I think you're on the money with this. I have known for many years that my creativity for writing flows best in the mornings. I like to do any drawing or illustration work in the afternoons, in what might be called a lull time. But art and writing engage two very different parts of my brain that at first blush might seem to be the same -- but I know they are not. I like to listen to music when I am doing art, but I can't bear anything but quiet when I'm writing. I don't mind my wife moving around or even listening to her political shows on the iPad, but I can't tolerate it in the same room where I'm working. I often fall asleep at night pondering a writing problem, hoping the thing will solve itself while I sleep. Sometimes it does, but more often what happens is that it primes to pump, so to speak, for the following day's work. When we lived in rural New Jersey I'd often go for a long walk in the afternoon, thinking about whatever writing problem I'd tripped over. Almost always, by the time I returned home, I had worked it out by pondering alternate scenarios, and so on.
Sometimes your highs happen when you are at your day job, so you have to learn to write in your lows. I’ve discovered I can write for about 15 minutes maximum in a low, but it is better than nothing!
Exactly! For a lot of my career I was writing with small children. At that time highs and lows were a luxury. When cell phones became a thing I would try to get words in sitting in the school pick up line.
I am one of the people that edit as I go, so usually one draft BUT that's kind of misleading since I edit as I write. That Sherlock Holmes on was the challenge. I edited as I wrote, and then went back through it and then two editors went through it... I have nothing but admiration and respect for the those writing Holmes stories today.
I think you're on the money with this. I have known for many years that my creativity for writing flows best in the mornings. I like to do any drawing or illustration work in the afternoons, in what might be called a lull time. But art and writing engage two very different parts of my brain that at first blush might seem to be the same -- but I know they are not. I like to listen to music when I am doing art, but I can't bear anything but quiet when I'm writing. I don't mind my wife moving around or even listening to her political shows on the iPad, but I can't tolerate it in the same room where I'm working. I often fall asleep at night pondering a writing problem, hoping the thing will solve itself while I sleep. Sometimes it does, but more often what happens is that it primes to pump, so to speak, for the following day's work. When we lived in rural New Jersey I'd often go for a long walk in the afternoon, thinking about whatever writing problem I'd tripped over. Almost always, by the time I returned home, I had worked it out by pondering alternate scenarios, and so on.
Yes! Sounds like you have already found what works best for you. I used to live in Browns Mills, NJ. Walking there inspired my first fiction book.
Great article. I rely on my daydreams a lot too for my writing :)
Thanks! I think some of my best ideas were a daydream that 'landed' a few days later.
Sometimes your highs happen when you are at your day job, so you have to learn to write in your lows. I’ve discovered I can write for about 15 minutes maximum in a low, but it is better than nothing!
Exactly! For a lot of my career I was writing with small children. At that time highs and lows were a luxury. When cell phones became a thing I would try to get words in sitting in the school pick up line.
I don’t doubt how quickly you whipped out a FIRST DRAFT of those books, but how many revisions/edits brought your manuscript into publishable form?
I am one of the people that edit as I go, so usually one draft BUT that's kind of misleading since I edit as I write. That Sherlock Holmes on was the challenge. I edited as I wrote, and then went back through it and then two editors went through it... I have nothing but admiration and respect for the those writing Holmes stories today.
Love this piece, Angela!