Crazy Things You Do While You Write

The GodKnowsHowMany Commandments
I have to have biscuits. I stopped writing because my biscuit tin went empty. Cream Crackers.
It has to be night.
I have to be scared out of my wits.
I have to reread it and act it out (I see it's common, but I never use beanies )
I get hungry after I write.
I read before I write. Say, if I'm writing sci-fi, I'll be reading Isaac Asimov's Robots of Dawn.
I wait for the painful stomach-twisting feeling to know if my tragic story is good, but usually it's actually hunger.
I tear the skin off my lips and make them chapped (can't believe I just admitted that)
If anything goes near my mouth, whether I'm hungry or not, I'll bite. Unless it's very very repulsive.

When I totally get into a scene while I'm on the computer, I tilt my head waaaay to the left so it's almost resting on the desk and write. Scares my parents.

That's funny.

THat makes me think...does the fact that you are using the right side of your brain to do that and that the right side of the brain is the creative and inventive side of the brain have anything to do with that?

I usually come up with ideas in the weirdest places. Like in the shower, going to the bathroom (gross, I know), when I'm like half asleep, when I first wake up, some random place where I don't have any paper (which is very frustrating.)

I come up with ideas when I wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Or if I'm watching a really cool sci-fi film.

Right now my book is yelling at me, telling me that I'm an idiot if I don't fix chapter one right now. *cowers and asks COT for forgiveness* I'm sorry!!!! I promise to work really hard from now on, please don't hit me. T_T

Yes, I'm weird.

Okay, okay. I confess. I'm a total weird writer as well. Must I list the ways? I suppose I will:

1. If I get Writer's Block, I go to the ginormous book shelf in my room, close my eyes, grab a random book, turn to page 135, and read the 5th paragraph. Or, if I feel the need, the whole page. It really gets those juices flowing. The only downfall is that I tend to think, "Oh! That gives me an idea!" But I realize that the idea wouldn't fit into what I'm working on or that it's kind of the same exact thing as what I just read and I don't want to copy someone else's work.

2. It's not weird, but I have one writing playlist that I keep on my iPod. If I'm working on something that I know I'm serious about, I have certain songs I HAVE to listen to or I just simply can't write.

3. I have to write in a notebook. Once I have the rough draft in my notebook, then I type it.

4. I have to have a book right next to me, on my desk or night stand as encouragement. It reminds me and urges me, basically screaming at me and telling me that once I stop procrastinating and actually write something, I might actually have a chance at becoming an author.

5. It has to be past 1AM. Damn! I noticed that most of us are nocturnal! What's up with us writers and our nocturnal instincts?

6. My cell phone has to be right next to me in the event that I need a stern talking to about my procrastination or self-loathing from my best friends/encouragers.

7. I like to take pictures of random things in odd positions (with my NEW digital camera!) for inspiration.

8. My puppy and companion, Christmas, has to be close by. She's my lucky charm and my non-speaking encourager.

9. I can't write in a bright light. I, too, feel like I am being interrogated. So mostly, it has to be dark, and I tend to put a little lamp in the opposite corner of the room as a small source of light.

10. There's definitely more weird quirks, and once I figure them out, I'll edit this post. xD

Glad to see that I'M not the only weird one...

Commandments of the Muse

- I must write on the computer

- I must check YWS before writing

- I chew on my nails and bite the skin around the edges of my nails

- There must be complete silence

- For best writing results, I must write in a particular room of my house

- I take sentence ideas down the entire day, writing them on my hand, on scraps of paper, on anything I can get my hands on. I always carry a pen.

- The screen must be dim

- I must use OpenOffice word processor

- The color scheme of Windows must be silver

- I must write in the morning, after waking up, or the early evening

- The door must be closed

I know, I'm crazy.

I SHALL OBEY

- Not noisy, but some sort of tune. Music, or whatever. I can't write in silence anymore, not now I'm in secondary school.

- Carry a pen/bit of paper everywhere. I never do, though.

- I have to have had some exercise.

- My parents need to be QUIET.

- I need a drink with me. Water, squash, J20, coke, lemonade, milk, milkshake, juice.

- I have to have just read a page of something literary.

- I need to be socially depraved.

I... laugh. At everything my characters do. Like one would jump out of a moving vehicle and I'd laugh or there'd be a romance scene and I'd be like 'yuk I can't believe I just wrote that' or 'Aw I wish I was *character*'
Out loud.
Humiliating!!

Once I began to recite my story's epic beginning (everything to me is epic, I just love that word!) while on Drive Thru at work. Like... the guy was sitting in his car idling by the 'pay' window, where I was, and I randomly began talking like "so and so, why are you such a freak?" and answer with the next character, then describe the scenes... and the guy looked at me and drove off...

Hmmm

I have to have music on in the beginning, to get me started, and as soon as I get rolling I need utter silence.
It must be precisely the middle of the day, or early afternoon. I'm worthless at night.
I need hot cocoa, soda, and water. I alternate between drinks
I must be in a small, enclosed space-- but enough room to pace.
Preferably on my laptop.
I must change my clothes halfway through.
I talk to myself, my characters and the computer.
I'm a freak. (see sentences above)