Today I have invited author Angela Scott to stop by and chat with everyone. Here she talks about what she needs to be able to focus on her writing. What do you need to do to help you get into the writing mood?
Remember to read through to the end, for a giveaway!
I am a quirky kinda gal, so yeah, I've got some writing oddities that are part of my daily writing process. I love comfy clothes. I can write a whole better wearing my PJ's than I can wearing jeans, a bra, and a blouse. If I'm comfortable, then my writing flows a lot easier. Weird, but true. On a really good writing day, I wear PJ's well into the mid afternoon.
Also, I have a desk and I surround it with cute quotes and inspirational sayings to motivate me, but I never write at my desk. Hardly ever. Instead, I prefer sitting on my bed, cross-legged (in my PJ's), with my laptop across my knees. As I said, I'm all for comfort. This probably goes back to my college days when all I had in my dorm room was my bed. That's where I did my homework and studied for tests.
The sound of kids screaming or fighting or the TV turned up and blaring Spongebob zaps all my creativity faster than a cheetah chasing a gazelle. Unfortunately, this is my life, so to counteract the craziness I try to get up before them and get some writing in. If that can't be done (the other day I got up at 6:30am to write and by 6:45am two kids were up—they thwarted my plan), then I make sure they're fed and content before I put in my earbuds and listen to some music. Music drowns out the kids and depending on the song, can really help in the writing process.
Next to me is usually perched a nice frothy glass of Diet Pepsi and a little something to snack on — peanuts, pretzels, carrots. It helps fight off the munchies and keeps me at the laptop where I need to be. If I head to the kitchen for a snack, I get easily distracted and can end up doing a sink full of dishes and mopping a floor and who wants that?
Before I even start typing, I have to check email and Facebook. If I don't I will fret and wonder. Most of the time, nothing is happening over there, but I still have to check to ease my mind. This can be dangerous though since , as I've said before, I'm easily distracted and get carried off in the social media world for hours and hours. So this is tricky and has to be handled with care.
For the most part, those are my quirks. Nothing too crazy like singing and chanting to invoke the muses or anything, just me in my PJ's sitting on my bed. It works for me.
Desert Rice buy links: Kindle | Paperback | Nook
Author Bio
I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author. For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels.
However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it.
I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs.
As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it.
You can find me at my website, where I blog obsessively about my writing process and post updates on my current works. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, but be forewarned, I tweet and post more than a normal person.
Contact
Blog
Twitter - @whimsywriting
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