Wednesday, March 12, 2008

writing must-haves

A list of the things I must have in order to write:

1) My laptop (oh precious, oh wonderful, oh holy, I bow down to thee and promise to never again let unsaved work and pictures be on you if you crash...I have learned the wonders of the flash drive.)

2) Glasses. Yes, I wear them. To read. And write. I get headaches otherwise. Started wearing reading glasses when I started a job as a lowly editorial assistant in 1995. My love of reading led to the degeneration of my ocular senses. Ironic, no?

3) Dark chocolate. Need I say more?

4) Coffee. In the mornings. Only the good stuff, preferably organic, shade grown, fair trade, and dark. Lightened with rice milk, although I just yesterday discovered lactose-free organic milk, yes, cow milk, which has not been my drink of choice for years. So far, so good....

5) An Internet connection. The better to procrastinate, of course. I mean, research. No, seriously, I love both thesaurus.com and dictionary.com, among others.

6) Music, a background movie (at the moment, LOTR, which I have seen so many times it does not distract, except during the coolest scenes, like when Arwen is carrying the injured Frodo to safety and the horrible ring wraiths are closing in on them, and then my heart just pumps and I have to watch), or the chatter of people around me. My head doesn't like the quiet otherwise--that's only welcome during sleep or meditation.

7) A working, sleep-fulfilled, focused, and purposeful mind. If I'm stressing, forget it. No writing!

8) A view. Either through a window or in pictures and posters in my room. Yes, posters, even though that makes me sound like I'm in junior high worshiping some boy band pop star. My favorite, which I have noted before, is the one of Capitol Reef National Park, situated just so the afternoon light hits it....

9) A clean house, if I'm home! Yes, I'm one of those people who cannot work if I am surrounded by disorder. That could also be another procrastination technique. But it does make for a delightfully clean abode.

There might be other must-haves, but those are the ones that are with me at this very moment. What do you need in order to write? Pen & paper? Dictaphone? A sparse office with nothing but a table, chair, and four depressingly (charmingly?) white walls?

Post your thoughts, I want to know....
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

To be wholly human and creative, I need to hook up with my women writer friends now and then against the sublime backdrop of the Waterpocket Fold in southcentral Utah. And I need it soon!


www.rachelsnyder.wordpress.com

Julie Trevelyan said...

Ah...yes! Then come visit me and Sasha when I move back there, m'dear, and we shal write against the backdrop of the Fold and all the other fabulous places there...