What are the ideal writing conditions?

[HLGStrider]

Personally, I write best in between ten pm and midnight, in my room, lying on my bed with my pillows propped up so I can sort of lean down over my work. I work best in silence. I like it dark outside.

What about you? When, where, how do you write?

[Celebthôl]

Big comfy chair, big fireplace (with the fire going of course ;)), in the winter, about christmas time or just before (after is no good for obvious reasons), very few lights on, just enough, no family about preferably (they wont come in soon so quite far away such as up north on a break for a week type thing), very quiet only the crackle of the fire going, cup of tea steaming on the side...perfect. :)

[Arebeth]

Originally posted by HLGStrider
Personally, I write best in between ten pm and midnight, in my room, lying on my bed with my pillows propped up so I can sort of lean down over my work. I work best in silence. I like it dark outside.

I totally agree. Personally, the best hours are between midnight ant three am. Quite embarrassing when you have to get up early. But writing is not a choice, obviously...

don't wait to have a subject to write. Write. (Romain Gary. French and Polish writer of the 20th century)

[HLGStrider]

Thol, according to your definition you can only write well two months out of the year!

gasp!;)

[Celebthôl]

Originally posted by HLGStrider
Thol, according to your definition you can only write well two months out of the year!

gasp!;)

Yes ma'am :)...last year at that time i started my sequal to LOTR :o

Shhh, no telling :o

[Zale]

I can only write in the holidays, because academic work takes up most of my intellect. When I'm not at college, my brain would be unused and bored, so writing kind of springs to the surface.
I either sit in front of the PC and type, when I've got no specific idea in mind; when I have, I go to my room, turn up the music, and scribble on whatever paper comes to hand. Then I start on the second draft, then the third, repeat ad nauseum...

[HLGStrider]

Personally, I am an incredibly good writer (if I do say so myself ;)) but an incredibly awful rewriter! I can't make myself rewrite, even when I REALLY need to, and as the secret to writing is rewriting (I think it was E.B.White who said that), I'll never get anywhere with that problem.

Anyway, I don't prefer to write on the computer. When I do, I normally don't finish it. For one thing I like my writing to be portable so I can do it while riding in the car, waiting to be picked up at work, or where ever I happen to be.

[FoolOfATook]

I do most of drafts sitting outside, drinking coffee or Mountain Dew (or Coke, now that my university has switched it's official soft drink provider from Pepsi to Coca-Cola) and chain smoking Camel Turkish Golds. The chain smoking is very important- I tend to think better when I smoke. (Yeah, I know smoking is unpopular these days, but C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens both smoked cigarettes non-stop as they wrote, and Tolkien always had his pipe). I tend to write in fragments, and then pull them together in the English department's computer lab. (Even if it's not for school). For whatever reason, I can't really get any work done at home at all, especially in my room. Also, I can't work in silence- I need to have a lot of background noise- people talking, stuff like that. I do almost all of my writing in in those ringed notebooks (not binders), but if an idea hits me in a strange place, I write on whatever's available- I've done more than my share of writing on cocktail napkins, for example. And I can only write with Bic Soft Feel Medium black click-pens, although I'm trying to adapt to also using Papermate Comfortmate Medium black click-pens, because I've been having a harder time finding my pen of choice lately. It has to be click-pens though, because otherwise I'll chew on the caps and utterly destroy them.

Actually, now that I think about it, I do quite a bit of editing at my desk in my room, but that's mostly because the shelf above my desk has all of my grammar, punctuation, style and editing books, and I can't lug all of them around. I do try to make sure that I have my copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style in my book bag whenever I know I'm going to be putting a paper together at school, and I usually take my copy of the MLA Handbook too.

[Lúthien Séregon]

Strangely, I don't really have any ideal writing conditions - most of the time I'm at my best just sitting at the computer, because then my awful handwriting doesn't slow me down.

[HLGStrider]

I do try to make sure that I have my copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style in my book bag whenever I know I'm going to be putting a paper together at school, and I usually take my copy of the MLA Handbook too.

I own Elements of Style. I tried to read it, but I figured that wasn't the best way to do it. . .hmm. . .

[HLGStrider]

Just a note. ..I tend to write best with mechanical pencils 0.7mm thickness in lead or with roller gel black pens.

