“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.”
– Agatha Christie
For me, it’s in the shower…or in the car…
Other times it’s on walks, or even while I’m playing tennis…
Now that I’m back to working outside the home, it’s during lunch, too…
And yes, sometimes it’s even while doing the dishes.
Planning and Writing
I can plan what I want to write anywhere. While driving and when I’m walking are when most ideas come to me, but there comes a point where I fill my head with planning while driving that I can’t capture all my thoughts, or that my iPhone isn’t a handy way to catch a flood of ideas while walking.
A Room of One’s Own
Many writers have to have certain conditions all come together in order to work.
Given a choice, I like going back to my office for hours and not hear a sound or experience an interruption. I like dumping all the planning from my head into my computer. I like losing myself in what I’m doing, especially when working on more serious fiction or an article involving piles of research.
A room of one’s own is nice, but many writers don’t have the luxury of their own space and time.
Ideal is Not Always Possible
As we rush about, having the ideal writing conditions is not always possible; in fact, I’d guess that most people who write don’t get 15-20 hours of uninterrupted writing time during the week.
So they condition themselves to plan and write when they can: in coffee shops and cafeterias; on buses and while riding the train.
I’m typing this in the living room while sitting next to my wife, who’s watching TV. I could be in the office–alone for hours, in fact–but it’s a nice morning and hanging out with my wife, even if it’s just a matter of proximity while we do our own things, is nice.
Like so many other writers, I’ve conditioned myself to plan and write where and when I can, even though I love being left alone in my office for hours.
Where Do You Plan and Write?
What about you–do you have one place where you plan and write, or several?
When does the flood of ideas hit, and what do you do to capture it all?
I’d share more of what I do, but it’s almost lunch; soon there will be dishes to be done and planning to do…
I do most of my writing at my desk, which is in a room that’s basically all my own (though some of the room is used for household storage). I used to write in coffeeshops frequently, but lately I find it easier to concentrate when I’m alone, or at least in a quiet environment such as the library.
I do hardly any planning at my desk. If I’m sitting still, I can rarely think of the answer to a plot problem or the best way to start a scene. When I get stuck, I stand up and walk around. I have my best ideas in the shower, and recently I’ve started swimming laps and often have good writing thoughts in the pool.
I would think you’d need the flexibility of being able to plan in a number of situations. The inability to do so seems like it would be very limiting.
When I have time off of work and try to write with my free time, it always seems that something gets in the way. I can never focus enough to write down my thoughts coherently to make a short synopsis of a story or to add to my existing work. Instead, I have found that most of my ideas come from my workplace. Especially when I am eating my lunch, or I am driving home, I think about what has happened to me recently. I always try to carry a notepad with a pen so that I can jot down my thoughts. When I arrive at home, I collect my thoughts on my laptop and save it for another day. About once a week, the flood of ideas will come and I have several inspirations at the same time. I have learned to plan my off days to revise what I have written which has become much easier. Instead of trying to force out content, I try to be observant of my surroundings and let the tidal wave come. I just hope I can catch it all in my coffee cup!