A question for my fellow writers.

[gridlore]

As I take a break from the tedious task of converting Classic Traveller UWPs to GURPS Traveller info strings for the project I'm working on, this occurred to me.

I can't write without noise. I need music, the TV, something around me or I can't write a word. I also need munchies and a Coke.

So how do you other writers work? What environment do you require?

Comments

[biomekanic.livejournal.com]

I write mostly for myself and the group I game with. I find that I'm the most productive if I have headphones on and am listening to music I can 'zone out' to.
The best album for me is Floodland by Sisters of Mercy. Put it on repeat, and away I go. I've caught myself rocking back and forth in time to it when I'm writing. I guess I autotrance to it. Seems to work.

[stone-princess.livejournal.com]

I need noise too. My mom says it's been true since I was little that I can't concentrate unless I have something to block out.

[cleverthylacine]

Actually, no. Music blocks out all the little *random* noises that distract me--my neighbours tooling around, people in the street, cars, etc.

[cleverthylacine]

Music helps. Something to drink that contains caffeine, usually iced tea or pepsi, but sometimes kalimoxto (pepsi and red wine lol).

[pauldrye.livejournal.com]

I'm the opposite: no distractions if possible. I can work with noise around me, but not as well.

I also need to be in good shape. Nothing on my mind, not feeling sick or tired. I write crap when I'm not feeling good, so I've learned not to.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

The worst distraction for me, as far as getting writing (or anything else) done, is a net connection.

[pauldrye.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I *must* have a net connection. I do whacks of research when I write, and it'd take forever if I had to use books (hack, ptui) for it. I google and wikipedia all day when pulling something together.

[isomeme.livejournal.com]

You could probably write a program to do UWP to GURPS info string conversion.

When I write technical stuff I like some music playing, though generally rather quietly compared to my usual floor-rattling level. When I'm writing fiction I need enough white noise to drown out distracting background sounds, and nothing else.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

You could write such a program, i still believe the writing code is performed by wizards. I really don't understand it.

I do have a spreadsheet that does a lot of the work, but it's tedious.

1. Check the UPP, look for outrageous combinations (Earthlike world orbiting a M8 D, 1,000-mile diameter world with 80 billion people, etc.) Make necessary changes.

2a. Plug world information in spreadsheet to get ornital distance,gravity, a good read on the atmosphere, and climate. This requires fiddling with the numbers.

2b. If the main star is anything off the Main Sequence, do the numbers for orbit and climate by hand.

3. Convert the social data.

4. Figure the World Trade Number.

5. Repeat for next world.

Alpha Crucis has close to 450 worlds. This is going to take a while.

[psychoticdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm just write for myself, but I need music or the TV on. However when it comes to TV it can't be something I'm interested in watching otherwise it distracts me.

[collie13.livejournal.com]

As others have already mentioned, I need music on headphones to drown out the other distractions. It can't be too loud either, or have compelling lyrics, or I start paying attention to it instead of my writing. I also need to care about what I'm writing about, or it doesn't "flow" well, and I have to drive myself to write.

Also needed: a nice, cold drink; my lurid purple-&-green beanbag snake; and all the reference materials I may need close to hand. The snake is long enough that I can use it to hold several books open at once, if necessary, to type in quotes, etc.

Although I guess it goes without saying, I also need my computer. I've gotten so used to things like cut-&-paste that when I was stuck the other day with paper & pencil, I found myself trying to drag-&-drop a paragraph with my pencil! Needless to say, it did not work... ;)

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

Quiet or quiet music. TV, conversation, screaming kids, etc just blow my concentration.

[grimmwire.livejournal.com]

Music is good, but not if it has words; I'll just end up singing along instead of writing. So I made an iTunes playlist called "Instrumentality", into which I drop all the instrumental mp3s in my library.

Google and other search engines are rapidly becoming indispensable writing tools for me. For instance: while working on the last paragraph of a story, I suddenly needed to know what areas of the brain were the activation centers of romantic love. Within seconds I'd Googled up a a PDF of a research paper on just that topic (www.vislab.ucl.ac.uk/pdf/NeuralBasisOfLove.pdf).

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Project? What Project?

Do tell!

Try quiet instrumental music like cool jazz.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I'm taking another stab at a sector book for Traveller.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

I forget which sector are you working on?

I was thinking it was Trojan Reach.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

That project was killed a while back, for very good reasons. I really screwed the pooch on that one.

What I'm lookin at is Alpha Crucis, the sector trailing the Solomani Rim. I'm going to post for comment some of my ideas later this weekend.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

What I have always wondered about Alpha Crucis was the lack of an X-boat link from the Solomani part of the Solomani Rim to that sector.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

The Solomani don't have an X-boat system.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Then what do they call those thick black lines on the maps in the Solomani Rim Supplement?

For that matter is there a Zhodani name for a dedicated J4 courier route?

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

This where we run into conflicting canon.

Supplement 10 was written before we had all the deatails of the Solomani Confederation. So it had X-boat lines marked in.

Later, when the Confederation was detailed, no mention of such a service was made (and indeed, given the more diversified nature of the Confederation, none was needed.)

Then we get Rim of Fire which puts the verdamnit lines back in! So now we have some sort of communications system.

This is why Traveller writers drink.

Now, as for why the lines don't cross into Alpha Crucis.. Viva La Revolucian!

[soldiergrrrl.livejournal.com]

I find that I need a deadline. Preferably with an NCO breathing down my neck, and a paper going to bed. *g*

Granted, I also have found that I do *not* need to lose what I'm working on three times before it gets saved on zip.

For me...

[seawasp]

... music -- mostly instrumental, or at least with vocals in japanese or another language that I don't understand, so that it's just music -- and a LOT of uninterrupted time, at least for serious writing. TV would be completely counterproductive. If the TV is on, I am watching it. Even if I hate what is on, my eyes will return to the moving lights...ooo... pretty.

I don't need munchies, though a cup of water is necessary.

[benkenobigal.livejournal.com]

I'm in my office in front of the computer. Strangely enough, I have to sit tailor fashion. The music is on behind me...or at least the TV in the other room. I hate silence. I try to keep the cats off me -- though they don't understand. Cold drink beside me. Then I'm all set for a major writing session.

[kengr]

I need something that, if it's not my PC(s) can export to my PC. Having to retype stuff I've already written drives me batshit. 25 years of computer text editors and word processors will do that to you.

Fortunately, as a "worst case", I've got my old Model 100(s). And if I fill one up, I can dump to cassette tape until my PCs are available again.