Comments on: Losing Focus: The Importance of a Quiet Writing Time

By: Bill Giovannetti

Bill Giovannetti — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:11:20 +0000

I’m with Cindy… give me the energy of a Starbucks! Quiet kills! I’m utterly non-functional in a library. I need people, action, noise, shiny things…

Until the deadline approaches. Then, I hunker down in my office, turn off the lights, lock the door, brew some coffee, fire up Pandora, and let the writing juices flow.

By: Cindy Martinusen Coloma

Cindy Martinusen Coloma — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:36:59 +0000

Great post again Rachel!

I wonder if soundtracks and working at coffee shops can still work for many writers because we tune them out and retreat into a writing bubble — so they’re beyond the spatial and don’t require any mental tasking – what do you think?

What I found interesting was the mention of kinetic tasks. Perhaps that’s why taking a shower and while driving are two biggies when I hear writers talk about getting ideas (I’ve always wanted a waterproof white board for the shower). But I guess it also means I shouldn’t stop my son from whistling and pencil tapping when he’s doing homework…well, unless I’m working too.

Enjoyed this. Thanks Rachel!

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:31:16 +0000

I know for sure that I miss naptimes… those few hours when the house was quiet and I could just focus on my writing. Now I have a toddler who wants a snack or some music or a book or a toy and, like you, I find it hard to even write a blog post, much less a novel or article.

By: sharla

sharla — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:17:24 +0000

Steady background noise is fine as long as it isn’t music videos that I want to see…LOL. Other than that, silence is the golden ticket for me. I work full time and have a husband and two kids when I get home, so that silence is rather hard to come by. When I get it, I protect it! Most nights I’m forced to try to plug out some wordage while the TV is blaring and my husband is talking and pointing out this or that. I try to work out my scenes in my head during the day at work (yeah, I know…) and that gives me something to go with amidst the chaos when I get home. Not an ideal writing situation, but until I’m getting paid to do it full time that’s how it rolls! LOL!

By: Lynn Dean

Lynn Dean — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:14:54 +0000

Very true! When I was homeschooling and running a home business, I told myself there’d be more quiet time when the kids were grown. But I’m finding that other things fill the void. I try not to think of them as “interruptions.” They are real life. What I write is imaginary, and I need to experience what’s real so I’ll have something to draw from. Besides, time is even more precious when it’s shared. So I end up writing in the wee hours of the night when the house is quiet. I can close my eyes then and let the movie play against the screen on the back of my eyelids and write furiously. Fortunately, I am a night owl by nature, but I do admit that the need for more sleep occasionally catches up with me.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:40:23 +0000

For me, it definitely depends on what state my work is in. When I’m procrastinating in a scene, unsure of what comes next, dreading a certain plot turn, the little things start bothering me. Sometimes I get to a point where if my apt. isn’t clean, I can’t sit down and even begin writing. If I’m at a place where the words are pouring out and scenes are flying, they could be doing construction next door and it won’t stop me!

By: Krista Phillips

Krista Phillips — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:28:37 +0000

HA HA! I know this all too well, with three little children.

I do have to say, you adapt. If I only wrote when I had uninterrupted time, well, I’d never write anything. So I adapt. I can write, take a short break to help a child, then continue on. I’ve always been able to slip into the writing world without a whole lot of preparation, so where as it sounds WONDERFUL to have uninterrupted writing time, it’s just not my reality.

That said, the few times I do have the house to myself, I always take advantage! And, I get a ton written!

By: Dr. Beverly Rose

Dr. Beverly Rose — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:57:08 +0000

I am new to your blog and I’m so glad I found it! As a clinical psychologist and a writer of both nonfiction and fiction, I am very interested in this topic. For the many years I’ve been a writer, I have found that, for me, writing involves being transported to another place and time. The real world recedes as the sounds, sensations, and sights of another reality come to light. That’s when the words start to flow. In many ways, it is like a waking dream. And just as in dreaming, when the real world intercedes, the experience is rudely interrupted. Which is why a quiet environment is so essential. As a person with Muscular Dystrophy, writing is a golden opportunity to escape the ties that bind and be free–for as long as the real world allows!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:44:54 +0000

Silence, please.

By: Marilyn Yocum

Marilyn Yocum — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:59:56 +0000

It’s such a delicate balance and a mystery even!
Once I’m “in the zone” nothing distracts me, but getting there can be like crossing a minefield where you aren’t sure you’ve reached the other side until you are firmly there. Aaaarrgghh!

Background instrumentals (low), a cup of something and no expectation of a doorbell ringing or friend arriving or appointment to keep helps, but it’s not an exact science.