How Do You Get Yourself To Write?

[Shaun]

Yeah, I'm asking this question :P.

So, how do you get yourself in the mood? What do you do? Do you listen to music? What? Tell me. I'm curious.

[Crocolyle]

I just force myself. Sometimes it works and I write 1,000 words. Sometimes it doesn't. Just bare your teeth and trudge through when you're uninspired and maybe while writing you will get inspired.

Also, listening to music with good lyrics sometimes gets me in the mood to write.

[Shaun]

What about if your roommates are blasting loud music right when you're in the middle of a writing groove, which subsequently ruins your groove? :P. This just happened to me...

[Nyx]

I don't. :P

[Crocolyle]

My roommate blasts loud music when I try to write. He also plays the same stupid song on his guitar and then messes up and curses. I'm able to tune it out usually. It gets annoying when I'm studying.

Though the semester is over so I don't have to deal with it anymore. Next semester I'm moving into an on-campus apartment with several friends and I have a single (the apartment has two singles, a double, and a triple) so I can just close the door...

If all else fails, buy earplugs.

[Andy]

I listen to music. Lately all I've been doing are maps, brainstorming, and basic plot synopses. But music is awesome. It works even better if you don't listen to that particular music EVER, except when writing. :devious:

[Majyk]

I try to write at least a little everyday (although it's not working at the moment with all the editing I'm doing :P).
Sometimes I force myself, and sometimes I read something I already wrote. It may or may not make me want to write, but usually I want to right when I'm in the middle of editing.

[Starry]

I'm part of a writing chain organized by our school writing club where you (at least theoretically) send someone what you've written that week saturday night by midnight, and they'll critique it for you. The chain sort of broke down during AP exams, but it's still gotten me into a habit of going home fridays and just writing, and then getting up on saturdays to write.

[Shaun]

I haven't been able to write much this quarter mostly because I've just been so busy with school. One of the threads around here shows all the books I have to read for school. In 10 weeks I have to read something like 4,000 pages. Not to mention there are 17 essays equally around 50 pages of writing. So I've been incredibly busy and mostly my brain has been fried. But when I DO get to write it's a fantastic experience. It just hasn't happened as much as the previous quarter. Thankfully editing is relatively easy though. I have six stories out right now.

I may try using my mp3 player's ear-plug phone thingies and just listen to music to break down the noise.

Edit: I'm hoping to do something similar over summer starry. Possibly with Andy and Imelda, or with someone else. Dunno yet.

[Chie'N'Kadath]

I do one of 3 things.

1. Listen to psychedelic music (Pink Floyd always finds ways to inspire me)
2. Watch movies full of metaphors (Prepares my mind for writing them)
3. Stay up really late, get no sleep, and have a hallucination (Sometimes my stories are inspired by them, sometimes they are directly based upon them)

[Zombified]

I don't write stories anymore.
I guess I've given up on it.

But I write songs now. And to get myself writing, I start playing different chords on the guitar.
Eventually I get a rhythm and if I like it, I start writing words for a song.

Usually it just flows out of me, so I figure that its best to ride that waterfall until the big drop off.

If you ever feel like writing, and you don't have anything else to do, WRITE! You never know when that sudden inspiration is gonna come back so ride it as far as it goes!

[Reason Invalid]

Whenever I have an idea or two, I guess I just tell myself to write it down whether if it will be actually useful for anything at all. The inspiration could be anything random, really. If you think it could work as the basis of a story, then great, you could try working with that. Think abstractly on how your inspiration or 'material' could be shaped into something you want to do. However, even if it doesn't work for writing, it might work for other projects from school or whatever. Furthermore, if the inspiration is something that is 'real' or 'scientific', you could always go on wikipedia, and do some random reading on the subject. Even though it might turn out to be useless, it's still knowledge that you could apply to many things in the future.

Basically, just write down ideas. If the idea is interesting enough, you'd want to write.

[Midnight_Moon]

I write in my journal, listen to inspiring music, or go outside. When I write my feelings down in my journal, it gives me ideas for songs, and sometimes. Music cleanses the soul. And fresh air helps clear the mind. I have many other things that I do as well.

