Caffeinated Beverage....check
Gum.....check
Peace and Quiet....check
Open Word Document.....check
Drink Caffeinated Beverage....check
Check Email....check
Type 1st Sentence.....check
Update Twitter.....check
Go to Bathroom....check
Type 2nd Sentence.....check
Click Word Count Button....check
Read Blogs....check
UGH--can you hear me screaming?! What you have just witnessed, my friends, is my sordid routine when I sit down to work on my WIP. Something is wrong here. Shouldn't I be able to put my butt in the chair and get sucked up into my storyworld?
I cry/whine/rant for more WIP time and when I get it I can't sit still and write. I'm not nearly this scatterbrained when doing anything else. I'm a focused woman, full of purpose, on a mission! And yet...
....when I sit down to write it's a different story (pun intended.)
If I'm a good girl and muddle through the first 500 words I hit my stride, a.k.a. THE ZONE. I love it when I hit THE ZONE--it's kind of like when your body goes into automatic after the first few miles on the treadmill. THE ZONE offers an exciting place where the only thing that matters is the story and what happens next...and man, will they finally kiss??? Unfortunately, without my 30 minute warmup I'm useless, doomed to wander in Nevernever Land.
Please tell me I'm not alone. What do you do to get into THE ZONE? Do you go through the craziness first, or are you one of those writers who jumps in and out with no transition time? (WARNING, if you are I'm going to cyber punch you. No, really!) Please, if you have a faster way, let me know =)
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10 comments:
Sorry to hear your frustration, Georgiana. That's not fun. I well know.
I actually tend to go in phases. If I'm a streak, then I'll go weeks at a time without the needed drudgery of warmup, but then weeks and even months can turn into an all-out full struggle to get the words down. I figure it's God teaching me perseverence, and patience. Both of which I need a lot of practice with.
Just stick with it. Have you tried free writing for 5 minutes before starting in on your story? I've heard that helps, might be worth a try. 5 minutes is better than 30 in warmup mode.
That's a really good idea. I've never tried a free writing warmup.
Try it and let us know how it works! I'm sorry you are struggling. I definitely have days like that too - no motivation. I do have one very important question though. How the heck can you drink a DC or coffee AND chew gum? EEEEWWW!! I can't chew gum with any of flavors going on from a drink or even water. ICK. lol
That's just the thing--this isn't on bad writing days, this is all the time. LOL!!! If I can get past that 500 word mark then I'm good to go, but getting to 500 words is the trouble. Sigh.
I love chewing gum and drinking DC ;)
I have to change locations and turn off the wireless in the laptop. And I have to know where I'm supposed to be going with the scene. How weird is that for this reforming Seat of the Pants writer?
Let us know how the writing warm up goes.
And here I thought I was alone. I soooo can relate to having a difficult time getting into the zone. It completely eludes me much too often. It's so frustrating!!! OK let me stop before I start whining.
LOL! I thought I needed to warm up too, like you, but most of my time was spent responding to email before I wrote. This morning I went straight to the WIP. But after 30 minutes the temptation was too much and well, here I am! I'm going back to WIP now!
Glad I'm in good company, ladies!
I think turning off the internet would solve most of the problem, and maybe eeking out the first 500 wouldn't be so excruciating.
Right now I don't get time to write so I'm no help to you there.
But I did realize that I might need to update the prescription on my contacts. I read:
Caffeinated Beverage . . . check
Gun . . . check
Thankfully, I went back and reread!
LOL, gun!!! Pulling that out would definitely be worse than checking my email.
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