The Zen of Writing Spaces

Stephen King once said, "Write with the door closed, edit with the door open."

Hemingway-Key West

Closing that door is probably the best advice we'll every get. Closing out distractions is definitely the way to get more words on the page. So how do we create that perfect writing space?

First it has to have a door. Something to close and lock out the world. If we're going to go into our other worlds, we need that cone of silence, that way to make the room a place of escape.

Next up: a desk. Something large enough to share the laptop and notes. But not so big or grand as we sit around thinking about it. The desk should be comfortable and fit your style.

A chair that is cozy enough to sustain long periods of sitting and writing. We don't want to be thinking about our ass as we sit for hours plowing through that awesome chapter of the next best seller.

Stephen King's Writing Space

A bookcase is always helpful. Most writers have stacks of books for reference. And we need somewhere to cram all those versions of our WIP.

So, those are the necessities. In my dream room I'm gonna need:

•  Dog beds, because Gracie & Cupcake are always with me. 
• A bulletin board. I like to pin notes/timelines up so I can keep track and refresh my memory when writing. 
• A window. I need the feeling of space around me. Windows help if the room is smallish. 
• I need to place my back to the wall. Weird, I know, but I work best that way. 

 This was my writing room but a shift in family dynamics took it away. I made that funky desk myself and wrote very well (I hope) when I sat at it.  I'm now working on finding a new space.

What's in your Writer's Space? 

One Week - Too Many Excuses to Write

I plan, I plot, I think out my writing schedule and still can't get that WIP opened up and rolling. True, there is still that darkness lurking, but things there are changing and maybe for the better. Do we see a light at the edges of the evil? It's looking like the accused was actually set up by a darker force. Its what I thought in the beginning, but everyone argued against it, telling me I was just not facing it. Back to writers and investigations... Writer's need to plot. For a plot to work it means things have to line up. They have to make sense even in fiction. We can only separate from reality for just so much, before we lose our reader. Even in sci-fi, there has to be a believably factor.  In that dark place there were too many things that didn't add up for me. I seemed to be the only one who questioned things and that had me doubting myself. However, law enforcement didn't take things at face value. They investigated, are still investigating, but hopefully heading in the right direction now.

So you'd think this would free up my emboggled (<~~Look a new word! Okay, maybe not...) mind to get back to work, but it hasn't, not yet. So, now I need to plan this writing week. Write everyday between 9 and 5? Or maybe a slower start? write 9 to noon, get other stuff done, write 2 to 4? Believe it or not I once had a great schedule and stuck to it like religion. I need to get that back. I need to believe this is where I need to be and shuck off the outside forces that seek to knock me down.

The other day a friend told me when she was unemployed she wanted something to show for it. She didn't want all that time to pass and have nothing to show for it. Then she wrote enough songs for her first album. She just did it, got it done. Told herself it was what she needed to do and did it.  Inspiring.

Stephen King once said he writes like 10 pages a day. Sometimes he's done by noon, other time's he's still there late into the night. Not sure if that's true or something he had to say when pressed for answers in an interview but it sounds like a plan.

So what's your writing schedule? If you're ever knocked off balance, how do you get it back?

Story Layout, Outlining, or Writer's Scribbling

I was in a writer's group the other day and someone asked me about how I outline my stories. I had to think about that as I'm not really an out-liner. Mostly I scribble a few notes on the first page and just take off.

Which made me wonder about other writers. In Stephen King's On Writing, he said he just takes two ideas and melds them together. Teen girl puberty + telekinesis, Haunted hotel + alcoholic with issues, Mother with broken car + Rabid dog, Nerdy teen boy + evil car.
I think he's got something there, the possibilities are endless!
Sparkley vampires + miserable teen girl, Boy wizard + strange school, Nerdy college girl + man with bondage issues.... all best sellers.

Mostly I go by the "what if's" and reach into my old Catholic issues. When I was a kid I was constantly questioning the rules of the Catholic church. This upset my Irish Catholic parents to no end. "Just believe," they'd say. "Have faith." I'd answer, "That makes no sense."
I mean if God is everywhere that means he's at my house, too, so why do I have to go to church on Sundays? At what point did Jesus say we needed to eat body and blood? It was something he did once in reference to a peek into his future. Isn't it kind of gross we mimic that? And why did he hang out with 12 guys? Okay, we won't go there. My experience in the Catholic church was not a good one. We had a bad priest who constantly screamed, yelled and embarrassed kids and adults alike. I never felt good there, just scared. Then he made my mother cry and there was no way I was going back.

So now I wonder about reincarnation. Isn't it kind of limiting that this is it? One life? One experience? Wouldn't' the grand scheme of things seem more complete if we could experience many types of lives? That got me to thinking if we do reincarnate we could come back as any gender and race. What if we can come back as animals? Then came Soul Mates. Which I would have given a different name if I had just searched that name on Amazon first.

The phrase, "A child shall lead them" got me thinking in what universe would any adult let a child lead? How old a child? A seven year old? Younger? Then came Threshold to Midnight which is not yet Amazon-ed. Coming soon.

