At first glance (and second and third glances, too) my writing process is chaotic. I pick up and put down the laptop, I write at stoplights, I grab my moments. All summer I wrote wherever my kids–and their friends–wanted to go.
My sister called me out of the blue (she lives here in town, but 45 minutes away from me) and said she had a conference for her work that was going to be held at Disney World. Did I want to go? I could stay with her in her hotel room, and write all day long until her conference got out at 5:00.
Of course I jumped at the chance. :) It was the perfect opportunity to freeload.
On Monday morning, my sister went to her conference and I opened my laptop. I had nothing to do but write! No laundry, no cleaning, no cooking, no watching of children. I only needed to write.
It was too quiet.
I kept trying to write in the quiet. The last time I was at Disney, I was there with my children. We stayed at Pop Century at the resort and it was a noisy, buzzing place.
The Hilton? VERY QUIET. Very serious people are at the Hilton, doing very serious things. Very quietly.
I went to the pool. This worked well for a while because there were two noisy preschoolers there. But when they left, I was faced with the Very Quiet hotel room to write in.
So I went to Epcot. I sat at Mexico, had some food, and wrote. Perfect!
Now I’m thinking that I don’t need to mess with success. Right now, I don’t know how to write on command. I don’t know how to do it when it’s very quiet and still and there’s no visual stimulation at the same time I’m writing. I don’t know how to force it.
I’m sure I can adapt to peace and quiet…someday. Right now, I’m just going to stick to what works. However crazy it might be.
Good for you! Great stories rarely emerge from one relaxed brain in a quiet room — downright unwriterly :) ~Molly Swoboda
I stayed at the Hilton in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago, and your observation about very serious people staying there and it being very quiet is soooo true. But I did get an idea for a story riding up in the glass elevator with a couple where one person held the wine glasses and the other the food.
But yes, it was so different and quiet telling myself -write – and NOW – wasn’t as productive as I fantasized about.
Care to trade, Elizabeth, my chaos for your quiet?
Actually, you could open up a YouTube window on your laptop and keep it running to provide some background stimulation. And a few chuckles.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Whether it’s plotting (or not plotting), having the perfect purple gel pen and a yellow legal tablet, or wandering around the house listening to voices in your head, you find your own system and follow it.
Wow! You must have amazing focus! Good for you for being able to write in Mexico! I’m like you; I can’t write on command. Only for me, there needs to be no distractions. Isn’t it funny how it’s different for everyone!
I think my optimum writing environment varies depending on the task. For “oh my, I can’t stop, this scene has me by the throat” writing, I could be smack dab in the middle of traffic. For heavy editing, I need music, but no tv. When I’m editing by theme (looking for extraneous words, dialogue tags – any specific focus), it doesn’t much matter.
But I don’t like total silence either. Kind of creepy. I like some kind of buzz going on in the background :) Thankfully the iPod is always handy!
I’m appalled at the absence of free wi-fi. How are serious people supposed to accomplish their serious tasks? If I’m staying at a Hilton, I’m expecting some perks, and wi-fi is one of them.
I write best in two situations; classical music playing (no lyrics – can’t listen to lyrics and write!) or complete silence if I’m really concentrating. I mutter (in short bursts, not constantly in a creepy way) as I write as I think better out loud. It worked when I studied for exams back at school and it works now.
I envy your ability to write anywhere. I may become slightly bitter.
Elspeth
Ha! I’m just the opposite – I NEED quiet, don’t even want music playing. Probably what we’re, as you say “used to.” When you’re raising a family noise is ubiquitous. I’m an empty nester now and find the tranquility of silence most comfortable to write in.
Marvin D Wilson
Rule of thumb: The higher the price of the hotel room, or the more ‘high end’ the chain, the more they’re going to charge for WiFi.
Why do you call what you need and how you work crazy? It’s just what you need, and it may be different than what someone else needs, but it’s not crazy. I’m like Helen, need quiet. I agree, don’t mess with what’s working.
karen
I find no conditions are the right conditions for writing. I’ve written in quiet and in noisy and I’ve been struck blank in both. I can write when I’m happy or sad or I can’t. The best for me is to give myself a word count and do it no matter what the world is offering.
What about a CD with ´homely noises´?
Perfect Christmas gift idea from children to writing parents?
I don´t mind the sound of my family around me either which is one of the reasons why I often write in our living-room though I have a perfect study, but the TV can be quite distracting.
