Writers: What kind of setting is most conducive to your creativity?

Here I am again with another curiosity thread.

I'm wondering what kind of setting you, as a writer, find the most conducive to allowing you to create and write the most effectively?

For me, a quiet setting with very little distraction is best, but I manage to write in a great many situations as I have a wife and baby in the house most of the time, so cartoons or kid's movies are always running, and there's always something to call your attention away from the project at hand, thus, the quantity and in some cases, the quality of my writing varies depending on what's going on in this zoo that we call home.

So, what's the ideal arrangement for you when you're trying to write your best material?

I write best when I am isolated, perhaps a little emotional. If you are chill you're not exactly criticizing the world around you which could hurt inspiration unless you're doing fan-fiction. It also helps to brainstorm a direction to at least determine the genre. Will this be a drama? Will it have comedic elements? etc.

Phone
Outside noise
Other, non-essential*, distractions
___________________________________________
* If you have kids, feed em. If you have pets, feed em. Etc.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


I would love for someone to hold my heart in their hand. To place tender kisses on my brow as I drift off to sleep every night. She would fill my belly with nourishing food, and knead the tension out of my sore muscles with her healing touch. She would tell me to be quiet, if I was being loud, and encourage me to speak up, if she knew I had something to say. She would demand that I stand tall. She could be my better half, I would settle for a half though!

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


I'm in the same boat as you. As soon as the baby goes down for a nap I cram as much writing in as I can!

Toromos
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

I'm in the same boat as you. As soon as the baby goes down for a nap I cram as much writing in as I can!

Whoa! You're from Chicago and haven't been shot yet?! Good on you!

But seriously, I WISH my kid would take real naps, he is at that stage (9 months) where he'll doze for maybe 20 minutes, and then poof, it's "off to the races" again. Phew, he's exhausting, and I'm not getting any younger.

Absolute silence and three sheets to the wind.

Or

First thing in the morning with my eyes still closed.


Anything else always tuns out to be over-thought, over-critical,
superficially-pseudo-intellectual junk.


There's a certain clarity that comes with being blotto. It cuts thru
all the extraneous stuff and you can see right thru to the core.
Problem is....its so very hard to type

Quiet, very quiet.
No distractions.
Very late at night and into the wee hours.
(When everyone else is in bed).

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Count me in on the quiet and very little distraction. When I'm writing, a lot of times I'm so deeply intensive in what I'm writing that it's a little bit like possession. All it takes for me to "lose" something is for somebody to come up and disturb me. Everybody in my house knows that, if I'm writing, it's just better to wait til I'm done.

WhiteAlice
reply to post by ProfessorChaos

 

Count me in on the quiet and very little distraction. When I'm writing, a lot of times I'm so deeply intensive in what I'm writing that it's a little bit like possession. All it takes for me to "lose" something is for somebody to come up and disturb me. Everybody in my house knows that, if I'm writing, it's just better to wait til I'm done.

Once the baby grows up a little, I'm sure I'll get more alone time for writing, but until then, I'm going to have to take what I can get. Kinda figures that I'm pushing to get books finished right at the time that it is most difficult, but who knows? Maybe I'll adjust enough to be able to write anywhere, anytime.

I write wherever and whenever I can! I keep a smart device on me instead of my old notepad. If I have an idea for a story or a poem I write or the start of it. Then I re-visit it.

I was told by a famous writer "If you want be writer, write, wherever you are, write, write, write!"

After dusk, and before dawn. Too difficult to write dark stories in the light of day. I don't need absolute silence, because in my house that is quite impossible, and I actually enjoy listening to chill music or nature sounds while I write. An open window with a nice breeze blowing the leaves is most inspiring.

rival
Absolute silence and three sheets to the wind.

Or

First thing in the morning with my eyes still closed.


Anything else always tuns out to be over-thought, over-critical,
superficially-pseudo-intellectual junk.


There's a certain clarity that comes with being blotto. It cuts thru
all the extraneous stuff and you can see right thru to the core.
Problem is....its so very hard to type

My man, pots and pans.
I agree..." Absolute Silence and three sheets to the wind "
--Nothing brings out the inner monkey like some booze.

-En Vino Veritas!

reply to post by ProfessorChaos

All my life I have thought better when walking.
The movement of the leg muscles automatically starts the thoughts moving, and if I'm writing something the phrases begin to come together.
Made life difficult during examinations.

I write best when all outside stimulation is shut off. I share a "computer room" with my husband. He is usually tapping away on his keyboard, so I put on my noise cancelling headphones and listen to a Pandora station I created called "Music to Write To"--mostly airy, ambient stuff that doesn't distract me, but that shuts out the noise. Low light, calmed mind, and enough time to get into "flow mode." That having been said, I'm also pretty physical, and when I get stuck, I have to get up, walk around, stretch, exercise--do something physical to jar my creative mind into finding a solution.

Sometimes I just sit there and no matter what I do, nothing happens. I hate that, but I've come to accept it as a part of the process, and I don't fight it anymore. There's not point. I'm not writing for money and I'm not on a deadline to complete anything, so I don't beat my head against the wall anymore.

Another word about music--the main character in my novel is a huge fan of 80's metal, so sometimes I listen to that instead of the airy-fairy stuff so I get can get into her head space a little more easily. I've discovered a lot of really great metal I missed out on in the 80's!