How to write with distraction

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kuwisdelu

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I can't write when there are any distractions around. Be it television, other people, or light itself. That's right, I even find it hard to write simply because it's daylight. I can be a vampire sometimes, and stay up all working on something, but as soon as I hear another human voice or the sun rises, I lose inspiration. Once in a while, if I'm the middle of working on something that's going very well, I can manage to work on it even when there are other people around--but only if they have no idea that I'm writing. I'm the exact opposite of those people who go to Starbucks and sit on their computers and make sure everyone knows they're working on the next Great American Novel. I'm always in awe of people who can work through distractions. It keeps me from getting a lot done. It takes me a long time to get "in the mood" to write, and trying to force myself just doesn't work. I wonder: are there any tips out there from those of you who are used to working in distracting environments for how to write in such situations? How do you write when the world isn't being cooperative?
 

giraffe!

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Well, I don't know exactly what to tell you on how to change the way you react to the world around you.

But when I'm writing, I use the things you find as distractions as inspiration--work little things into my story (voices, sounds, colors). At times, even, I'll use people to describe my characters--I see my characters in other people (not entirely, but parts of them anyway).

I treat the world I'm creating and the world I live in as brother and sister--though they're not exactly the same, they share a lot. It seems like you immerse yourself into your world. Who knows, maybe you just have a much more vivid imagination? :D

But, like you, I can never actually write my story with people around. I can only come up with the characters, brainstorm, write descriptions--everything but put the story onto paper.
 
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kuwisdelu

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But when I'm writing, I use the things you find as distractions as inspiration--work little things into my story (voices, sounds, colors). At times, even, I'll use people to describe my characters--I see my characters in other people (not entirely, but parts of them anyway).

I treat the world I'm creating and the world I live in as brother and sister--though they're not exactly the same, they share a lot. It seems like you immerse yourself into your world. Who knows, maybe you just have a much more vivid imagination? :D

I like doing that when I can. A summer ago, the few weeks I lived in the city, it was so much easier to see everything around me and use that as inspiration, because the world was so varied in that environment. So much of what I was seeing and hearing could be fit into my stories. But in a small college town, everything is the same. Students are stereotypes, and the town itself is boring. Sure, I'll bet there are some things in it that can inspire, but for the most part, all the distractions here aren't the kinds of things I'm interested in writing about. Which is why I often have to wait until it's night to be able to work these days...it's much easier to look up at a blank sky and listen to the distant police sirens and imagine a story than look out the window at some drunk frat boys and find that scene inspiring.
 

JeanneTGC

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I'm possibly the least solitary writer I know or have heard of. Small house, life's going on around me, I need music to write, TV on doesn't bother me, constantly interrupted by kid, husband, pets, friends, etc. I like chaos, I guess.

I use music to drown out all other distractions, though, as well as for inspriration. Maybe you need to find something that you can use that blocks everything else.

Headphones are always good, but useless unless there's sound in them. Ocean noises? Whale song? Whatever you can hear in the background that allows you to concentrate and focus.

As for me, Kiss just flipped on my music mix, and I need to go back to writing. :D
 

rugcat

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I can put myself in a zone -- it's almost a meditative state, where I inhabit the world of the book, yet can come out of it and deal with everyday distractions, even have conversations, and then switch gears and jump right back into the story. I hear what's going on around me, but it's simply not important.

The only exceptions are a bass from a stereo pounding away in the next apartment, or a dog that barks constantly.

However, if I have a particularly difficult scene, or if it's going unusually well, attending to something else can ruin it -- I can never get back the exact phrasing that was perfect, that made the dialogue sparkle or the scene come alive.
 

Danger Jane

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I'm fine with distractions when I put my mind to it for a few seconds. I can be very focused when I decide I need to be...very unfocused when I don't. I can write 30 painful words in an hour and feel guilty, or write 450 good ones in half an hour. Depends entirely on my discipline. I'm like Jeanne--family, TV, music really doesn't distract me. If I'm fading, I try music without lyrics (or with non-English lyrics) or complete silence....silence can really stifle me though.

Anyway, don't feel like a vampire--otherwise you'd write happily through the daylight. :tongue
 
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darrtwish

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I think darker curtains and iPods are a wonderful invention, especially in your case. I used to have the same problem until I got an iPod (any mp3/discman will work), and listened to a song full blast that would help me write...like military marches.
 

Diana W.

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I'm one of those people you see writing in Starbucks. Though I don't have a lap top (yet), nor do I announce it to the world that I am writing the next great novel. You will see me though, writing in my big blue writing book before going home and putting what I've written on the computer. I don't know why, but I seem to get more written in that environment.
 

freezer burned

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I think darker curtains and iPods are a wonderful invention, especially in your case. I used to have the same problem until I got an iPod (any mp3/discman will work), and listened to a song full blast that would help me write...like military marches.
Yipes! I hope you're not listening to that iPod on full blast with earbuds in! That's a good way to lose your hearing quickly.
 

