tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post7307424986436656555..comments2023-04-04T01:17:21.644-07:00Comments on swallowing diamonds: item #32: FREE to good home, a writer's mantraKitty Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10678414418125790641noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-77911019889507496442014-02-01T19:23:02.650-08:002014-02-01T19:23:02.650-08:00For me, focus is all about location. A dusty offic...For me, focus is all about location. A dusty office? Not a chance. Desks breed claustrophobia and conformity. Starbucks? Overwhelming and hassled, heavy with the stench of burnt coffee and existential corporate dread. But sitting on the edge of a pilot's cliff in rural Tennessee, bundled up in an Appalachian cabin in central Maine, dipping my feet in the water on a sun-bleached dock on the Gulf of Mexico, or perched on top of a northern Kansas hay bale - here words are easy to find, and they flow out of my pen with reckless abandon, struggling to keep up with a new adventure. My stories take after their mother, and spread themselves across the American landscape as I do, finding focus and motivation in hidden treasures and small-town secrets. There's something incredibly pure about feeling the warm sun on the back of your head and a gentle breeze ruffling your pages that makes all else just... disappear. Whatever is left, be is a daring tale of adventure, a quiet memoir, or a timeless love letter, is guaranteed to be more genuine than anyone could have imagined. The chance to leave the worries and stresses of our day-to-day lives behind, if only for a few hours, is a precious gift that must be claimed before it inevitably slips away, and I would journey to the ends of the Earth for one more hour of the sharp clarity that flings aside the floodgates of distraction.<br /><br />Then again, a catchy electroswing playlist never hurt either. :)Chloe Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04345225534711419964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-78587907174870906102014-02-01T19:21:55.187-08:002014-02-01T19:21:55.187-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Chloe Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04345225534711419964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-68529244551913346842014-02-01T16:25:32.595-08:002014-02-01T16:25:32.595-08:00When I write which is not as often as before, the ...When I write which is not as often as before, the only thing I can do is get the grandparents or wife to take the kids somewhere, lock the door, put on some Nina Simone or John Coltrane, disconnect the internet and let things happen.Mister Crouphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12443392276031294092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-49610148948419703422014-02-01T10:59:19.985-08:002014-02-01T10:59:19.985-08:00Quotes and music: I have a box from a friend I adm...Quotes and music: I have a box from a friend I admire. It used to contain a cupcake over which she presented the story of how she made one of her dreams a reality. Inspired by her tenacity, I have since decorated it with authors and artists who also inspire me and have filled that cupcake box with their words about writing and art. <br /><br />When I am serious about blocking off time to write, I pull a random quote from the box and read it. Whether it fully resonates or not, that slip of paper sits on my desk as my promise to myself and that author/artist that I'll keep focused on the task at hand. Then, I slip the headphones on...Samiannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09923021918639598466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-25825587754281569742014-02-01T10:37:35.774-08:002014-02-01T10:37:35.774-08:00NO FACEBOOK. (working on this...clearly failing)NO FACEBOOK. (working on this...clearly failing)helen hedberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15745469199990394683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-658518649307233152014-02-01T08:29:01.522-08:002014-02-01T08:29:01.522-08:00Pen & paper, music with headphones (not earbud...Pen & paper, music with headphones (not earbuds, because the world can still seep in through those), and the lights dimmed down so low I can barely see what I'm writing on the page (the internal editor can't criticise what he can't see, right?).<br /><br />An empty Twitter feed and being out of lives in Candy Crush helps, too.<br /><br />Andi Newtonhttp://andinewton.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-33981699060781750642014-02-01T06:47:29.567-08:002014-02-01T06:47:29.567-08:00If it's physical distractions (i.e., living at...If it's physical distractions (i.e., living at home with your parents/spouse/other), I go to a local coffee shop, put on some quiet string music, and write there for five hours. That also helps with distractions such as wandering around the house and staring in the fridge since you can only write, stare at the computer screen, or eavesdrop once you are seated in a coffee shop. <br /><br />If it's mental distractions (i. e., the negative Nancy inner editor), those are a lot harder to block out. Sometimes, I scribble in my journal just to get the words going, or I'll treat myself at the coffee shop--get a latte and a slice of cheesecake. Some days, it's easier just to read a book, let the inner editor scream until she loses her voice, then start writing the next day. There's no set routine for mental distractions.Phoebe Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15517577933225513508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-35500988748967370112014-02-01T06:41:10.766-08:002014-02-01T06:41:10.766-08:00Half the time I write it is done in my ideal condi...Half the time I write it is done in my ideal conditions. That involves waiting for everyone else in the house to go to bed and then sitting in the kitchen so that the only sounds I hear is the ticking of the clock and the humming of the fridge. Other half of the time I find myself sitting in my favorite cafe. I allow myself to build a tolerance of sorts to the noise. Then it is just a matter of pushing it aside. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02379819323440623416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-50519809094504462482014-02-01T06:26:39.760-08:002014-02-01T06:26:39.760-08:00To be honest I'm not a writer....just a fan!:)...To be honest I'm not a writer....just a fan!:)doloreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10144615752245606045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-77022241463412513262014-02-01T02:23:48.166-08:002014-02-01T02:23:48.166-08:00In the still dark hours of night, I drink coffee. ...In the still dark hours of night, I drink coffee. I drink boiling hot coffee and watch the steam rise up into the air as my tongue burns. I pour coffee all over myself. I make ten gallons of hot coffee and ten gallons of iced coffee and I pour it all over myself to balance it. I inject coffee into my bloodstream, with a needle I had sterilised with coffee. My internal organs turn into coffee. I become one with the coffee. I become coffee. I take its form, its name, its identity, and I laugh. I laugh because for the first time in my life everything finally makes sense, why I never belonged, why my life was not my life, why my body felt like a hollow shell. For the first time in my life I understand. I realise who I am. I was coffee all along, always and forever, nothing more and nothing less, first and last. I celebrate my new identity by writing and when I write it pours out like a basin tipping from in the sky. Like the rain. And the tiny drops are my thoughts and ideas and I could never catch them all at once or at all and I would just let it wash over me, let the words wash over me like the rain. I want to be the rain. I want to wash over other people and inspire them. I want quell fires and run down drains and turn concrete streets into silver. I want to tell people how much I love them. I want to arouse lovers to kiss and bring life to the ground and I want to kill everyone as I stab them with my cold icy knives and I shall engulf them in my watery arms and they shall die in me. I want to do this because I love them.Sophia Santillanhttp://unbiased-cheese-motel.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-33868704734644434122014-02-01T01:14:02.585-08:002014-02-01T01:14:02.585-08:00there is no good distraction. sometimes i need th...there is no good distraction. sometimes i need the noise of the world, sometimes i need a bad horror film, sometimes i need dead silence. when the page is ready, it tells me, no matter whats going on in the background...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681577278963752132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-59302921040471465012014-01-31T22:05:56.512-08:002014-01-31T22:05:56.512-08:00I used to think that silence would help and I coul...I used to think that silence would help and I could just sit and work, but now I find that silence just makes me twitchy. Music without lyrics is good usually, but sometimes I just have to talk my writing out loud and walk out the distraction and then sit back down :)sugranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16758403532573632366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-75153554476912667412014-01-31T21:40:49.903-08:002014-01-31T21:40:49.903-08:00I've started writing with a typewriter, instea...I've started writing with a typewriter, instead of on my laptop. An old fashioned manual one, I can switch my computer off and am free from all internet temptations. It also stops me from immediately going back and spending hours editing a paragraph that's likely to be cut anyway, because it's so much of an effort to re-type an entire page!Notorious Pie Bandithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08494315729506705382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-26497068908045590662014-01-31T20:42:51.830-08:002014-01-31T20:42:51.830-08:00I'm very good at ignoring everything as long a...I'm very good at ignoring everything as long as the deadline is impossibly close. Otherwise....ooh...shiny...ABThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028489055047334770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-37328409198531916772014-01-31T20:41:40.193-08:002014-01-31T20:41:40.193-08:00Cat, I might be ineligible, having one a luggage t...Cat, I might be ineligible, having one a luggage tag earlier in the week. Regardless, whats worked for me for a year now is lighting a candle with a crackling wick and setting it directly next to my notebook or keyboard. It doesn't stop the distractions, but I find it does tend to redirect them into a safe contemplative place that often proves useful to whatever I am working on. I was a firebug as a kid, so an open flame is easily the strongest distraction in a room. Spatially its not far from my project, so it's easier to jump in and out. No trick lasts forever, but having a "safe" distraction has done me well for quiet a while now.Anthony Ryan Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16905828718631205934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-24961648596847988962014-01-31T20:40:51.496-08:002014-01-31T20:40:51.496-08:00I need the white noise of conversation around me, ...I need the white noise of conversation around me, which is why I love writing at coffee shops. Total silence doesn't work, neither does total music. Also, ocean waves. They can be magic when I write.Briannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371876805943304493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-74057615771504241632014-01-31T20:37:40.373-08:002014-01-31T20:37:40.373-08:00Noise. All the noise. To cover the distractions, I...Noise. All the noise. To cover the distractions, I put on the TV and, over that, the soundtrack I've created for the project. Outside noise and distractions can't bother me, can't reach me, over my own white noise.Shauna Grangerhttp://shaunagranger.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-25773261497595033782014-01-31T20:34:50.756-08:002014-01-31T20:34:50.756-08:00A hoodie with the hood pulled up and earbuds in (w...A hoodie with the hood pulled up and earbuds in (whether they are playing anything or not matters little).Knights Endhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14031061808034064803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-32803186050203742962014-01-31T20:06:58.670-08:002014-01-31T20:06:58.670-08:00Comic book writer and artist Skottie Young recentl...Comic book writer and artist Skottie Young recently shared his method of shutting out distractions while creating - listen to the DVD commentary of bad movies. I tried it and it really seems to work.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18271061272577651712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-36593811673992886722014-01-31T20:05:18.791-08:002014-01-31T20:05:18.791-08:00checking that comments are going through- heard so...checking that comments are going through- heard some concerns...Kitty Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10678414418125790641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-29581392525210079482014-01-31T20:03:35.648-08:002014-01-31T20:03:35.648-08:00The best distraction for me when writing is puttin...The best distraction for me when writing is putting on music and making sure I can not log into the internet easily. Usually with a fountain pen and notebook in hand.Rou the Fledermaushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06912063089794523627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-36404164303361778862014-01-31T20:03:25.235-08:002014-01-31T20:03:25.235-08:00Always music.Always music.Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425339570960165314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-77959667560798819882014-01-31T20:02:54.711-08:002014-01-31T20:02:54.711-08:00Always music.Always music.Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425339570960165314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5162736552743009845.post-86032333785958837332014-01-31T19:25:18.803-08:002014-01-31T19:25:18.803-08:00Fear and love.Fear and love.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03888412616272350689noreply@blogger.com