I also have a mental thing about my paper. It must be college ruled. . .not wide ruled. If it is wide ruled I start to feel imbecilic for some reason and it gets into my writing.

[Zale]

My writing tools of preference: my short silver fountain pen, or a mechanical 0.7 pencil, or a (white) keyboard.
I prefer to write onto squared paper (5mm a side) but lined will do. Or in small exercise books.
I haven't read any official writing aids, but I find reading other people's work greatly improves my style; the more unusual, the better.

[Eledhwen]

Thol is making me envious with the open fire - I don't have one, just one of those miserable log-effect gas fired fakes.

I just need something to swap out on when I have a thought that needs writing down - often that's my PDA as my pens keep getting nicked. I do most of my writing on the computer (when I can get on it) because it's faster.

I would love the luxury of my own writing space and all the time I need to spend there. My three daughters who are still at home each have their own rooms. I rightly share with my husband, but any space therein that might have been my own is taken up with family stuff and laundry in progress.

I only use lined paper for minute-taking and work notes; though I don't know why I don't use it at other times. If I had the wide spaced lines Elgee mentioned, I think I'd be writing two lines to each ruled line.

I like to write with real ink, but I'm a messy person and end up with blue or black fingers, so usually it's a black gel pen, which I find is a good compromise - free-flowing.

[HLGStrider]

I guess you'd say I'm bumping this. . .

BUMP

[Lantarion]

Oriignally posted by HLGStrider
I work best in silence. I like it dark outside.

Ahhhhhhhhh!! Wonderful! :D

I usually write on my desk in my room, which has a nice feel to it because of all the manuscripts and papers lying around.. :D But I really like writing beside an open window, especially if it's dark outside.. Darkness is so beautiful!

[Saucy]

i write best at random times...like all of a sudden i will be like...i gotta write something, and i ll go and write down my ideas....the only problem with that is u kinda end up with a bunch of half finished storeies or ideas, and u have to organize em all together.....and alott of times they are dumb

the best time to draw on the other hand...is in math clas ;)

[Kelonus]

I am the same way Powersauce. I finished one booked and am typing it, but at the same time I'm writing sequals to my first book I finished typing. It sucks knowing I am doing so many things at once trying finish early and school is in the way. I just have to make sure I dont destroy my stories by rushing or anything.

[Lantarion]

S N O W ! ! !

It's snowing big time here! I just realized what perfect literary catalysts, i.e. muses, snow and winter are! Wonderful! :D

Hehe, and another thing that I do is that if I write something during winter, the setting of the story is usually winter, and the same with summer and autumn etc. :)

[HLGStrider]

Not me. . .this kitty likes warmth. . .and flowers. ..Flowers and warmth are the best writing stimuli any day.

[Arebeth]

I almost lost a whole lot of my last work yesterday, I could find only 25 pages and there was 102 originally- fortunately my friend Dorothée helped a lot, I found it back! Yay!
(Sorry but I've been very, very scared, I had never lost anything I had written before)

Yay for snow, too! (here it's melting, but anyway...)

[Zale]

Snow? We don't get that in Worcestershire...
I've just realised that I completely ignore (almost) seasons in my work...has to change.
Not that I can do much writing these days. Darned A levels.

[Halasían]

I dont think I have an ideal writing condition. I mean, if I'm on the computer writing a story it may weell be while I'm at work and on the phone with a customer when the thought hits me. If I'm writing on paper, I usually go up in the mountains or park in a quiet place and write away.

[Kelonus]

When I write I like to be by myself where everything is quiet. Sometimes I put instrumental music like the LOTR's soundtrack.

[Saermegil]

Hokay, this is a bit of a secret, but I like to write to Vangelis music. I my room, on my pc, messing about on the internet at the same time, popping in and out of the room, talking to my family. Then when i've warmed up I'll put on something like Nate Dogg or Outkast's The Love Below. Then I'll finish, print it, find the mistakes, correct them, print it, give it to my mum, she finds the mistakes, I correct them, I check it again, print it and jus' like that, I's got me a piece o' writin'. (Excuse the " ' "s)

I dont get wild ideas or sudden inspirations for writing. Those are for my graphic novels.

