February 18, 2008
Hang Up’s…we got’s dem
So Emma blogged about her hangups last week and said, “The more and more I write the more and more I notice there are certain things I have to do before I start writing or have to do while writing. I don’t have to do them but I just feel more comfortable if I do.”
I thought this would make kind of a fun Me-Me so here goes……….feel free to join in!
1. I write in Arial 13. I hate looking at Courier. Plus when I switch to Courier I always get the pleasant surprise of more pages. Yes, I totally psyche myself out.
2. I CAN write with pen and paper and will sit in the car while the boys are at b’ball and switch off between pen/paper and Neo when I get stuck on the typing. It’s a bit weird but it works well. I think pen/paper uses a different part of your brain than typing. I’d almost go so far as to say more creative but I’ve read Emma’s writing (and she can’t use pen/paper) so I know it’s not true.
3. I’m VERY superstitious about talking about my wips (outside of my CP’s).
4. I have no set-in-stone plotting technique. Please do not ask me about GMC especially if I’m gabbing about this scene or that scene. Chances are I don’t KNOW the GMC, but I can tell you why a scene is needed and how it needs to play out and what the characters can realize. Just don’t ask me about GMC or I wig out because it frightens me more than Freddie Kreuger.
5. I ALWAYS freak out about 2/3 the way through writing the book. Always (just ask Vee, Lynn, Mik…Dennie…Shell……..um yeah okay)
6. I rarely can write a book I’ve just thought up–they need time to cook though I can usually vomit up at least 25 - 100 pages and a plot.
7. I can write during Prison Break and Terminator but I can’t write during AI or The Biggest Loser so Tuesday is a no-writing night at my house.
8. I can’t read during Prison Break and Terminator.
9. If I put my mind to it, I can write in pretty much any situation–noisy, not noisy, complete silence whatever as long as I don’t wan to sweat anyone “looking over my shoulder” and the kid’s aren’t speaking (to me).
So what about you? Any hangups? Quirks? Whatever? Share becuase I KNOW I’m not the only freak out there 
The only thing i can think of right now is, I can’t just sit down and start writing. I have to check email firts, or do some blog surficing or play a hand of solitaire, make tea, etc., also, if I’m playing music and it isn’t syncing with the scene or my mood, that totally throws me too. lol. I wish I could just sit, boot up the pc open up the doc and start writing right away like some peeps.
oh hell, I have too many to list. . . . the main one though is even if I have a well-formed idea for a story, I cannot, cannot write more than a page if I don’t have first and last names for the H/H. Don’t know why, but my brain is all about “connecting” things together and that seems to be the hardest one to overcome!
Ooooooh, great! A blog for Wednesday. Thanks Ames!!
I’ll share one - I can’t write with the TV on. Period. I can read with it on, carry on a perfectly logical straightforward conversation with it on, but I can’t write.
You’ll have to see my blog on Wednesday for the others.
Quirks? Hmmm…
I don’t work in Courier. HATE Courier. My fav right now is Georgia 14, because it’s big and roomy.
Can’t work with intrusive noise (anymore). Give me a quiet, comfortable spot with no distractions, please.
I also don’t do GMC (although maybe I should, lol). I write something, and I know if it’s right or not. If it’s right, it FEELS right.
I can write with music, but only without lyrics. TV on (for company), but often without sound–unless it’s something I’ve seen a dozen times, & then it doesn’t seem to distract me.
I need to print for final edits, at least. No help for it. I’m convinced my computer screen hides repetitive words, botched punctuation, and plot holes from me to amuse itself.
And I need my lavender pen for line edits.
LOL Raine…I have my fave pens too and MUST do paper edits at some point.
I think there’s a LOT to be said for instinct!!!!
Bailey for al ong time I couldn’t either
Dennie I’ve never started a story and NOT known the main characters names….it’s just a part of the planning process for me.
Jaq for a long time there was one particular CD I always wrote too–very pavlov’s dog!
Hmmm. Where do I start?
1) Let’s see, like Amie, I don’t like to discuss the WIPs. Dennie, Amie, etc, may know, but NO ONE in my family knows. NO ONE at work knows. I don’t want “suggestions” unless I ask for them.
2) My stories always seem to have character names before I start. It could be because they are telling me their story, not vice versa.
3) I can’t write with music on. It distracts me. I want to sing along then I can’t follow my story line.
4) I have written out plots with paper and pen, but my mind works faster than I can write, so I do much better with a keyboard. (I’m told I talk too fast for the same reason - my mouth can’t keep up with my brain.) I wonder if that was a slam?
5) I must stew. I develop my stories in my head, then they come together, slowly. I need to work on that aspect for sure. I tend to procrastinate with that one.
I’ll stop now, because I don’t want to sound too neurotic.
Oh, and I don’t think we should call them “hang ups”. Their our rituals. Yea, much better term.
I have to have a notebook for my WIP. It has to be single subject. The five subject ones just confuse me. I try to divide it up and well, let’s say it’s not pretty. I use the notebook to work out my ideas along with a folder that’s full of different word documents. If I think of something for later in the book, it goes in the notebook. For some reason writing it down tends to cement it into my head. I can’t write pages on paper, but will jot down dialogue or a scene that’s in my head.
I have to name my characters quickly, but it always takes me some time. My plot and character tend to come first, but with no name.
4. I have no set-in-stone plotting technique. Please do not ask me about GMC especially if I’m gabbing about this scene or that scene. Chances are I don’t KNOW the GMC, but I can tell you why a scene is needed and how it needs to play out and what the characters can realize. Just don’t ask me about GMC or I wig out because it frightens me more than Freddie Kreuger.
Quite a few of my books have been plotted by just talking to you.
Yes, you do rock. I have no idea what GMC means. It’s sad, I have the book but haven’t read it. 
Bad, bad Emma.
Amanda…i do the notebook too! Every book has one and the’re those 8 x 5 3 subject. I dont DO anything with the subject dividers though.
LOL I totally need a brain to throw things against Emma!!! Usually Raine is my victim :D
Cece,
We’ve got SO much in common. The paranoia about mentioning WIPs, the font thingie (love the surprise in extra pages when I convert to Courier when I’m done!) and the writing with pen and paper. It’s how I finished NaNo. I’d write while sitting in the car waiting for my son at school.
Hangups. Oh boy, I’m full of them. Mostly I can’t write without an iced tea at my side. Oh and I can’t even think about writing if someone is sitting in my space or anywhere near my space. Nope. No can do.
Lynn …for the most part I can’t do music with Lyrics either!
Tanya my new fave is Unball Gel grip–and they come in different colors!
Jill…it makes me VERY self-conscious!!
I can write during anything but ‘Moonlight’.
I jot down ideas and outlines for sections of a WIP longhand, but I seldom write that way unless I’m backpacking. I really like the Times Roman font for writing; because I’m used to it now, but Arial was my favorite before submissions.