Writers have a particular mind set. Some say it is creative, others say it’s natural. I tend to agree with both. However, a love for writing can also be acquired with practice. If we want to write well, we need preparation. Writing isn’t a simple exercise, where we grab a pen and write with conviction. Often the action of writing is precluded by thinking, planning, strategics, basically getting us into the right writer’s mind set.
After all, a novelist doesn’t just write a book. He first cons the story in his head before he goes about writing it down. Bloggers do the same. If you write into a diary, you think about your day before you put pen to paper. As you can see, all mentioned scenarios require up front planning.
A writer’s mind set - research your subject
Without a subject and a steely frame of mind you will most likely be distracted while you write. If you want to write better with more ease, it is advisable to research your subject up front. Doing this will give you the added benefit of speed while you work as well as helping with your writer’s mind set.
Research alone doesn’t do the job though. It helps to have your research clippings ready in one place before you start.
I’ve noticed, writing distraction is higher for me if I don’t organize myself upfront, before I start writing. If I have to search the web and organize clippings on the go, I’m most likely to be sidetracked while I write, which doesn’t help my writer’s mind set.
Atmosphere - hell or heaven - you have choices
If you have ever tried to write in a crazy and chaotic environment, I’m sure it didn’t take long before you exclaimed your frustration. Why do you think many writing workshops are held in the Tuscany, Greece, or some other relaxed location. There, you guessed right.
It’s all about chilling out before or while you dig into your muse.
Unfortunately most of us can’t just jump on a plane and fly into eternal sunshine to discover our muse whenever we feel the need. Some of us have families to feed, dogs to walk, kids to entertain, birds to cuddle, [....].
For us, creating a relaxed atmosphere to tap into our writer’s mind set is more important than you think.
To acquire this you could play your favorite chill-out music, sit in the garden with your laptop, meditate before you write, go for a walk to calm your mind or even drink one (note one) glass of wine.
Frantic mind = chaos
The best way to avoid chaos is to start the day on the right foot. We need to find as many working solutions as possible to avoid chaos. By far the best way to do this is to get organized. Workspace, computer, house need to be clean. I work much better when I don’t have to worry about cleaning up or organizing files.
By engaging in small activity bursts throughout the day we can keep on top of this quite effortlessly. The hardest bit is to get down and dirty to get started and declare war on the chaos that throws us out of balance at home.
Claim your space
Writers need their own space. I do. I’m actually a sucker for claiming my space. Whether this used to be at my old job, at home in my mobile office, in the coffee shop or even at the airport.
I’m not sure how you feel about this, but there is a sense of control and protection in claiming our own little space wherever we go on regular occasions.
Having your own space at home will also be beneficial for your writing mind set. The whole process of preparing oneself to sit down and write is like a mini meditation. Great for the mind.
Read those books, magazines and quotes
Reading is fantastic to get us in the right mood - for writing. I get inspired whenever I read. Regardless of the topic, I find new words, structures, ideas and inspiration. In short, reading keeps my mind fresh.
Quotes are also a great motivating force, helping to put us in the right frame of mind.
You can also read online. While I love reading other blogs and websites, I can’t relax like as if I was reading a book. You might be different though.
Surround yourself with your beloved toys
Now, before you go all rebellious on me consider this. Toys, gadgets, things all serve one purpose - to make us happier. It doesn’t always work though. But, if we surround ourselves with the things we love when we write, we slip into the zone a lot easier.
Toys could be:
- Pictures
- Doodles
- Art
- Music
- Notebooks
- Moleskine
- Pens
- Office tools
- Digital tools
- Paper
- Candles
- Gadgets
- Toys
Sure, some of these have nothing to do with writing but everything with our state of our mind. Hence, the more positive our immediate environment is the better we write.
Writing with the right mind set does take a little trial and error. If you persist though you will feel the difference guaranteed.
Here is to your happy writer s mind set.