Yup, we’ve all got our writing neuroses! I need perfect quiet. Total silence. I’m also a musician/songwriter, and music is the worst distraction for me, because then I focus on the music. Quiet. Peace. Silence. For me, those things = writing.;-)
If it works for you, it’s not crazy. Everyone’s different. I need quiet. I wish I didn’t, but I’m too easily distracted. (Probably a sign of my weak mind – ;-)
Helen
Straight From Hel
Molly–Well…but then I thought about Thoreau and how he just loved his little quiet cottage. I guess that’s just another place where I’m radically different from the brilliant Thoreau!
Marvin–I wonder if I’ll ever be able to adjust. I might have to be one of those coffeehouse writers in another ten years.
Journaling Woman–And–is it me?–or were those the most boring looking people in the world? I kept looking for characters and there just weren’t any. Tons of characters at Disney World, though.
Jan–Scary deadlines work for me, too! That was the nosiest silence I’ve ever heard, though. Very distracting!
Alan–Okay, I thought of that. But…would you believe that the Hilton makes you PAY for Wi-Fi!!!!??? By the hour. I was absolutely appalled. I mean, you can get free Wi-Fi at Mc Donalds these days. Sigh. Okay, I’m really cheap. I did buy a connection, but not enough to keep it up all day. I kept walking around the Disney World resort asking where the free wi-fi was. It was nowhere! Unbelievable. Okay, rant over. And if anyone from the Hilton is reading this and wants to make up with me….I’d love a free stay somewhere. :)
Terry–That’s what I was thinking. Instead of dwelling on how weird I was not being able to write in complete silence, I found some noise.
Kristen–I think we all have our different methods to our madness!
Helen–Not a weak mind. Maybe a sound one!
Jemi–Good point! I do switch it up a little when writing different scenes. I like loud music during action scenes.
My Ipod didn’t have a lot of good songs on it for writing. Usually I like songs without lyrics for writing and my playlist had too many singer-songwriter songs on it. I should have been prepared!
I’m a hybrid. Sometimes I have to have quiet, other times I need something (music, usually) playing in the background.
But! Go with what works, I say. It seems to have worked for you so far.
Elspeth–I guess the serious people write it off on their serious taxes. Oh SHOOT! I just realized that’s what I should have done. Gotten a receipt. (($*#)(#*$)!!
I don’t know. There’s something kind of odd about not being able to write in the perfect, conducive atmosphere for writing. When you’re supposed to be writing.
Terry–I had no idea! Usually the Hampton Inn is as high-end as I’m willing to pay for a hotel. So…I called the Hilton front desk. Where is the complimentary b’fast? Ma’am, there IS no complimentary b’fast. I was in culture shock!
Karen–I’m not sure…it just seems like I *should* be able to be more productive when I have the perfect opportunity and place for the writing. My sister thought it was so funny that she called me after her conference and I was writing at Disney World! You make me feel better about it, though. I just worry I’m becoming too eccentric.
Dorte–That would be a great CD! It would have barking dogs, noisy dishwashers, feuding children, smoke detectors, and video games on it. :)
I agree about the TV…very distracting.
Debra–If only! Maybe one day I’ll have that and can actually focus on what I need to do.
Jack–Hybrids would be the most adaptable. Good for you! But then, libraries are both quiet and loud, aren’t they?
Now that the kids are back in school I often leave the TV on just for background noise. I also have to listen to my iPod while walking the dog. Isn’t it amazing how we can get so used to noise that we don’t know what to do when it is quiet?
This doesn’t surprise me at all! I don’t adapt all that quickly to any change in routine, and I don’t think I’m that abnormal. Sometimes I wonder what I’ll ever do if I write for a living because I currently write almost everything from the bathtub, but it seems the optimum for me is ‘white noise’–activity that you don’t actually have to ATTEND to.
I love your observation on the Hilton! That is the kind of place we have our scientific conferences. Fortunately for me, most of those rooms have bathtubs.
I’m like you (only not that productive), I can’t write when there is peace and quiet. To concentrate, I need to blank out background clutter, and if there is none to blank out, nothing comes out :-(
I used to think there was something wrong with me, but no longer!
Hart—I guess that even if “chaotic” describes our work routine, that’s what we should maintain!
I don’t remember staying in a Hilton before. I was not impressed. What good is a hotel unless you can find characters there?!
Janel–So true! I don’t know what to do in a vacuum of silence, apparently. More noise is helpful.
Rayna–I’m glad we’re on the same page. :) Makes me feel more normal.