Any of these stories began with a blurb. Just a bunch of sentences of what i wanted to write about, but no where near an outline.

So do you outline? Scribble? Or is there another way to layout a story?

Writing Ten Pages

I read Stephen King stays at his desk until he writes at least ten pages.
Sounds easy, right?

Sometimes, I guess it is. Today, not so much. I've never had such a hard time squeezing out ten pages. I kept starting to stand up and then dropping back into the chair, remembering I promised myself ten pages today.

I'm drawn to this vampire story for some reason. Its a little outside my usual writing, but its like exploring a new land. I want to see where its going to go. The ten pages today were torture. I finished about 3 o'clock. Not too bad overall but the writing was hard. I counted every minute, every word, every page.

Then I finished editing the first 100 pages of another book. Tonight I'll print out another 100 pages and edit that between other working on other stuff.

I decided to start setting goals from reading Zoe Winters' site. She does word count each day and she's fairly prolific.

Do you set writing goals? What are they? Do they
help?

That's Hemingway's cat cemetery. -->
He really did love his kitties.

Challenging Youself

One of the writers I most admire is Zoe Winters. She regularly posts her word count and how far she's gotten in her lastest WIP.  I need to do this. Not post it per say, but challenge myself to get X amount of pages done each day. In Stephen King's book, On Writing he says he completes at least 10 pages a day. Now I question if he perfects those 10 pages with edits or does he just blow them out to come back and edit later? Probably a little of both since we know writing isn't an exact science. I usually plow through to the end but sometimes I back track.
So what word count to set?
I work full time, volunteer and just started piano lessons. :) So with all that on my plate, what would be a viable word count? Should it be set for each day? Week? Or should it be a time goal? X amount of hours each day or week?
Sometimes 10 pages fly by, other times 5 pages are absolutely painful and time is a factor when you work 8 hours a day.
Do you set word/page goals? Are they daily or weekly?

How do you get it done? 

Work of Art for Writers

There was a show on Bravo for two seasons (I'm praying it comes back!) that brought like 20 artists together for a competition: Work of Art, the next great artist. Each week they'd be given an assignment, work through it and then it goes to the gallery for judging and some one's eliminated. I loved this show. Watching the artistic process, seeing how each artist comes up with his own ideas for challenge and the rush to finish by the deadline.
So I was thinking this would be cool for writers except for one thing....watchin a dozen or so writers sit and curse at their puters while they pounded the keys and hit the delete button probably wouldn't be too entertaining.
Too bad.
However, I could probably watch Stephen King write.
Not matter how interesting the process, the grunt work isn't always that entertaining in some industries. Watching a work of art go from lumps of clay and paint to magical works can be interesting. When writing the excitement is all in your head. The scenes are like visions that take us into another, far away world that is much more fun than everyday stuff.

So here I sit on a Sunday afternoon, ignoring the counter clutter, laundry and other stuff, to go into that far away land inside my brain. Its so much more interesting than anything else I could be doing today.

Multiple genres

As I approach getting ready to Kindle my book I wonder about a pen name. I write in several different genres so I worry about a person who reads my angel books, being upset about the darker books.
When I read Charlaine Harris I expect vampires and shape shifters. When I read Constance O'Day Connor I look for romance.
So, here's my question? How do you pick a pen name? I once read that if you write like King and Koontz you should pick a name that begins with K. Or if you're writing sci-fi pick the same initial as someone who's big in that genre.
Sounds like too much thinking. . . then there's Konrath.
King
Koontz
Hmmmmm, gotta think on this some more.
Do you have a pen name? Where did it come from?

Under the Dome by Stephen King

Just finished Under the Dome by Stephen King and I still haven't caught my breath. In this story a mysterious force field-like dome covers a small New England town trapping the people inside. Maybe that wouldn't have been too bad at first, but one of the town selectmen, Jim Rennie, has dictator issues and quickly works behind the scenes to create havoc. He fills the town police force with incompetent bullies, murders those who threaten to expose his crimes and manipulates the towns people to his own benefit. When the president sets up an ex-military man, Dale Barbara (Barr-beee), as the person in charge Big Jim pins him with a multiple murder rap and has him thrown in jail. Suddenly all the chaos created by Jim Rennie is blamed on Barrr-beee. What happens next will keep you on the edge of your seat.
My one problem with this book is the size...no it's not the length of the book...it's the physical size. This book is 4 inches thick in hardback. I guess I should have waited for the paperback because this book was hard to fit in my purse. And to make matters worse I couldn't put it down! lol So after going through the first few chapters I went out and got the audio version so I could listen during my 40 minute drive to work. Raul Esparza read this book and he is excellent. His ability to do voices was amazing and really took me into Chester's Mill and it's characters. I think he's the best reader I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The characters in this book will stay with me for a long time. When the book ended I felt like I was losing some old friends. Isn't that the best feeling in the world? Well done, Mr. King. Now...will you sign my copy?
Five stars. I loved this book!
Go to Amazon to see a video of Stephen King talking about this book.