Monika
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My favorite thing to do is to wake up with music playing at 5am and spend some time reading the Bible and praying, then I workout and take a shower. I always feel refreshed after that.
Then, I turn on my computer and get to work around 7am checking emails, reader, and then working on projects. The house is pretty quiet usually, and my room has a pretty sweet set up which, like you said, makes for a great mental mindset.
Having the right mindset makes all the difference in the world.
@ Andrew: It helps having our little ceremonies doesn’t it? I also feel more accomplished when I can get into my little morning routine of waking up early with a nice cup of herbal tea and a quiet house.
The work day starts proper and I get a lot more done.
By the way, it’s great to see you stopping by here as well.
Working from home, you have to claim your space or bad things will happen
It’s easier at home though.
When I go visit family, I have to claim my (small) space right away or (kids | family | animals) will claim my space instead. It’s always good to have somewhere to yourself to write, or just take some me-time.
@ Alex: I totally agree with you. Animals can be a huge force to claim our space against as it is so hard to say no to them when we have no choice but to put them to their space to claim ours at times.
I know too well with 5 birds there is plenty of action going on. Sometimes I think I’m the one that is being kept and not the other way round. Regardless of this I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I went to visit your blog and wanted to leave a comment but it kicked me out. I wish you both a great start and tons of success.
It was really a great article, makes the writer to get involved in writing…
Exactly, I agree that it comes through practice too. That was what I find after years of struggling with writing.
The more you write, the more you feel you are in the right mind-set.
That certainly has to do with the fluency of the topic and writing that come over time.
@ Hendry: I’m glad you experienced similar notions too. While i don’t often struggle, I do at times if I’m stuck for a topic that gets me fired up. I certainly notice the difference then in my fluency and concentration levels.
Being in the zone as a writer is an awesome feeling. Everything else around me becomes invisible.
My newest best toy is a little text processor called Q10 which blanks out the whole screen including the tool bar: just a plane black screen, complete with typewriter clicks, its cool and incredibly effective - oh and its free too!
@ Lissie: I’ve heard of Q 10 but never tried it. Sounds like a fun tool with the sound effects. Although the constant click-click would probably drive me nuts after some time.
Can you switch that off too?
Yes you can switch it off - but I thought it would drive me made but I learnt to touch type with the manual and had forgotten that the click actually is good for knowing whether or not you hit an extra key or not! You can also have differnet soound too - but I haven’t fiddled with that!
@ Lissie: Thanks to you I’m now also writing with Q10. I admit you tickled my fancy when you made your comment yesterday so I had to go and check it out didn’t I.
I even dedicated a post to Q10 check it out:
http://www.thewritersmanifesto.com/blog/2008/07/09/write-distraction-free-with-q10/
Thanks for helping me re-discover this nifty tool.
There are some great suggestions in this post. It sometimes befuddles me how I can plan all day that I will post a new blog or work on one of my stories and when the time comes, something that went awry earlier keeps me from gaining the correct focus. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work to try and relax and try again when it does happen!
@ Jenny: And doesn’t it just suck when this happens too? I know what you mean, been there myself. I guess it happens to all of us.
When it does though I now know the best thing to do is to walk away and do something else instead. Do you do the same?
I try to do something that distracts me from what is keeping me from writing, usually though, I don’t end up going back to it that night. It’s a bummer when this happens a few nights in a row, especially when I WANT to write!!
State of mind plays a major role.
Thanks for the thoughts
[...] How To Develop A Mind Set For Writing [...]
You mention the frustration in writing in a Hell Atmosphere. I can relate.
Our offices are terribly over-crowded (sometimes there are several people in mine, holding meetings, talking within 4-5 feet from me). I can almost touch them.
Yet during all this chaos, the “expectations” are that I produce nit-picky technical documents with references and cross-references and table of contents, etc.
And I get flack of they’re not done on time.
It got so bad last week I actually lodged a formal complaint, how my work conditions were affecting my productivity. And how come the summer student had better working conditions than me?
