Writers Asylum Forum What techniques do you use to ..

Do any of you practice writing , before you sit down to actually start writing. Or does inspiration just hit you in the face and you run and find something to write on.
For me inspiration usually hits me in the face, but I also try to sit down every other day and do a 5 minute warm up and just to keep writing. It is a method I learned about in a book. I also learned to keep an "anything goes journal" which is where any random thing I can think of including 5 minute warm ups go.

So I just thought we all stand to gain from learning new writing techniques, ways of dealing with writers block, and lack of "energy" to write

Lately I've just been writing and nothing else. I'm trying to finish my 1st draft of my 1st novel. When I get blocked on that I either re-type it up or re-write it by hand. It allows me to edit and get the story stuck into my mind. Also when I just am not in the mood to write at all I try to read. That way I'm doing something or learning something to do with writing.

I usually write after I've beenthinking about something for a while. An idea will pop into my head and I might be daydreaming a bit so the way i think might lean towards a poetic pattern (don't ask me how :P) and I'll write down what I'm thinking. I usually don't scribble it all out at once and edit it, I prefer to consider what I'm going tro write before I write it. I find that whilst I'm listening to particular music I am more likely to write a poem - usually alternative stuff like Silverchair. There's also this piano/techy band called The Album Leaf that has some really soothing tracks amd I tend to meditate a bit when I listen to them and I get ideas for poems/stories.

I have to be in a mood. That is why a lot of my writings go unfinished. Being as distracted as I get, I tend to just go back and add a little but as much as I can. ::mad:: My best insperation is music and things that happen to people or dreams that inspire the mood.

I just sit down, with a pen in my hand and a blank piece of paper, and I just start writing, no pre-thought. And ideas just seem to flow...

I'm finding that walking and muttering to myself helps a great deal. it scares the locals enough to make them leave me alone so I can write...

The muse is a dark goddess to be worshipped.

It depends on what mood I'm going for. If I want to be silly and skip randomly from thought to thought (as one of my characters does) I exercise a bit before I sit down to my laptop. If I want a darker scene of dry humor or wit, I'll leave a far light on and sit down in a darkened room and do some prewrite exercises. And sometimes I'll write when I wake up in the middle of the night or when I'm feeling nostalgic. Basically, I write whenever I'm feeling the mood I want to convey in my story. You'd think nothing would ever get written, but I can place myself in a mood fairly easily.

A lot of times I get inspired by reading and reviewing enough other people, either on here or when I'm reading published stuff, and I just kind of start seeing the world through a literary lens, if that makes any sense. I'm really bad about writing consistently, but I do try to make some time for it before bed if I'm not too tired.

I find that my inspiration and motivation come from different avenues, depending on my state of mind. Early on I thought that sitting down at a certain time, each day, was the way to go. For a long time it worked, and there are times that it still works today. But what I realized, once I allowed myself to let go a bit, was that different phase of life, different states of mind, call for different processes.

There are times when I will just hit the road, in the middle of the night - straight from a dead sleep, or after hours of trying to fall asleep. I drive until my head clears and the mind chatter dissipates. At that point I pull into an all night truck stop, or diner, and let the creativity flow.

Other times I may find the clearing in a small cafe or just after a stimulating conversation.

The key, I feel, is to allow yourself the freedom of exploration and experimantation. If allowed, the creative process will let you know.

For the last couple of days I have not been doing too much writing. But, usually I find that I write more fluently and creatively when I am sitting in a public area such as a crowded mall or at a park. Some people find this weird, but looking at my work, I think that is my best strategy.

When I am at home, where I usually am most of the time, I would just sit and write until my designated writing time has elapsed. However, I must admit that I usually would have to rewrite - or turn to writing poetry if I am stuck in the middle of a story.

If I could, I would go to the mall or a park every time I want to write. ::drool::

It depends on the work. Poetry I can make notes, mental or otherwise, throughout the day and I like writing poetry at night using the full experience of the day. I don't need much prep work for it at all, just sit and go, but I do need quiet or jazz, maybe classical, but no other people around. That's key for me.

Fiction is another animal altogether. I need to feel ready, need to have a mental image of what I want to do and where I want to go, some notes too, not too much, but something to get me off on the right foot. I also try to read or skim whatever chapter / paragraph came before. Once I get started and get in a groove with a project / book, it gets easier to sit down each day, but if it's been a while or I took a couple days off, starting is murder on me.

I also have noticed that when I am single, the poetry comes a little easier and when I am in a relationship, the fiction flows a little easier...anyone else have the same experience?