I was horrified by the idea of seeing publishing as prostitution. Writing is telling stories, and while we all tell stories to ourselves, why take the time to craft a well-told story and not let anyone else hear it? I told stories in my college lectures, I tell stories to my friends to illustrate a point, I have told stories in my blog posts, but I became an writer when I started to tell stories in my fiction, and I became a published writer when I was unwilling to let those stories stay hidden in a drawer because I couldn't sell them professionally. In my case, the stories are based on the real life women working in 1880s San Francisco that I had studied. I did get to tell their stories occasionally in my lectures, but now, because I offer my stories at reasonable prices, and occasionally for free, literally millions of readers have had a chance to read and enjoy the stories of those women's lives, which gives me enormous joy. Their stories, as the stories of all the characters I create, deserve to be heard, and if I work on perfecting my craft, and getting those stories out to be read, I have honored myself and the act of creation. Humph, you can tell this upset me!!! What a terrible message to someone who wants to be a writer!
It really just depends. I do any combo of music or silence kina based on mood, noise level in the house, and the piece I'm working on. Having said that, lately my default is music with lyrics. Or silence. Maybe 50/50? But my highest word counts have come from Baroque music without voices.
Letting the word processor scan everything I’ve written since I stopped using paper and pen turned up only a single document that even included the words “phone booth.” The document in question was a poem entitled “Elegy for Old Stuff,” so obviously we’re in the realm of nostalgia here. In fact it’s hard to imagine writing anything today involving a phone booth that isn’t nostalgic in some way.
For example, if we think of famous phone booths throughout history, we have Superman’s, where he occasionally changed; Dr. Who’s TARDIS, disguised as a police phone box; Bill and Ted’s time-travel phone booth; and Maxwell Smart’s phone booth entrance to Control HQ. All of those are charged with nostalgic glow.
Isn’t Phish a nostalgia band in some sense via their connection to The Grateful Dead? I know former Dead Heads who are now, I believe, Phish Heads (not sure if that term is a thing).
I prefer no noise during most activities, but I suppose watching YouTube music videos before writing could provide sensory stimulation that might be helpful, although mostly they’re useful for procrastination. For example, the rockers Fanny in 1971 covering the Beatles or, as here, Stephen Stills (doubly nostalgic). Extra nostalgia points for long hair parted in the middle, colorful vests, wide leather belts, bell bottoms…
Re the survey of writing soundscape, I require no extra auditory inducements. Outside, there’s a kaleidoscope of bird calls, a steady rhythm of traffic ‘swish’ like breaking waves and occasionally an excited dog sharing its discovery of new scents. Any quiet ,inside is filled with ideas playing tag in my head!
I paid for a pitch session and went to a writer for an evaluation. I wasn't ready but I need to know if I had any ability--and only perseverance reveals that. The experience was fantastic. Historical writers are experts in their era, but few are good at storytelling. I volunteered to read author's first pages and got complimented by an experienced editor on how I interpreted the dialogue. She'd never considered the throwaway words that reveal character--this isn't a direct quote, but I'd made an impact. 3 cheers for my theater degree, 25 years doing phone interviews, giving speeches in Toastmasters, and doing a podcast. If you approach going into those meetings as team building and truly listen to their comments, you'll come away with confidence on what your next steps should be. I met my fiction hero there Patricia Kindl author of "Owl in Love."
Somehow I can't add a comment to the poll, so say here that I listen to instrumental, or voice, or voice and instrumental, or Tori Amos, or Vivaldi, or Bellerofonte Castaldi, or whatever the mood of the writing calls for, though lately my playlist is far too small. I'm still a CD person and who does that anymore?
I was horrified by the idea of seeing publishing as prostitution. Writing is telling stories, and while we all tell stories to ourselves, why take the time to craft a well-told story and not let anyone else hear it? I told stories in my college lectures, I tell stories to my friends to illustrate a point, I have told stories in my blog posts, but I became an writer when I started to tell stories in my fiction, and I became a published writer when I was unwilling to let those stories stay hidden in a drawer because I couldn't sell them professionally. In my case, the stories are based on the real life women working in 1880s San Francisco that I had studied. I did get to tell their stories occasionally in my lectures, but now, because I offer my stories at reasonable prices, and occasionally for free, literally millions of readers have had a chance to read and enjoy the stories of those women's lives, which gives me enormous joy. Their stories, as the stories of all the characters I create, deserve to be heard, and if I work on perfecting my craft, and getting those stories out to be read, I have honored myself and the act of creation. Humph, you can tell this upset me!!! What a terrible message to someone who wants to be a writer!
It really just depends. I do any combo of music or silence kina based on mood, noise level in the house, and the piece I'm working on. Having said that, lately my default is music with lyrics. Or silence. Maybe 50/50? But my highest word counts have come from Baroque music without voices.
Letting the word processor scan everything I’ve written since I stopped using paper and pen turned up only a single document that even included the words “phone booth.” The document in question was a poem entitled “Elegy for Old Stuff,” so obviously we’re in the realm of nostalgia here. In fact it’s hard to imagine writing anything today involving a phone booth that isn’t nostalgic in some way.
For example, if we think of famous phone booths throughout history, we have Superman’s, where he occasionally changed; Dr. Who’s TARDIS, disguised as a police phone box; Bill and Ted’s time-travel phone booth; and Maxwell Smart’s phone booth entrance to Control HQ. All of those are charged with nostalgic glow.
Isn’t Phish a nostalgia band in some sense via their connection to The Grateful Dead? I know former Dead Heads who are now, I believe, Phish Heads (not sure if that term is a thing).
I prefer no noise during most activities, but I suppose watching YouTube music videos before writing could provide sensory stimulation that might be helpful, although mostly they’re useful for procrastination. For example, the rockers Fanny in 1971 covering the Beatles or, as here, Stephen Stills (doubly nostalgic). Extra nostalgia points for long hair parted in the middle, colorful vests, wide leather belts, bell bottoms…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6O3lN2NoJg
Re the survey of writing soundscape, I require no extra auditory inducements. Outside, there’s a kaleidoscope of bird calls, a steady rhythm of traffic ‘swish’ like breaking waves and occasionally an excited dog sharing its discovery of new scents. Any quiet ,inside is filled with ideas playing tag in my head!
I went to the Historical Novel Society conference in Oregon. It was a wonderful experience and worth every Penny.
I paid for a pitch session and went to a writer for an evaluation. I wasn't ready but I need to know if I had any ability--and only perseverance reveals that. The experience was fantastic. Historical writers are experts in their era, but few are good at storytelling. I volunteered to read author's first pages and got complimented by an experienced editor on how I interpreted the dialogue. She'd never considered the throwaway words that reveal character--this isn't a direct quote, but I'd made an impact. 3 cheers for my theater degree, 25 years doing phone interviews, giving speeches in Toastmasters, and doing a podcast. If you approach going into those meetings as team building and truly listen to their comments, you'll come away with confidence on what your next steps should be. I met my fiction hero there Patricia Kindl author of "Owl in Love."
Somehow I can't add a comment to the poll, so say here that I listen to instrumental, or voice, or voice and instrumental, or Tori Amos, or Vivaldi, or Bellerofonte Castaldi, or whatever the mood of the writing calls for, though lately my playlist is far too small. I'm still a CD person and who does that anymore?