Chatting With Other Writers

Welcome, Idlago

What makes writers tick? Most of us are weird and driven to open our computers to tap in our latest ideas.
What inspires? Anything and everything.
How difficult is it to maintain friendships? Most friends are other writers.
Or chat about writing. I'm an editor, so it's mostly what I do.
Do you prefer to write with music playing? No.
Or would you rather have complete silence? Since I'm totally deaf, complete silence is a given.
Do you write every day? Pretty near.
If you do, is it at the same time? Mornings mostly.
How many hours do you normally spend? Writing or editing = eight hours, give or take an hour.
Do you rewrite and rewrite, think you finally have it, look at your work the following day, tear it apart and rewrite it again? Thanks to my computer. nothing is ever completely lost.
Maybe then, it's closer to saying what you want it to. Pretty much.
Is that the process? Yep.
How do you go about it? Open my laptop every morning and don't turn it off till bedtime. BIC as much as possible.

I'll play!

What makes writers tick? Proper hydration? I've always felt like an outsider, and I think that's a big part of it. Whether it be socially, physically, emotionally, financially. I think there's something "different" about writers that is both source and inspiration. Also, hydration.
What inspires? Not a clue. I just seem to aggregate clever thoughts and observations until I have the critical mass to begin writing a story.
How difficult is it to maintain friendships? I've never been good at maintaining friendships. I'd say most of my current friends are writers (or readers) but they tend to pursue me rather than me do anything to cultivate them.
Or chat about writing. Among my writer friends, writing is about fifty percent of the conversation. Among non-writer friends, it's zero percent.
Do you prefer to write with music playing? Never. Too much of a distraction. I rise in the small hours of the morning when the house is dark and silent and do my best work then.
Or would you rather have complete silence? That's the preference. Once I'm really going, though, I can ignore household noises pretty well.
Do you write every day? Nope. Mostly only on the weekends.
If you do, is it at the same time? Yes, very early mornings. I'll occasionally do some rewriting at other times, but I rarely write anything new other than in the mornings.
How many hours do you normally spend? I can only sustain my motivation or creativity or whatever the magic is for about three hours. Then I'm just straining and not doing good work.
Do you rewrite and rewrite, think you finally have it, look at your work the following day, tear it apart and rewrite it again? Yep. Thoughts are always coming to improve or better develop something. One of the ways I know I've finished a work is when the thoughts stop coming for it.
Maybe then, it's closer to saying what you want it to. Closer, but it's never really perfected. Even my published stories look unfinished to me when I see them in print. Always something I could have done better.
Is that the process? Writing is rewriting.
How do you go about it? I'm making notes about stories constantly through the day/week. They come to me even when I'm out riding my bike or reading something I like. I gather the notes and transcribe them to my laptop, and that serves as my pre-writing. Then I jump in to the story and see what I can do with them. See how I can fit the puzzle pieces together. See what works and what doesn't. Then come back to it later.

Funny, disappointment with so many aspects of life, especially people in general, made me want to start writing. I chose in my writing to, in a sense, correct what I saw as wrong while at the same time offering an escape for the reader, something that would take the reader out of the mundane and into an exciting scenario. I think if I lived a fun, easy, stress-free life surrounded by good, wonderful people, my desire to write probably never would have formed. What keeps me from revising my work too often is that I don't begin typing until I feel absolutely sure that I have a super strong story and an outline worked out. It's much more helpful than one may think.

What makes writers tick? Anything and everything.
What inspires? The random things. The smell of rain, the sound of a newborn baby's cry, the quiet hours of night when it seems like you're the only one alive. Inspiration is everywhere if you know how to find it.
How difficult is it to maintain friendships? Honestly, it depends on the person. If I have something in common with them, whether it's a similar like for music or a mutual hate for our math teacher, I can better keep a friendship going. I have a surprising amount of friends that love reading and writing, my two passions.
Writing with music playing Definitely. I listen to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks and an album of 50 great pieces of classical music, it keeps me engaged without getting distracted. Lyrics can inspire me if I listen to just my regular music.
Writing every day I really try. I've been writing a lot more recently, since I keep a notebook with me at school. Some days are hectic, but I try to work it in somehow.
How long do I spend?It really just depends on the day, my mood, and the environment. If I have a quiet, uninterrupted stretch of time, I can write for around two hours, though a ton of it is spent looking up words and synonyms and random facts, and I definitely give a lot of thought to everything, so I end up deleting and rewriting a ton.
Honestly, at the moment, I'm not looking to get published. I don't think I can. I'm just not that good yet. But I'm improving and I write things that matter to me, and that's what's important, right?

I don't write everyday, my writing is inconsistent. I might write something over several weeks other times I will go months without doing creative writing. Right now I have not done any significant creative writing in about two months.

Inspiration comes from all over but usually it is something I feel strongly about. When I started I wanted to create stories based on things that were interesting to me, such as crime fiction (it never saw the light of day, most of my writing hasn't). Now I just write what is in my heart.

Generally I don't have music on when writing but sometimes I will put it on in the other room. If it's right next to me I find it distracting.

Not that much makes me tick anymore. It helps that I don't go on social media much now, I was a lot more angry then! When I first started being a writer I was angry, depressed, and socially isolated. Now I am a different person.


Hope that helps.

I write when the feeling hits mainly. If I get an idea about something, I'll write it down in a journal and make a note of it sometime later when I'm back at my laptop.
I take inspiration mainly when looking at my environment I suppose, mainly for world based ideas.
Other ideas literally just come when I least expect it.

Since I'm currently chasing tail trying to finish my first novel, being in the home stretch of writing it and all, I'd say I make time to actively write every weekend.
When I do I write for anywhere between two to six hours depending on how much it's rolling.

I love writing in silence mainly, or a bit of white noise in the background.
I edit my own work as I go, once in a while.
I'll generally write, read it, erase and re write all in one sitting.

I make notes all over my word doc to remind me of certain keypoints and how next to carry on writing the story.
Sometimes I'll put in notes to consider rephrasing if I've hit a wall.

I love my friends and being with them, so I'm not generally isolated. None of them are writers though but they're always open to hearing my thoughts on how far I am and my progress.

What makes writers tick? Coffee
What inspires? Anything
How difficult is it to maintain friendships? Facebook has changed the way I keep people at arm's length. I do call friends, but not as much as I should. Coffee dates are wonderful. Actually traveling and meeting with them is not my strong suit.

Or chat about writing.
Do you prefer to write with music playing? During a speedwrite. If I'm plowing through a scene for the first time then it helps me. The music must compliment the main character or the type of ending I'm writing toward.
Or would you rather have complete silence? If I am editing or evaluating how to solve a plot problem.
Do you write every day? No, I get blocked and I have a lot of health problems.
How many hours do you normally spend? One or two at a time.
Do you rewrite and rewrite, think you finally have it, look at your work the following day, tear it apart and rewrite it again? I speed write through. If something doesn't feel right then I rewrite or do chapters and pick and choose later. I chose my own adventure.