Addicted to Writing

Manage Your Freelance Writing Career While Writing What You Love

Sleepy Writer’s Wake-up Ritual: How to Start A Writing Day Well

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Image via pictures88.com
Image via pictures88.com

 

Whether it is the current assignment, your new post, the kids or something else calling, there comes a time when we need to pull ourselves out of the bed, wash up and get ready for a hopefully fun battle that is a writer’s day.

It’s much harder to just respond to logic (“I need so much to do, and I can’t just wait for everything to be perfect to start my day!”) after a bad night’s sleep, when you have a cold or the weather is as bleak as in a post-apocalyptic movie.

It’s even harder if your body loves and/or needs a lot of sleep. Here’s all the weaponry I arm myself with to drag myself to my writing desk and chair: (Because I can’t be happier once I start writing away.)

 

Make sure you’ve slept enough!

sleepy-writer
Image via fantasy-fiction.com.

 

I envy the lucky souls who only need 5-6 of sleep to start the day with full energy and working brain cells. I however belong to the majority that needs 7-9 hours.

Hell, I need much closer to 9. Whatever your magic number is, make sure you get your fill. Because even though you exercise and eat healthily to make up for the lack of sleep, tiredness and lack of productivity will creep up on you no matter how many cups of coffee you drown, and we both know losing count of how much caffeine you take is only good for sitcom characters.

 

    Choose a Kick-ass Alarm Song

Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Back to the Future
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, rocking the night away. Image via 8tracks.com.

 

Sometimes an early meeting, a late night out with friends or just some appreciated after-midnight inspiration doesn’t allow you to wake up all energized. You need some motivational intervention to kick your body and soul into motion

And even if you wake up all energized, extra vigor and flare never hurt anyone.  Now, I hate the typical beeping sound. So I set my alarm clock (aka my cell phone) to play a rocking tune (currently it’s Where the River Flows by Collective Soul) to let me know morning has arrived.

If you need any suggestions (these songs also are great for picking up pace for your stories, finding motivation, typing faster and boosting up your confidence before you send that pitch.):

Roxette- Dressed for Success – She’s Got the Look

Bon Jovi – Everyday

Soundgarden – Original Fire

Exercise

Ideally for 30 minutes, to equally vitalizing music. I prefer dancing, aerobics or a combination of both. Don’t forget to stretch before and after.

Even when you don’t have time, pick some good basics and do them anyway. 5-10 minutes is better than nothing.

 

Shower  

Save the foamy, relaxing bath for later. Now you just want to feel fresh and awake.

 

Have a Healthy Breakfast

That, under no circumstances and in no universe, means black coffee on empty stomach! A whole-grain toast with some healthy cheese beats a bowl of cornflakes. Add some healthy yoghurt, some freshly squeezed juice to the mix if you can and you are good to go.

Yes, your nutritionist will know better. You know your body better than me too. But we both now a candy bar is not what you need. (Yes, I love those too. Life is just not fair.)

 

Make Sure Your Desk Beckons You

It’s your working environment, so how much you organize (if at all) and how you decorate is up to you. Take 5-10 minutes to create your ideal space, but don’t use it as a reason to procrastinate.

 

Type the Words Away

You made it! Happy Writing.

 

*

This is my favorite ritual, and things go a lot for better for my spirits (and writing) if I stick to it. Of course this is for a typical morning. If the weather is too hot to bear, this is the post you should check out: Productivity for Writers: Tips to Increase Your Productivity During Hot Weather

10 Reasons Writers Should Watch TNT’s Perception starring Eric McCormack

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Perception- Eric McCormack

Perception’s Daniel Pierce (Eric McCormack) is a brilliant neuropsychiatrist:

  • He has published 7 books on neuroscience.
  • He is teaching at a prestigious university while helping the FBI solve their most complicated cases.
  • He has finished med school at the top of his class.
  • He can see things and make connections others can’t.
  • Only the most complicated and exciting puzzles can keep his interest.
  • Oh, and, he is managing all this (depending on your perception), despite/with/because of his condition: schizophrenic paranoia.

