It's Friday... Woooooo! So. How are y'all? Good I hope.
You know writers are a strange group. Yeah. I said it. I am definitely part of that group. So I wanted to share some of my own strange habits of the writerly kind. If only so I can hear the weird stuff you all do too. Side note: Don't ever google the word WEIRD. Trust me.
I had to represent my favorite Disney movie. Alice in Wonderland is just so dang weird, it's perfect. By the way, how awesome is Tangled? LOVE it. Had to get it the day it came out. I know. How old are you? Shhh, my secret.
I smell a bullet list coming!
My List of Weird Writerly Habits 'n Junk
- I email myself names for my characters when I see, hear, discover a strange name. I have a character named Zegerius (we call him Zege) which is actually a doctor in town here (it's his last name though).
- I write with one song on repeat. A lot. One song can completely put me in a mood to write or not. It's a delicate balance. I get a little obsessive of my tuneage. Good thing my mind changes with my underwear ;o)
- I compulsively save my work, I mean like after every change. I push command S a lot. Even though it automatically saves it every few minutes, I believe. I'm paranoid about losing words, even though half I'll probably delete myself. Ha.
- I have to write with the tv on some random movie, headphones with iTunes blaring. I also twitter and facebook. Distraction much? I think so. How I've gotten anything done is beyond me.
- I record story ideas, plot holes, random scene issues I notice, on my phone to and from work (it's an hour drive) I have A LOT of them. I practically wrote my query letter on the way home one day a week ago. No joke.
- I save everything I delete, it goes in the "research" file in Scrivener (how awesome is Scrivener?) I rarely go dumpster diving into the "research" file but it's there in case.
- I write dialogue and plot first, adding description in later. I find I'm able to concentrate more on the surrounding when I've written what they're saying and doing already.
- I can only write alone. I realize I may have to get over this someday, but for now only George the Creeper (my cat who loves to lay on my arm, keyboard, whatever he can creep all over slowly and annoyingly while I'm trying to write) is allowed near me. Maybe the dogs, but they're usually asleep. The rottie snores loudly. Thus why headphones are a good thing.
- I read my stories out-loud to my little sister when she comes to stay. We both love it. For me? I get to hear it out-loud, for her? Well, I don't know... but it seems to work.
So there's mine. What about you? Any to add? Do you eat certain foods? Wear certain clothes? Drink somethin'? Turn around and clap three times before saving?
Okay. I'm done. I'm sorry for the temporary fangirl outburst. Squeeeeeeee
Have a wonderful weekend full 'o exciting serendipitous events ;o)
Pic credit: wallpaperhd.net
Posts
Love your quirky habits :P And Foo Fighters! woo!
ReplyDeleteThanks KT ;o) YES Foo Forever!!! Woot. LOL
ReplyDeleteI was a Foo fan even before their first album came out. LOL.
ReplyDeleteLOL You're not THAT weird. Maybe just a little. I definitely have my quirks. 1. the room must be pitch black except for my monitor. 2. Must have tunage - pandora works wonders until I run out of their 40 free hours. Then it's youtube playlists on shuffle. 3. Snoring hubby in the background. That's about it. Which means that it is virtually impossible for me to write during the day. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThat was scary. As I was reading it was like yeah, uh huh, I do that, yep and I do that, god I hope no one knows I do that too.
ReplyDeleteGood job, fun post.
I look over my shoulder constantly in a paranoid effort to make sure no one's looking.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that's only because I do all my writing at work.
That sounds cool! I've recently started emailing myself stuff from my phone when I'm at the gym. For some reason, doing cardio really gets my mind working - that and all the angry/fast songs that go along with my main character's development! :)
ReplyDeleteTrisha, Awesome!! Love to meet fellow Foo Fans ;o)
ReplyDeleteShelley, LOL love the snoring hubby! Yeah, we both like writing in the dark ;o)
Shain, LOL! There are probably more than us too ;o)
Teralyn, LOL!
Jessi, I could see that happening. Maybe that's why I do that on my drives. I'm usually jamming to tunes in the car... interesting ;o)
Hahahaha, you are so like me, it's crazy weird (which I had to google after you mentioned--I'm a curious type). I so have to have the TV on and head phones on and social media active on my screen. I have Marley, the atacker (cat), hovering around my keyboard and Bandit (dog) at my feet (both snore). Great post, Erica, love learning about your quirks. :D
ReplyDeleteI take Twitter breaks when I'm frustrated. Short breaks keep me from wigging out. I also like to write in coffee shops, like I am right now, but I don't think that's too weird. It limits distractions like screeching toddlers.
ReplyDelete