Writing in a nice, quiet, inspirational environment when you don't have a job is easy. That has all changed as I am now employed and living in the mayhem of Jo'burg.
Right now I'm getting collywobbles because I don't have that environment anymore. I'm worried! Can I do this?
So, how have you gainfully employed Nanoers done it in the past? How did you manage to drag your work weary bones home and get on with it when your brain has been roasted, toasted and stomped on?
----------
TygerKatt
___^..^___
"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~ Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~ E.L. Doctorow
38,682 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 09 46
The big thing I learned especially with my part time studies is not to wait until the evening. Instead, I'd wake up earlier in the morning, and sit with my dreary, sleep-filled eyes in front of the PC and work then. Now you know that I'm NOT a morning person, but it's surprising how much you can get done in the morning when you're too sleepy to have your internal editor get in the way. It's also a great way to start since then you have the story idea brewing in your mind from the get go. You go to work you randomly ponder and chew a bit on it and when you get home you continue as opposed to start off.
Hope that makes sense.
----------If you want your life to have impact, focus it.
<'}}}><
33,626 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 12 11
Don't ask me how I managed it last year, but I did. Working with something like Q10 which blanks out all the other things on your screen and offers no distractions helped me a lot. The timer thing helped immensely - I'll install it on that laptop.
Other thing, like StillDormant said: write in the morning while your brain is fresh.
For me it worked writing at night, mostly 'cuz my most creative thoughts and stuff happens sometime after midnight. Also, weekend write-ins and word wars will help you too. I'm fun to have around :)
----------~~~~
"Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult."
62,351 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 22 38
Last year was my first year, so I'm not speaking from huge experience ... whether or not I make it this year still remains to be seen.
But I work as a freelancer and have two kids, so my days can become as full as I become frazzled, stopping by the roadside to take a pic for some publisher on the way to schlepping one kid to saxophone and teaching the other one to drive (this is where 'frazzled' can slip in).
But, when you break it down, you need to write only 1 666 words a day to stay on track. That's only about half an hour per day. So, since I journal (almost) every day, for that amount of time, I knew I could keep my hand moving for that long.
I would simply sit down, at any time of the day, pull a prompt from an envelope, and start freewriting, not stopping until I'd used half an hour. On days that were too hectic to sit at the pc, I would take a notebook and pen along, and write in the car while waiting for a kid to come out of school or finish an extra-mural, or I would sneak a coffee at Exclusive's (service is so bad there, I could sit for as long as I wanted, without anyone even noticing that I was there - sometimes I would never even get to order the coffee!) after grocery shopping.
Then, at night, just before bed, I would type up the day's scribblings.
You don't need quiet, inspiring surroundings and supportive people. You just need to want to do it.
----------Deirdre
40,739 / 50,000
Oct 26, 2009 - 23 26
Last year I wrote all the time.
I mean that except for some good midnight sessions where I couldn't sleep, I don't think I wrote for a straight hour very often. But having my notebook with me at all times, I was able to jot off a quick 200 words in the morning before starting work, then 100-200 in intervals in queues, in waiting rooms, in really boring meetings, anytime I could fit in a few minutes.
It helped that I was writing with a notepad, not a pc, because I didn't have to waste time setting it up or turning it on. Just open and jot.
I would suggest taking really long loo breaks, but that wouldn't work for females I suppose. For men it's a quiet environment, but for you it's a group activity.
----------"The Magnificent Seven"
(click on the banner to visit my blog)
34,813 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 34
Writing in the morning does not work for me. Either I am too tired, so sleep in and feel guilty. Or I get too involved and lose track of time. And then am late for work.
I like to get home and relax for a bit. Listen to music, cook supper, read, whatever. Or go out for supper or an early movie. By about 8 or 9 I am ready to settle down and write for an hour or two.
The thing is to find the time when you are most alert and creative. For some people that will be morning, for others early evening. For me it is late. I would often end up writing until 1 or 2 in the morning. Not good for getting up the next morning. If I work really late, then I might give myself the next night off. But it is best not to take more than one or two days off or it is hard to get back into the routine.