He mostly manages his condition with carefully set routines, the help of his TA and living aid Max, and through the cases his FBI agent friend/ex-student Kate (Rachael Leigh Cook) brings.

Perception (aff.link) is a wonderfully inspiring show, especially if you are a writer and/or you’re suffering from a health condition, mental or otherwise.

It has great acting, intriguing storylines, a well-written main character and scientific accuracy, being assisted by the leading neuroscientist David Eagleman who’s also a writer (of fiction and non-fiction, his non-fiction having been published on Wired, The New Yorker and others.)

I like breaking the don’t-watch-tv productivity tip. I don’t watch everything, trust me. I try, evaluate and become a regular watcher of shows that are smart, highly entertaining, inspiring and intriguing. It helps if there are characters you can empathize with on one level or the other, or characters whose jobs you wouldn’t mind doing (e.g. Cal Lightman’s job, Lie to Me.)

Perception is such a show, and I recommend writers to at least check it out because:

1)      Perception combines drama/mystery & comic relief really well. As writers, we want to be able to pull this off well, especially in fiction.

2)      The leading character’s self-depreciating sense of humor as a defense mechanism works on a writing level, but it also gives us ideas on how to manage our own conditions and issues.

3)      He writes to keep sane, and well, he is full of ideas all the time so he needs different media to convey them. He lectures, aids FBI and writes books.

4)      He is a writing success despite his condition.

5)      The show presents the very exciting field of neuroscience. I’ve been reading about it since I started watching the show.

6)      There is a fictional role model, as well as a real one (the consulting neuroscientist/writer David Eagleman who was born in 1971!)

perception-eric-mccormack
Eric McCormack as Daniel Pierce. Image via ew.com.

7)      It gives you nice little flashback into university years. I only had a couple of inspiring lecturers, so I wouldn’t have minded one like Pierce: always engaging, always relevant.

If you are collecting reasons to go back to college, this might warm you up further to the idea. Just remember, not all campuses are that nice and a lot of the lecturers tend to be boring.

8)      It’s possible to be a writing expert and expert writer at the same time. Writers might lack the professional knowledge and need to interview experts. Experts might lack the writing skills.

Pierce (and Eagleman) possess both. Oh, I should add that Eagleman brainstorms with Perception writers about the possible scenarios too.

9)      It provides therapeutic entertainment. Just listen to the lectures where he covers lying, fears, reality…

10)    And the series has an overall appreciation of individuality and life.

 

 

Have you watched it?

 

P.S. To read more about perception, you can check out its review here.

When It’s OK to Use Cliches in Your Writing: Hidden Metaphors – Poison’s Bret Michaels Style

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Writers are often advised to avoid cliches like the plague. Oops, I used a cliche even in my first sentence, didn’t I?

The “avoid cliches” advice is everywhere, and it in itself has become a cliche. And let’s face it, it is a part of the word’s definition- a cliche is commonplace- mostly because it makes a lot of sense. I mean you do have to avoid a plague after all.

Yet sometimes, it is just fun (and actually good) to use them, as long as you are aware why and how you are using them. I’ll continue to share my other favorite cliches in both mine and others’ storytelling in the upcoming posts and today I’m starting with a popular song from the 80s: Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn.

Bret Michaels, Poison
Bret Michaels of Poison. Can you smell the 80s? 🙂 Image via naturesjyny.com

Poison is one of my favorite rock bands. They have my 3 requirements to adore a band: great vocals, relatable/fun lyrics and catchy music.

Yes, there are a lot of cliches about a (hair) rock band. They are in their names, attitudes, videos, personal lives and themes. You can’t be a rock band without some songs about sex, partying, drugs, booze, love and relationships.

But sometimes, an apparent cliche in a romantic ballad is a hidden metaphor.