Instead of sticking up for me, my boss (in so many words)told me to shut up and suck it up and take one for the team. And she suggested I use headphones or (I shit you not) EAR MUFFS!
(Of course, she works in a large uncrowded room, as do all the managers).
You just can’t win.
@ Friar: Those are enough reasons to bash the living daylight out of your boss. Ok, I will hold my anger and try to be nice instead. What I don’t get is why people make their lives harder, even though they know there are easier ways, like in your instance.
I can’t in the world imagine you wearing ear muffs, duh! Ah wait, I can see a great cartoon being born.
Thanks for stopping by twin of mine from far away.
Hi Monika - these are great tips. I can’t write with a lot of noise going on. Early morning is best for me.
When I first started writing regularly, I struggled to come up with things to write about. But the more you do it the easier it becomes. And as you said, you spend a lot of time thinking about what to write about, which makes it easier.
@ Cath: Thank you. Early morning is also best for me. I find I’m refreshed, the house is quiet and there are no distractions. Best opportunity.
It does get easier over time, doesn’t it? Being in the right environment (mentally) helps though. It’s like being on holidays all we think about is relaxation and fun.
“My favorite thing to do is to wake up with music playing at 5am and spend some time reading the Bible and praying, then I workout and take a shower. I always feel refreshed after that.”
Much respect for that man, not sure if I could wake up at 5am every day…
The space thing is also of extreme importance. If your not relaxed, it can be difficult to produce work of a high standard.
@ Sean: Yes, Andrew is certainly very committed. I wish I was that committed at his age.
Space is often under rated but I for one couldn’t function without my space. I’d feel boxed in and wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly. Space is like the air I breathe. It needs to be clean.
A fantastic post. Considering all I’ve been writing about lately, this is perfect stuff for me to be reading. I totally agree that you have to get into the mindset before you can write. It’s sometimes difficult to achieve, but it’s even harder to try writing without it.
@ Steph: It is not always easy as you well know, but like you said without concentration at work we might as well not bother because we simply waste a lot of time.
Nice of you to take the time and stop by.
@Monika
Yeah, I’d be tempted to explode at my bosses. But instead, it just inspires me to use my humor and write stupid blog posts. (Which provides me with a lot of amusement, and hopefully amuses others).
I haven’t visited your blog in a while..it was nice to drop by again!
@ Friar: It’s ok, I haven’t had much time either to visit other blogs lately. My reader is seriously fat right now with all the posts sitting there unread.
At the end of time I’m usually so kapput the last thing on my mind is blog commenting. I know we all face similar challenges so no big deal.
You are right about your blog though. Funny is an understatement. As for stupid, I don’t know. You actually make a lot of good sense in what you write. In short, your posts carry a lot of meaning that can be applied to life.
Late to the party but what a great post!
I find my right mindset in a quiet space — haven’t worked out how to write with music — with a nature outlook. This means in my writing room looking out to the park or taking my laptop and sitting in the park.
I also find it good to do the background reading a day or so before and then sit down to the first draft without referring to a lot of other material. I read about this in another writer’s book (maybe Roy Peter Clark?).
If you are constantly referring to the work of others you don’t allow space for your own ideas and you might be discouraged to think you can’t better by someone else’s final polished piece.
@ Rebecca: Yes, I know what you mean with the nature outlook. My office faces the back garden and we have so many birds it is really relaxing.
You made a good point about the referral parts too. I think if and when we are in the flow nothing can disturb us though, but I do agree that we should minimize distractions while we write.
Nice points. Clean mind is important for writters. Therefore, making the work area as the most comfort place is very necessary.
@ Kelly: Hey, welcome and thank you for your comment. Talking about comfort. Yes, this also includes coffee cup, favorite pen, Moleskine and other things we love having around us to put us in the mood.
[...] The obvious benefit is the creation of a “special zone’ in which we can work without distractions by switching to the right mind set. [...]
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