Before I Write…

A few things simple things need to be in place before I can write a thing.

I need a cup of coffee on my desk. Sometimes I don’t even drink it. I just need to know it’s there. The promise of caffeine.

may22Then I turn on the Self Control app. How it works: You select the websites you want to block, the amount of time you’d like to restrict access to them, then type in your password, and the sites are dead to you. This is an app with which I have a beautiful love/hate relationship. I wouldn’t be able to write without it because I am deeply lacking in my own self control, but it’s incredibly frustrating when you just want to look at reddit and you forget that you’ve blocked yourself from it for nine hours.

After that – rainymood.com. Something about the sound effect of rain gets me focused, comfortable and calm.

Then I fire up some unintrusive music. According to anyone who’s ever been around me while music is on, I have “Music ADD”, meaning I can’t listen to an entire song all the way through. SO the music I listen to when I write has to meet very specific requirements or I’ll be so preoccupied with changing the song to find a perfect one, that I’ll get nothing done. The ideal writing playlist has no lyrics, and no super noticeable instrumentation – saxophone solos, really heavy bass, etc.

This electronic playlist on Songza has been working for me, as well as the score from the movie Nebraska.

Once all of these things are in place, it’s time to write. Mostly because I can’t go on Facebook or Netflix, so I have nothing better to do.

How do you prepare for a writing session? What needs to be in place?

Published by theOffice

Quiet, communal workspace on the westside of Los Angeles.

9 thoughts on “Before I Write…”

  1. Daniel Ionson says:

    I’m pretty close to those lines. I write in my basement on a laptop with a broken wireless card (bought it for this very purpose), and I likewise listen to the right kinds of music (based on the type of work I’m doing).

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  2. krystolthewriter says:

    I need to develop that concept of blocking sites. I swear Facebook and LinkedIN are the devil. My writing gets done in my bed with my half covered up. I’ll try the raining sounds. Great post.

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