When I first heard this song, I liked it, thinking it was a sad song about a guy (Bret Michaels, the leading singer) trying to get over the demise of his relationship. He didn’t want it to end, but even good things end. And nothing is perfect, right? Hence, the girl/relationship being the rose and her/its flaws being the thorn.

You can check out the lyrics here.

So sweet and yet, so typical.

But then I read Bret Michaels’s commentary on the song where he explains that while the song is based on Bret’s relationship that ended, the rose doesn’t represent the girl.

The girl left her for another guy with more money, but Bret was sure he’d make it. And guess what? His career is the rose, and the girl is the thorn. I hadn’t seen that one coming, and it made me like the song even more.

Now every time I listen to the song, I listen with a grin on my face.

I’d say he used a cliche well. What do you think?

 

19 Signs You’re Addicted to Writing

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addiction
Image via mynxwrites.blogspot.com


There should be W.A. meetings.

“Hi, my name is Pinar and I’m addicted to writing”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to undermine any addictions here. But there are addictions that are not (all) bad. I’m quite fond of my addiction to rock music, movies and yes, writing- the oldest, strongest addiction of them all.

When I named my site, I wasn’t trying to be cute, but merely stating a fact.

I have always been addicted but I didn’t quite own up to it when I was writing the next Spider-Woman (yes, Spider-Woman) cartoon episode in my head.

I also didn’t suspect much when English became my favorite lesson at the age of 12, or that I found myself openly thrilled about “having to” do projects that included a lot of writing (much to the surprise or disdain of my fellow classmates.)

But then it became way too obvious for anyone to ignore. You want to know if you are addicted?

Take a look at the “signs” below and see if any of them rings true for you. And you should probably be trying your hand at a writing-related career if you have answered yes to at least some of these questions.

  • You are willingly taking on school projects that involve writing. Plays, stories, essays…You name it. You also find yourself enjoying all exams that require essays.
  • You get good at feigning interest in non-writing-related classes while you are just writing the next scene in your script. In your head. In your notebook. On the desk. Wherever.
  • You love an audience and you feel over the moon when people genuinely like what you wrote. But you’d not stop writing even if no one read or liked it.
  • You shock everyone when you willingly take an elective at university because it requires a thesis, not despite of it.
  • When you are alone, you have several voices having conversations in your head. No, you don’t suspect any sort of mental disorder. For one thing, you know they are not real. For second, they are not talking to you. They are talking for you-so that you can finally get scenes written the way you want them to be, or you get to envision new scenes.
  • You do find yourself occasionally tuning out of conversations when they get stale, or when your muse decides to show up. In your defense, a lot of people give breaks during conversations to check their messages or update their status or have an obsessive texting match with their boyfriends. You are just doing your bit for the creative world.
  • You fall in love with the Bryan Adams song “She’s only happy when she’s dancing” and create  a “She’s only happy when she is writing” version-though I should add that I’m addicted to dancing as well.
  • You read a great post/article/novel or see an awesome movie and think “Man, I wish I had written that”.
  • You are more impressed with actors if they have also churned out some really cool screenplays.
  • You favorite author tops the list of famous people you’d love to meet.
  • You can’t sleep because of all the ideas spinning around in your head.
  • So you get up, despite your closing eyelids, and start taking notes. I’m writing these words at 2.30 am. I went to bed at 2.
  • You do get incredibly excited about your ideas and share them with people-your imagination and inspiration are just exciting to you as your accomplishments.
  • You know that even after you turn off your computer after finishing a post late at night and going to bed, you probably won’t fall asleep for an hour or two because you’ll be thinking about other post ideas.
  • You just love writing. Especially when you are inspired, and have the freedom to write what you want.
  • The more you write about signs you are addicted to writing, more signs keep coming to your mind.

 

 

Are you addicted to writing? Are your symptoms similar to mine? What would you add to the list?

If you liked this post, you can follow this fellow addict @zoeyclark on Twitter.

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