Clair Dickson

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I can't write out in public (I can hardly tolerate the public, but that's a seperate issue.) But I learned how to focus because there was no other choice.

I suppose that's not very helpful.

I grew up in a house with three brothers-- one older, two younger. Add to that The Mom and The Dad, plus anywhere from two to eleven cats. And friends. And...and...and... if I didn't learn how to tune out distractions I never would have gotten anything done. For a long time, tuning out meant turning on some music that would cover up whatever kerfluffle was going on.

During the school year, I have about an hour between the time Hubby goes to bed and when I should go to bed. (It usually stretches into about two hours.) This is the only time I can steal to write-- if I don't WRITE (if I plot, plan, or futz around with whatever distraction) then that time is gone. I only get this time two or three days of the week-- not even all seven.

There's no time to WASTE on not writing. I'd rather be productive getting scenes onto the virtual page than not. Even if i know I'm going to revise them. At least I'm writing. Making progress. Hopefully getting better with each scene, each character, each plot. Even though I love it, I want to make sure I don't slack off just because [insert one of 7,532 reasons.]

But that's me. Sometimes, I think a little BIC can be a good thing. I usually set goals to keep that keister in the seat. And remind myself that if I wait until I *have* time, I'll never get anything written. (Heh, same applies for relationships with lovers/spouses/etc.)
 

citymouse

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K, Everyone has a different approach. I live in a house with five Welsh corgis. Each has a bark that can pierce asphalt. They tend to be vocal in their affections.
So how do I concentrate?
Quite simply I write on themes that push my buttons. As you probably know buttons are difficult to ignore. I let my mind push my buttons. Some of my buttons are, violence in all its forms, revenge--the visceral need to get even. But chief of all, is doing the wrong things for the right reasons and conversely doing the right things for wrong reasons, and then having to deal with all the consequences that flow from them. Once I let pent up desires, hopes, fears and even rage in, the ideas come and the words form despite distractions.

However, as I said. everyone has his own method. Yours may simply be writing at night.

C
Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure."
- Oliver Herford (1863-1935)
 

CBumpkin

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Thankfully, I live alone so there are very few distractions. But, if I needed privacy and no light, I'd take a laptop, a TV tray table and lock myself in the bathroom with the lights out! (Or a closet.)
 

shannonmac

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sometimes I need distractions because they force me to concentrate
other times (mostly now that I'm concentrating and in the zone) I need utter silence so I can hear all the thoughts in my head clearly
I seem to live in the middle of nowhere, meaning there isn't a small coffee shop I can hole myself up in the corner of yet.


Come on Buckeye, build me a Starbucks!!!
 

Susan Breen

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It's July. The kids are home from school. I'm in a constant state of distraction. I've taken to waking up at 5 in the morning, which means I have quiet for a few hours, but also that around now I'm very irritable. I wish I had quiet, but I know that would mean my older kids are back at college and I'd miss them. So I just try to grab time when I can.
 

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Quit indulging yourself by telling yourself "I can't write under such-and-such conditions" and just write.

I'm a teacher, and I can't tell you the number of days I've gotten up in the morning and thought, "Oh, lord, I'm not in the mood to face one hundred 13-year-olds today." But it's my job. So I do it anyway. While I don't want my writing to be *quite* like my job, because I love to do it and don't want to come to hate it, on the other hand, I try to have some of the same discipline when it comes to writing--something akin to the BIC philosophy. I write because that's what I do.

That said, yeah, it's hard. I can write under almost any circumstances (yes, I'm a coffeeshop writer, but I doubt I give out "Great American Novelist" vibes), but for me the most distracting circumstance of all is writing in the living room while my husband is home watching TV. (My laptop is on a bar in the kitchen in front of a small fish tank; I'm not watching TV with him.)

I find that listening to music on headphones to be a good way to focus. Strangely enough, I *can't* listen to music while writing under any other circumstances--most of the time I prefer silence. But I think it's the consistency of background buzz that enables me to write, whether it's the neutral buzz of the Panera, the quiet of my house, or random but steady music shutting out sounds that would be specifically distracting. It might take some getting used to, but give it a try. Give yourself permission to write a few thousand "not so good" words as you're getting used to disciplining yourself.

Good luck, and hope the suggestions here help. It's very frustrating to be in a situation where you "can't" write and really, really want to.

--Q
 

Danger Jane

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I'm kind of psyched to be going to college in a real CITY where I can write in a coffeeshop just because if I was writing at a coffeeshop...I'd feel like a HUGE noob if someone caught me idly browsing the web. Sometimes what sparks me off a couple days of writers' block is to go somewhere that I MUST write, and just do that for an hour.
 

