When do you write?

I recently had a conversation with a friend who was intrigued with the idea of how a writer gets her/his story ideas down on paper.  She peppered me with a bunch of questions. I've listed a few of them here along with my answers.

1.)   Where do you get your ideas?

Pretty much everywhere.  You’d be amazed at where some of my ideas come from.

2.)   Do you write every day?

I try to write Monday through Friday.  Of course, appointments and other commitments sometimes get in the way of that.

3.)   If you don’t write every day, do you write only when the mood strikes you?

I have to write every day or at least try to.  I can’t wait until I’m in the mood or until my muse decides to make an appearance.  I’ve found if I don’t write on a regular basis, I tend to lose the thread of my story and/or, even worse, interest in my characters.  If I don’t care about them, no one else will either. 

4.)   Do you write a certain number of pages or for a certain amount of time?

My answer:  I try to write at least 5 pages of new material each day but I also am constrained by time, having only approximately an hour and a half to devote to writing each day so I guess the answer is both.

5.)   Do you write in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the evening?

Ideally, I’d write in the morning.  I’m a morning person so I feel I’m at my best then.  But with a 10 year old to get up and get on the school bus plus get myself ready for work, mornings just aren’t possible.  I tried getting up at 5:00am a few times to write before getting the boy up at 6:00am but neither my brain nor my muse was ready to string anything resembling a coherent sentence together after only 6 hours of sleep.  I usually write from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.

I’d love to hear your answers to the above questions.  I’m always looking for better ways to manage my time so I can devote more of it to writing.

Katherine

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Tomorrow, Tuesday, 11/22, I'll be blogging about where I get my some of my story ideas from at Terry's Place.   http://terryodell.blogspot.com