Your Go-To Writing Setup

[BellaLestrange87]

Is there anywhere special that you need to be in order for the words to flow? Is there anything special that you have to have with you (like instrumental music, reward food, a comfy blanket, silence from the family, work to do  ?

 

Basically, when you go to write, what does your setup look like? I typically write sitting on my bed with headphones in playing instrumental music, although I imagine that will change when I go to university next year (probably to sitting at a desk or in a quiet study space somewhere).

 

I'm curious to see what other people do.

[hedwig1751]

Well, I can write on the train, at home, at school, but to be honest, most of the time, I prefer writing without too many people around and with quietness but not quiet...you know? Like maybe gentil mummurings in the background, but not too distracting. To be honest, I'm one of the people who normally bursts into songs at random times because they've got some random song stuck in their head again...(for me, it's normally something from Les Mis, Lala land or Beauty and the Beast- Emma Watson singing, of course  ;D)

 

I was writing angst earlier today (a new thing for me- I normally just write humour and what else pops into this bizzare mind) and I noticed that listening to really sad, 'angsty' songs about heartbreak and whatnot really helped, because I'm quite an emotional person . Hope that wasn't too pathetically cheesy  :

[lovegood27]

I write on the train every morning. I have an hour's journey to school every day so I have lots of time to write when going there and back, but it's not really somewhere I absolutely need to be. One thing I don't like, though, is people watching me while I write. It just makes me feel really self-conscious. Like, I'm fine with people reading what I write after I'm done, just not while I'm in the process of doing so. So I suppose what I'm really saying is I write when there aren't many people around- or if they are I tend to hide my phone screen

 

Ideally, I would be sitting at home by my desk with my phone for writing with some sort of food close by ( :) I just often am too busy to do so, so writing on the train saves time

[Ineke]

I write on my laptop and only my laptop it doesn't really matter where I am then, as long as I have it with me. If I try doing it on my phone or tablet I am having a constant fight with autocorrect which frustrates the hell out of me, so I'd rather not.

I do have to say that I can't write if there are many people talking around me, because I get easily distracted then and then I can't focus. Music doesn't matter, not even if it's sung, because for some reason that doesn't bother me at all. If it's silent I can't focus either, though, because I get distracted by every little noise I hear then. So yeah, laptop, with music on, and then I can basically write everywhere - should my muse allow me to do so anyway.

[nott theodore]

I'm in the minority here in that I write best by hand, so my ideal writing environment is somewhere that I can get a notebook and pen out - usually somewhere stationary (though I can write on planes and trains, just not in cars).  I tend to write in my room or somewhere in my house where I can get comfortable, and I do like having music or background noise as well.  Writing in cafes is always great fun, too, and really inspiring, as are airports (I remember working on my JulNo project a few years ago in an airport lounge while waiting for a flight, and some guy asked me how on earth I could concentrate.  I was doing much better until he started talking to me ).  Honestly, if I'm feeling inspired I can usually write anywhere - hence the random post-it notes with scraps of dialogue or narrative that I've got stored up from years ago at work, or random notes on my phone with ideas because I just couldn't wait to get to my notebook.