally the moment after I wake up. If I get up and go to the bathroom, it doesn't work. If I don't sleep well and wake up thinking of work, it doesn't work.
Or, well - no, not true.
It can still work, but it usually takes a bit of determination and focus-pulling. It's easier when I've got a morning habit going.
This is how I develop my daily writing habit. I start writing in the morning every day. Right now it mostly sucks because a) I am under a lot of stress at work which means b) I'm not usually getting enough sleep and also c) I haven't written in a long time. Which all adds up to morning writing being really tough for me right now. But I am sticking with it! Even if I only write a sentence or two, it is the very first thing I do EVERY MORNING. And I've kept with it so far this year. I had one really brilliant day, where I'd gotten enough sleep and I just rolled over, started typing, and the most amazing scene came out. That's one day out of eleven. It'll get better - I have faith in the process of practice - but it's never easy to start. Starting takes a sort of steely determinedness that I am going to keep going because I know I will see results, even if I don't see results right now.
So anyway, that's what morning writing is like for me right now. But let me tell you what morning writing is like when it's rolling along for weeks and months, when I'm doing it and it's a habit and I don't even think about it, I just wake up every morning and write.
1) I tend to get roughly 1000 words in roughly 1/2 an hour.
2) I power through things that felt like roadblocks the day before without so much as a second thought.
3) My words flow very naturally and I end up with better rhythm, as well as better description.
4) It helps me slowly wake up for the day, and I am more awake earlier in the day (normally it takes me until 11am to be all the way awake).
5) It helps me in my work day. (I think this is because the creativity first thing in the morning just shifts the way my brain looks at the rest of the problems I face for the day.)
6) It makes me much more motivated to write in the evenings. Also edit - I tend to edit the work I did in the morning and then go on to write until I'm stuck. (Which will be solved by the next morning's writing.)
7) I am more able to focus on finishing one story (one of my novel-length or longer pieces).
8) I tend to write more shorts, too (in the evenings, because I have so much overflowing creative energy).
9) I tend to keep more consistent sleep hours, and I get more sleep overall.
10) I feel generally happier.
I know a lot of people who talk like this about exercising first thing in the morning. I think it's a similar mechanism at work, mine is just exercise for my brain. When I have a morning writing habit, it just makes writing so much easier. And I do it even when I don't get enough sleep. I mean, I always have work days/nights that mean I'm going to get less than my ideal amount of sleep. I figure an extra half hour on those days isn't going to make or break me, so I just get up and write, and sometimes I find that it helps make it through the rest of the day.
FYI, for those of you who are night owls (I am, by nature - unfortunately work does not allow me to indulge in my natural habits). I used to write only at night because it always felt... more creative, somehow? More tapped in to that energy? And I still feel like nighttime is my time, there's just a magic about it that feels different to me than the energy of the day. (I also do write a lot at night - but moreso when I've got a morning writing habit!) Even with that, with me believing I could only write well at night... it turned out that morning writing works better for me. At night, if I get stuck, I wander off, or give it up, assuming the muse isn't with me right now. I don't do that in the morning. It's not even an option. There's not even a muse in the mornings - it's a completely different process, it feels totally different, and it makes my creative process (and my evening writing) an entirely different landscape. Don't know how I started it, but I'm so glad I gave it a shot despite my night owl misgivings.
So anyway. That's a thing I like to do, and I'm trying to get back in the habit of right now. Let me know if you try it and it works for you!
For easy organization later:
no subject
on 1/12/19 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 08:59 am (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 06:15 pm (UTC)Of course, she had a baby and went to seminary school, so things changed, and while I love experiences like that, it's tough to keep it going... well, forever.
The other time was morning writing, which I did maybe two years later. It worked like a charm until work stress got to me.
In between, I have tried a zillion different things, but morning writing is the one that stuck. Good luck - I hope you find your way, whatever that is.
no subject
on 1/12/19 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 10:41 pm (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 09:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
on 1/12/19 01:10 pm (UTC)But I do write best in the morning, and love to - but like. Not RIGHT away. XD
no subject
on 1/12/19 06:18 pm (UTC)It makes me write faster though - I'm like "gotta get this scene out before I pee the bed!!!"
no subject
on 1/12/19 07:53 pm (UTC)ETA: Although, my god, it's hard not to check my email first!
no subject
on 1/12/19 10:42 pm (UTC)Good luck!