Find out if you work better in big solid chunks, or in small snatched moments. Both are useful.
----------moonblue - ML for Grahamstown
"You develop a style from writing a lot" - Kurt Vonnegut
113,989 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 53
It's easier to write in the stressed situation. How else do you get those awesome emotions down on paper? Every month you feel anger, hate, excitement, love, laughter, lust and so on....I take the stressed out home and work environment and shove it onto the paper...the emotions write themselves and they are more accurate representations than a person living in a cottonball -.^
If you angry you write about how the person dies, if you're in love you write about how shooting stars come out of his bum and his lips drip with red wine.....it's easier to write about something when you have the day to day experience
----------___________________________________________
Don't let common sense stop you....
Instant Human - Just Add Coffee
43,300 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 05 16
I'm usually a night person but I have found that my output after a long day at work is much lower than in the mornings, so for NaNo I'll set the alarm an hour earlier than usual every work day and write before the family wakes up. Anything else I manage to write through the day then is a bonus.
----------Romy Sommer
------------------------
http://romysommer.blogspot.com
http://saromancewriters.blogspot.com
www.romancewriters.co.za
25,000 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 07 51
It's really encouraging to see the responses of people who have jobs, families, lives, etc and tackle Nano. Honestly, I take my hat off to all of you.
This year, I think I am going to take your advice and find my 'writing time' and stick to it. This way I can renege on domestic duties: "I can't, I've just been hit by a plot bunny and it's my writing time."
----------TygerKatt
___^..^___
"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~ Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~ E.L. Doctorow
25,000 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 07 53
Stressed out home environment?
*stirs a bit*
----------TygerKatt
___^..^___
"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~ Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~ E.L. Doctorow
113,989 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 08 32
Stressed out home environment?
*stirs a bit*
Yes..home stress is wonderful with PMS tossed in
----------___________________________________________
Don't let common sense stop you....
Instant Human - Just Add Coffee
34,813 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 00 25
This year, I think I am going to take your advice and find my 'writing time' and stick to it. This way I can renege on domestic duties: "I can't, I've just been hit by a plot bunny and it's my writing time."
One of my favourite writing quotes is by Dorothy West: "I am a writer. I don't cook and I don't clean."
----------moonblue - ML for Grahamstown
"You develop a style from writing a lot" - Kurt Vonnegut
25,000 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 12 16
Two days into Nano and here's how things stand:
Yours Truly
Nano: Not looking too bad.
Assignment: 0 (words, ideas, anything)
Assignment Panic: High
Dinners Made: None
Dishes Washed: None
The Mad Writer (My Significant Other):
Dinners, Hot Beverages, etc: Lots
Dishes Washed: Lots
Nano: Word count way ahead of mine.
I suspect my assignment is in serious trouble!
----------TygerKatt
___^..^___
"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~ Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~ E.L. Doctorow
26,258 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 13 34
The Mad Writer (My Significant Other):
Nano: Word count way ahead of mine.
I suspect my assignment is in serious trouble!
At least he hasn't hit 30,000 yet like he's done before!
Your SO is one scary dude to wordwar agains. He be the only wrimo I know who can bash out 50,000 words in an hour!
40,042 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 01 18
I had this visual image of a cute white fluffy bunny flying through the air and hitting you *smack* in the face
----------Follow the white rabbit ;)
When in doubt, blog
When not, get some doubts
http://www.timtang.com
http://cate-in-a-hat.xanga.com
38,682 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 01 31
Dwarn thwem fwuffy white wabbits!
----------If you want your life to have impact, focus it.
<'}}}><
14,839 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 01 35
At leats your plot bunnies are white, fluffy and cute. Mine is the ruddy rabbit from Monty Pythons "Search for the Holy Grail"- and no, I have no bloody holy hand grenades handy!
113,989 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 59
best effect on me...I write to relax...all those bad feeligns get tossed at the screen...a release so to speak
A long day...sit at the workstation or your comfort zone..and type...the fatigue melts away
----------___________________________________________
Don't let common sense stop you....
Instant Human - Just Add Coffee