[random_writer]

I've heard it said that you should try to write in the same place, at the same time every day. I do not know about you, but this doesn't work for me, considering that I switch between Mom's house and Dad's house every week.
I listen to music when I write. I listen to all sorts of random stuff...just no country. You never know: you could listen to a song that suddenly inspires a genius idea.
I would like to say that I don't believe you should force yourself to write. It could kill your passion for writing, and then where would you be?

[Starry]

I've heard it said that you should try to write in the same place, at the same time every day. I do not know about you, but this doesn't work for me, considering that I switch between Mom's house and Dad's house every week.
I listen to music when I write. I listen to all sorts of random stuff...just no country. You never know: you could listen to a song that suddenly inspires a genius idea.
I would like to say that I don't believe you should force yourself to write. It could kill your passion for writing, and then where would you be?

I do a little something like that. I keep my laptop around the same general place, and during the school year I would spend every Friday and Saturday night writing. It's a big help to have a designated time to just sit down and write.

[Shaun]

I'd like to have that magic designated time too. I'll have to make it :P.

[Starry]

I'd like to have that magic designated time too. I'll have to make it :P.

Hey, that magic designated time killed what little I had of a social life for an entire school year! (Eh, fair trade, I suppose.)

[SweeneyLovesLovett]

I listen to a cd that fits the mood of the story, and then I just write. This of course, is if I am in the mood. If i'm not then whatever I write comes out terrible.

[lango]

Deep songs do get me in the mood to write, but usually I write unhappy endings when Im listening to deep songs :P
Gary Jules - Mad World and
Blue Oyster Cult - Dont Fear the reaper always makes me want to write :P writting mood comes to me very rarely during sleepless nights, so maybe the songs are just a coincidence

[ironcir]

The most helpful thing for me is to lay on my floor and think about the story, play with the scenes and language in my head sometimes speaking aloud to myself and letting my mind go; going for a walk helps, or doing some manual labor.

I'll also journal about writing or something that's on my mind. If I'm struggling with something in a story and I'm finding it difficult to write around it, I'll write a letter to an imaginary person (the same imaginary person every time), and talk about my problem and I'll usually come up with a solution, but not always. Sometimes it takes several letters to resolve one problem.

As far as loud room mates go, go somewhere else, even if it's just as far as the hallway.

[Zombified]

How about you join my contest and write a story there?

Summer Writing Contest (http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=1325)

[Carraka]

Well, I didn't know the answer to this question a few days ago, but I know now:

Imelda makes me write.



Otherwise, I'm just going to have to keep building my self-discipline.

[Hannah_Scotland]

I try not to force myself to write. This takes all enjoyment out of it for me.
I write when I feel like it.
Listening to music sometimes helps to get me in the mood.
As a huge fan of football (soccer), kicking a ball about outside often helps to clear my mind.

[Shukara]

If I am working on a chapter book I read all the chapters or just the chapter before the one I intend to work on. I also play music in the background that fits the mood of the chapter.

[Zombified]

I just finished my novella that I started a year ago and I am so proud if it!

I realized that writing a novella or a novel means you have to write EVERYDAY. The second you stop doing that, you know the novel will never be finished.

I sat down with my story, edited it, and said, "Fuck it! Its too good to leave incomplete."

I spent the last two days writing and now it is finished.

The lesson here is this, you can't stop writing. Sit down, take some time out of the day and just write. No matter what happens, you write.

Take it from me!
I know!

[electrilad]

I recently figured out what sparks my creativity: caffine.

Whenever I'm hyper, I can always spurt out random, funny things, but when I'm tired, I just sound lame. It's BECAUSE, I'm creative when I'm hyper! Like, when I'm up ,late at night and can't sleep, I always start to write because all these ideas are swirling around my head!

I'VE SOLVED THE MYSTERY!!! YAY!!! Now I need a Monster...

[Elvenscholar]

What I normally do is whenever I have some free time, I'll sit down at my computer, open a previously existing file, and re-read the last page or so. Then I try to continue it, and like others have said, it might work, and it might not.
I get inspired by dreams quite often though, and sometimes just sit down and ponder possible story ideas.

[Gandalf the White]

Usually I like to listen to some classical music. Ave Maria or some form such as that. If that doesn't work, I always take a shower and do a lot of thinking there. I don't know, thats just me. Weird me! :P