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I can't write when there are any distractions around. Be it television, other people, or light itself. That's right, I even find it hard to write simply because it's daylight. I can be a vampire sometimes, and stay up all working on something, but as soon as I hear another human voice or the sun rises, I lose inspiration. Once in a while, if I'm the middle of working on something that's going very well, I can manage to work on it even when there are other people around--but only if they have no idea that I'm writing. I'm the exact opposite of those people who go to Starbucks and sit on their computers and make sure everyone knows they're working on the next Great American Novel. I'm always in awe of people who can work through distractions. It keeps me from getting a lot done. It takes me a long time to get "in the mood" to write, and trying to force myself just doesn't work. I wonder: are there any tips out there from those of you who are used to working in distracting environments for how to write in such situations? How do you write when the world isn't being cooperative?

kuwisdelu, I am very much like you!
I can really only work at night due to all the other (kid) distractions during the day. I recently found something that helps me to quickly "get in the mood" for writing at night:
burning incense!
I don't know what it is about incense (I detest perfumes, colognes & smelly candles) but incense totally relaxes me and sort of puts me in another realm which is really good for writing.
 

Deccydiva

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I can write with distractions but I can't write well. To do that it needs to be at night in silence or sometimes with a carefully chosen piece of music. My "inspiration" which can be so strong that I feel the words are being dictated to me comes from something or somewhere I can only tune into at night when the rest of my mind is empty. Perhaps it comes from what I have absorbed during the day but living in a wilderness there are not too many distractions anyway! :)
 

Phaeal

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I'm highly territorial, so any noise around my lair (house) must be investigated. At home, I'm easily distracted, but I swear by thick curtains, an air conditioner, and headphones playing a particular CD. I find that if you listen to the same CD or mix every time you write, the music becomes both a cue and a shield.

Away from home, I'm fine with background noise. The Coffee Exchange is my favorite haunt, chock full of laptop starers and even artists drawing and figurine painters painting. Windows on a busy bohemian street. Lots of variety. Bold resident sparrows on the deck. Great coffee. Nice.

I've also learned that it takes up to an hour for my concentration to really come together, no matter where I am. So I just slog through that 30-60 minutes, and then the chronically late Muse arrives.
 

Pagey's_Girl

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For me, it depends on the background noise. The TV is the one thing that drives me up a wall. I just can't seem to force myself to screen the bloody thing out. Luckily it's not on all that much, and if my mom for some reason is watching it, she doesn't turn it up all that loud.

My secret weapon is a small electric fan I keep handy year-round. For me it's the most soothing noise - it lets me think.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I need the distractions.

Without distractions I become really bored and unfocused and antsy just writing my story. I then LOOK for distractions to get me away from the writing.

WITH distraction around me, they occupy that part of me that thrives on looking for something else to do and free up my creative mind to concentrate on the writing.

I'm AAD, if that explains anything.
 

kuwisdelu

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Thanks for all the suggestions so far! It's certainly good to hear that I'm not alone. I also listen to music to help set a mood, and I find it pretty difficult to write without it. It's all part of blocking out the outside world. Once in a while, though, I have to read what I wrote without the music, because it always sounds better with that soundtrack going, so I then have to correct it a bit to sound good without one, too. I also enjoy lighting in the incense to help ;)
 

Phaeal

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For me, it depends on the background noise. The TV is the one thing that drives me up a wall. I just can't seem to force myself to screen the bloody thing out. Luckily it's not on all that much, and if my mom for some reason is watching it, she doesn't turn it up all that loud.

My secret weapon is a small electric fan I keep handy year-round. For me it's the most soothing noise - it lets me think.

I love the sound of fans, too -- I've got them all over the house. I guess it comes from being a Deep One. Cthulhu fhtagn!
 

Ren

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I'm one of those people you see writing in Starbucks. Though I don't have a lap top (yet), nor do I announce it to the world that I am writing the next great novel. You will see me though, writing in my big blue writing book before going home and putting what I've written on the computer. I don't know why, but I seem to get more written in that environment.

This is me also. I go to the local coffee shop and scribble away. The activity seems to fuel me. And no one knows what I'm doing exactly except the owners. They are understanding and sympathetic.

Plus sometimes I get a free espresso shot or a day old scone for free lol!

I love them sometimes. ^^
 

KTC

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I think you need a family. Yep...it's time you settled down and married and had a few kids. (-; With three kids in the house...and their friends...you suddenly don't even notice distractions. It's the quiet that freaks you out. We're entering into the empty house part of our lives and it is hauntingly silent at times. I sit at the keyboard and wish for chaos.
 
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