I recently read Helen Sword's Air & Light & Time & Space, which I really liked for suggestions for fine tuning and experimenting with writing habits. (I get things like the NCFDD "bootcamp" program, but it just isn't for me. I don't need those lessons, and when the newsletters show up in my inbox I'm generally irritated.) One of her suggestions had to do with trying out new writing times/locations, which is a version of an assignment I often give my own undergrads.
When I was an undergraduate I wrote a novel in the evenings in the computer lab in the library. I got it done. Of course, I was an undergraduate, taking usually about 20 credits per semester and actively involved in extracurricular stuff. I only had time at night; that's when I did all my papers, too.
As a graduate student, I also wrote mostly at night, though also during the day. I wrote in my dorm room (first year) or apartment; I wrote my dissertation largely in computer labs. I wrote poems in notebooks while I sat in various cafes. I could pretty much work anywhere anytime. The advantage of doing two degrees simultaneously--which I would not recommend or do over given the chance--is I could 'procrastinate' by working. Can't write a poem? No problem, there's a paper for a grad seminar!
As a faculty person (and parent) I've become much more regimented. I do prioritize writing in the morning. (I know there are people who do work well at night, but in my experience the folks--mostly junior faculty--I know who swear they can only write at night are also the least productive.) I write mostly at home. I can work standing at my kitchen counter, sitting in my arm chair, or at the dining room table. (I have not been able to work at my desk since I lost my home office space when Tiny Boy was two.) If I'm in the draft stage of a project (prose), I can knock out 1000 words pretty quickly. Editing is painful. I tend to do it in bits in the afternoon. Lately I've been experimenting with the "Coffitivity" website, which simulates cafe sounds. I really like it.
This morning I decided to go to a cafe I really really really like but is out of my usual route. I'm having a great (overpriced) pour over. I have written nothing in the half an hour I've been here. (1) I'm tired (I was up 4:30-5:30 due to boy bedwetting incident) and (2) there's a bit too much distracting chatter (it's right in my ear, unlike the website simulation, which is more white-noisy) on top of some jazz on the stere, (3) the table is a bit high so my shoulders are not aligned right and that's a big neck problem, (4) I also don't want to do my writing activity for the day, which is reading my book manuscript and reordering the sections.
Time to pick something else to do. Or pick another location. But the coffee...
What say you, academic peeps? Any experiments or observations about your own writing practices?
When I was an undergraduate I wrote a novel in the evenings in the computer lab in the library. I got it done. Of course, I was an undergraduate, taking usually about 20 credits per semester and actively involved in extracurricular stuff. I only had time at night; that's when I did all my papers, too.
As a graduate student, I also wrote mostly at night, though also during the day. I wrote in my dorm room (first year) or apartment; I wrote my dissertation largely in computer labs. I wrote poems in notebooks while I sat in various cafes. I could pretty much work anywhere anytime. The advantage of doing two degrees simultaneously--which I would not recommend or do over given the chance--is I could 'procrastinate' by working. Can't write a poem? No problem, there's a paper for a grad seminar!
As a faculty person (and parent) I've become much more regimented. I do prioritize writing in the morning. (I know there are people who do work well at night, but in my experience the folks--mostly junior faculty--I know who swear they can only write at night are also the least productive.) I write mostly at home. I can work standing at my kitchen counter, sitting in my arm chair, or at the dining room table. (I have not been able to work at my desk since I lost my home office space when Tiny Boy was two.) If I'm in the draft stage of a project (prose), I can knock out 1000 words pretty quickly. Editing is painful. I tend to do it in bits in the afternoon. Lately I've been experimenting with the "Coffitivity" website, which simulates cafe sounds. I really like it.
This morning I decided to go to a cafe I really really really like but is out of my usual route. I'm having a great (overpriced) pour over. I have written nothing in the half an hour I've been here. (1) I'm tired (I was up 4:30-5:30 due to boy bedwetting incident) and (2) there's a bit too much distracting chatter (it's right in my ear, unlike the website simulation, which is more white-noisy) on top of some jazz on the stere, (3) the table is a bit high so my shoulders are not aligned right and that's a big neck problem, (4) I also don't want to do my writing activity for the day, which is reading my book manuscript and reordering the sections.
Time to pick something else to do. Or pick another location. But the coffee...
What say you, academic peeps? Any experiments or observations about your own writing practices?
I like to move around and I can work many places, but generally need either a well-lit space (like my office) or headphones to help me focus if I'm in a crowded place.
ReplyDeleteMy home office, unfortunately, is not good for work, so I mostly procrastinate on that computer. The home office is like a dungeon, because I share if with DH who's optimized it for his evening/night video gaming. *sigh* Sometimes I envy the people who don't have to live with another adult.
You've inspired me to try working in a coffee shop one day soon. I'm getting sick of my office. At home I can move my laptop around, from the basement office to the kitchen, etc...but at work my butt is in this same chair for 8+ hours a day when I'm writing and I burn out.
ReplyDeleteI like generally moving around every few hours, it keeps me fresh. When I worked in the lab, I'd write in the lab for a few hours, and then when I needed super quiet, go back to my office, then go home for a bit. I haven't been doing that recently, just forgot how much better I liked it. So thanks for your post, reminding me!
Ana, I know you work in medicine so this might not be workable...but the other place I like to work when I'm stuck on campus is the fine arts library.
ReplyDeleteNew times and locations sounds good. Now that I'm getting back to work after the house disruptions & a conference, I'm hoping this works.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the writing inspiration post, by the way! I bought that book (the title of which I had read about and forgotten).
I am in a café where I feel safe. Home is not safe because of home improvement, a distraction. The office is not safe because the whole department is too fraught. The library is depressing. If I would face the fact that I get things done in this café and not elsewhere, I would quit struggling and just come here.
ReplyDelete