Anyone else get like this?

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Sailor Kenshin

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When I'm writing I barely qualify as human.

I don't want to shower. I don't want to get dressed, groom myself, answer the door, talk on the phone, clean anything up, think about anything else. I don't want to go anywhere, do anything (except whine about it in a post), see anyone, put anything away, nothing.

I wonder how Stephen King manages. :cry:
 

Mike Coombes

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You're lucky to be able to be so self indulgent. Most people have to fit their writing around earning a living/having a life.
 

Pike

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In the morning, shortly after five a.m. when the kids are still in bed, two hours before work I hunch over the computer, ignoring the tacky goo holding my tongue to the roof of my mouth. Maybe I'll make coffee but that will take time away from the story. As the time ticks away I plan the quickest shower (or maybe I'll just wash my hair) minutes before heading out the door to work.

Ya, life can get in the way but it's a grounding rod that keeps you sane when you write about lunatics and psychos.
 

MarkN

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Actually, I don't really know if I get like that or not. I do know that when I sit down and start writing a chapter, I generally don't notice much else until it's finished, barring major interruptions. Generally, that's while the kids are at school and the wife's at work, so things like body odor and bad breath and physical appearance generally don't raise much comment (although I think the dog avoids me sometimes).

I do tend to forget to eat, but I usually remember to get a cup or two of coffee.

Mmmm, coffeeee...
e2coffee.gif
 

rekirts

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That business of getting up at 5 a.m. to write before work just boggles my mind. If I got up at 5 a.m. I'd be toast by noon. I have real trouble focusing on writing unless I have a huge chunk of uninterrupted time ahead of me and if I had to go to work or attend another appointment later in the day, it would prey on my mind. It's an unfortunate quirk--a defect, even, but I was recently reading a biography of Charles Dickens and this bit from a letter he wrote made me feel less defective:

You have never seen it before you, or lived with it, or had occasion to care about it, and you cannot have the necessary consideration for it. 'It is only half an hour'--'It is only an afternoon'--'It is only an evening'--people say to me over and over again--but they don't know that it is impossible to command oneself to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes, or that the mere consciousness of an engagemnet will sometimes worry a day away. These are the penalties paid for writing books. Whoever is devoted to an Art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it.
 

Sailor Kenshin

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You have never seen it before you, or lived with it, or had occasion to care about it, and you cannot have the necessary consideration for it. 'It is only half an hour'--'It is only an afternoon'--'It is only an evening'--people say to me over and over again--but they don't know that it is impossible to command oneself to any stipulated and set disposal of five minutes, or that the mere consciousness of an engagemnet will sometimes worry a day away. These are the penalties paid for writing books. Whoever is devoted to an Art must be content to deliver himself wholly up to it, and to find his recompense in it.



Perfect! Excellent! Sugoi!

Thank you for that Dickens quote. Especially the part about worrying the day away because you know you have to BE somewhere. :D
 

Pike

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rekirts said:
That business of getting up at 5 a.m. to write before work just boggles my mind. If I got up at 5 a.m. I'd be toast by noon. I have real trouble focusing on writing unless I have a huge chunk of uninterrupted time ahead of me and if I had to go to work or attend another appointment later in the day, it would prey on my mind. It's an unfortunate quirk--a defect, even, but I was recently reading a biography of Charles Dickens and this bit from a letter he wrote made me feel less defective:

I'm an early bird by nature. Can't sleep more then six hours because the body starts to ache and cry for relief. And if it weren't for that, I wake up with story on the brain and have to do something with it before it eats my brain alive. Besides, if you saw my rug rats in action you'd understand why I get up so early. It's wonderful to have a private moment uninterrupted without "daaaad, where's my Goku", or "Rianna stole my juice". I love them but dad needs his own special time.
 

SeanDSchaffer

Sailor Kenshin said:
When I'm writing I barely qualify as human.

I don't want to shower. I don't want to get dressed, groom myself, answer the door, talk on the phone, clean anything up, think about anything else. I don't want to go anywhere, do anything (except whine about it in a post), see anyone, put anything away, nothing.

I wonder how Stephen King manages.
emoticoncry.gif


Hmmm, that sounds a lot like me. In fact, sometimes when a good inspiration hits, I find that I can't even get myself to go to bed at night.
 
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