mine fields

[Rebecca]

So, every day I walk into my office it feels like a mine field, enough that I will often do anything to avoid it. Tell me your secret strategies for getting in there and getting writing done.

[CJ]

My new carrot-stick method (or maybe I should call it a stick-stick method) is that when I wake up early I can EITHER write or go running. Usually I am pathologically avoiding doing both things, so things work out well either way.

Somedays I write because the writing spirit is with me... and somedays I'd just rather die than run so I write anyway.

Sometimes I actually run.

All of this is to say: if you ever see me looking particularly fit? The new book is in trouble and please don't tell my editor.

[Emmi]

The write-or-run method sounds pretty effective.

Personally, I find that I need to switch off the internet for at least a couple of hours a day, otherwise my self-discipline goes down the drain. So I try to allocate an hour or so every day for things I definitely need to be online for (emails, social media promo etc.) and for the rest of the time, I try not to go online much. I actually installed an internet blocking programme on my laptop, and I'm finding it very helpful.

I also find it useful to set a goal for that day in the morning (for instance, 'today I'll rewrite scenes X and Y') and then work until I get there. If I've still got time and energy left for more, great; if I don't, at least I'll have accomplished enough to feel like the day wasn't wasted.

[Hazel]

Mine field? Messy desk? Kids toys blocking the way to the desk? Yep - the same here! I have grand plans to create a calm, clear, uncluttered space with fresh cut flowers and scented candles. This is still far beyond my reach! So, for now, I also try to avoid the dreaded internet worm hole and I also try to set a daily word count goal (this is the only way I can ever get a first draft written). If my office is really not working for me, I go to the local coffee shop. They have no WiFi. This is a very big help to me :) Some days it is like walking through mud. Other days I seem to take off and fly. There is just no knowing what awaits!

[Carrie]

What works for me is to overschedule myself so pathologically that I'm forced to open the Word file and push through a few pages of writing or revising any time someone isn't urgently hassling me for a brief, a sippy cup of milk, last month's financials for the nonprofit, or this thing on Goodreads. Warning: this probably wouldn't work for normal people.

[M]

I love CJs write or run idea. Unfortunately, I'm be worried that I would pick sleep instead.

I have a bunch of methods that I use to get through the minefield, depending on which stage of the book I'm at, and I'm a big fan of software tools. When I'm barreling through a first draft I tend to use "write or die", a program where you set your word count target and set your time limit and just go! If you slow down to a point where you aren't going to hit your target it starts to play really screechy violins and your screen goes red. While it doesn't produce the most polished drafts, I'm often surprised that my brain will come up with better, alternative plans to the story than what I had intended.

For the editing, it really is a matter of setting aside time, and for that I make appointments with myself. I am a very slow editor, and so I find that setting a page count goal doesn't necessarily work, but setting a time goal does.

And, of course, at every stage I use internet blockers so I don't spend the day reading sites like Goodreads.

[Nadia]

The internet is a black hole that can suck up hours. I'm a concrete person so what works for me is setting a goal. I aim for 2000 words/day on days when I am writing. When I'm revising, I make a long term timeline...revise 3 chapters/day, for example. Two of my books were finished against a deadline of my due date for my pregnancies. Nothing was going to get finished with a newborn in the house. Whatever works, right?!

[Rebecca]

These are great. Thank you.

[Sarah]

I set a word count of 1500 words each day. Half of those will be cut later, probably, but I still have to meet my quota. My husband takes my daughter bowling. More and more I need complete silence to do my work. The cat likes to rest near me and purr. These days even that is too much noise.

[Joshilyn]

I am at a coffee house and cannot go home until this scene is DONE.

I have been here since 6. It is now 2.

I have played a lot of Drawception.

I have dinner reservations at 6 and may miss them if I can't get it together and MAKE THIS SCENE GO.

I may have to have my mail forwarded here.

I may die here and rot entirely away to dirt in this very chair.

I am starting to hate this scene. >.<

[Mary]

Yes, the minefield I encounter before sitting down to write! It is a challenge to carve out time to write each day. Part of that minefield is all the distractions of writing at home—two teenage children, laundry, appointments to schedule, dishes to clean, the dog to walk, the telephone, the internet, breaking news, and strangely enough, the loneliness and solitude required to write. I’ve gotten around this “minefield” by writing at a local donut shop a block from my house. It’s cheaper than an office, no one bothers me, the distractions are not my own! Also, I can sit there for hours with my computer.

[M]

Joshilyn, my trick is to drink enough coffee that I am vibrating off my chair. It does a good job of preventing rot.

[Hazel]

These are making me laugh! The 'write or die' program sounds terrifying! Purring cats and great coffee are always a positive.

[Katherine]

The mines in my field are: being easily distracted; and the fact that I accomplish my more creative writing at night. I try to set up my writing area, with a dictionary and thesaurus close by, as well as the journal I've created for my book world. And music also inspires me to write, especially when I want a really emotional scene. I also have a book of pictures and photos from magazines that help me visualize.
And espresso is a great help...uh, maybe not at midnight.

[CJ]

If only we lived in the same city, we could start a writing-procrastinators running club...

[Mary]

Or a writing-procrastinators book club...

[Joshilyn]

OH I LOVE! Write or Die.

And hate it.

I play Kamikazi Grumpy Cat mode. :)