[Khôr’nagan]

I definitely need music to do my best poetry, or if not music, absolute quiet. I prefer putting the LotR Soundtrack on quietly, loud enough to hear clearly but not loud enough to distract me, and just sit at my computer and type. Subjects of my poetry vary from Lord of the Rings to philosophy and sometimes love, but Lord of the Rings is definitely prominent (probably because I listen to its soundtrack while writing). The times I tend to write the most are late at night, like from 10:00 PM to 4:00 AM. I probably could write better at earlier times, but I'm usually too busy with school work.

Well, that's about it for me that I can think of right now. I'll probably do some writing a little later tonight, sitting in my rocking chair at my computer and typing. It's definitely a good way to relax.

[Zale]

Does discussing love not come under the heading of philosophy?

I can't do without music; can't write, read or anything. I'd much rather have a CD on than watch TV most of the time. I do find that what I'm listening to, be it Coldplay or Swedish death metal, has absolutely no effect whatsoever on what I'm writing. Strange.

[Khôr’nagan]

Well yes, I suppose it does, but they're both such general topics, so I just left them separate...

But I really don't know whether music effects my writing or not. I mean, it might just be a coincidence that when I was listening to something other than classical-type music the subject of my poem shifted to a darker level, but I'm not sure. And I also might just write so much about the Lord of the Rings because I love it so much, but the music could have an effect on it... I really don't know.

But one thing's for sure: I do need quiet around me, and I think it helps me to use a computer, because I can easily go back to edit things later on, and it's also MUCH neater than my handwriting, which is barely intelligible.

[Isthir]

I do not believe that there are 'ideal' conditions to write...more of an ideal state of mind for me. Yes some conditions may help this, but are not neccisary and certainly not need (sometimes unwanted as well). For me, if I have something to write it is written, the state of mind that I speak of is one of detachment almost, letting your mind's eye travel through the world and your hand to record as much as possible....just my thoughts.

-Isthir

[Khôr’nagan]

I aswell require a specific state of mind, and I am usually very detatched as well when I am writing. The only things I hear (or at least listen to) are the thoughts speeding through my head at what to write down, the only thing I see is the paper in front of me and the words there-written, the only thing I feel is the pencil in my hand as I speedily scribble down the words. When I'm on my computer I'm more atatched than otherwise, for some reason that I am unsure of.

And indeed I referred to conditions that aided my state of mind to writing, not conditions that did not aid me thus.

[Isthir]

As for the differance between writting by hand and by computer I find that I am more detached on the comp, for my fingers find their letters seemingly without thought and so quickly that I can get ahead of the continuing line that traces in my mind while it is bombarded by other ideas. Because of this I find that writting by hand brings more quality to the writting, but less quantity. *Shrugs gently*

-Isthir

[Khôr’nagan]

I suppose that for me I require more quiet than I can get on my computer, because typing always makes noise by just pressing the keys. And then there's the occasional error that pops up and whatnot. So though I prefer writing on the Computer more than on paper, I find that I am more open to my surroundings on the Computer than I am when I'm just writing on paper.

As to the quality difference of my writing, I am totally unsure. I only know that I feel more in-depth with my writing when I'm in school, sitting at a desk, paper in front of me, and an essay to write. I suppose that such times are my truly best writing conditions, because there are no distractions of being able to do something else. There's no forum to post on, no game to play, no book to read, no friend to talk to, just paper to write on.

[Isthir]

Perhaps that is the best condition? Not necissarily at school and what not, but only having paper, pencil, and the mind to write. For without distractions one's mind can go places that the world normally hides from us.

Still only my thoughts,
Isthir

[Khôr’nagan]

Indeed it is merely the best condition, it just so happens that, for me, writing an essay in school is the only place free of distractions, and I am very easily distracted (might have something to do with my ADD...)

[e.Blackstar]

Well, sometimes I like to actually dress in a tunic, cloak, sword, etc. and go out into the woods behind my house and soak in inspiration, and of course, write it down. I also like the whole big chair, cushy blanket, instrumental music (ROTK soundtrack, anyone?), a nice tankard of apple cider, and a notebook. I hav ecanles in my room for prettienesses's sake, an sometimes I light tham, and shadow fence, or burn smelly stuff, etc, and write. Yay!

[HLGStrider]

Well, the closest I come to the tunic thing is actually having to get up and run around after writing a part with a lot of action in it. I swoop down the stairs and run about the halls once or twice.