We all know how important it is to set the scene in your writing, but what about setting the scene for your writing? I woke up this morning feeling like I haven’t been doing nearly as much writing lately as I should be and, considering C.M. Hubbard posted about just the same thing today, I’m taking it as a sign that my current method of setting the scene for writing is not being conducive to my productivity. I have a lot of stuff I want to get done by the end of February, and there’s no way I’m going to reach it at this rate.
Not my cat. But this guy seems to have the focus thing down pretty well.
How do you set your scene for writing? What’s your ideal set-up to really get your work out? For me, it’s a bright, quiet morning, a little music coming from my Kindle, with a cup of fresh and overly sweet coffee on one side. The sun is coming through the kitchen window, onto the table where my laptop sits, at an angle where it isn’t shining directly into my eyes (which has been a problem lately). It’s Preferably before my roommate gets up; after she’s up and gone to work before me, my brain switches gears to other projects. This morning is…close to setting up this scene.
I’m very good for going about this scene for my blog post, but I’ve been complete rubbish of sticking around and doing some actual writing while I’m at it. Days like today, where I open at the shop and have to leave relatively early, it’s understandable that I don’t have the time to take to just sit and write. There are other things that unfortunately must be done as well. However, on other days, like the days when I close the shop, or come in later, or don’t have to come in at all, there is no excuse. You have a table, you have a chair, you have a five-cup coffee brewer. Sit your butt down and get to work!
So I’m going to start trying to do that. Every morning (well, almost), I take the time to write this blog, usually about half an hour. Some mornings (not a lot lately), I also have been taking some time to write 750 Words. And now, except on mornings when I work early, I will be setting a timer for at least fifteen minutes (hopefully thirty) and just writing. No other distractions. None of this, “Write a paragraph and go do something else” stuff that I usually do, either. I’m setting the scene for my writing and letting it take me to the place where my writing needs to be.
Do you have a particular time of day where you dedicate yourself to just writing? I’ve always been so scatterbrained and distractable that I’ve never pursued it much, despite knowing how it’s really the best way to get anything done. How long do you make yourself write? What are your essentials for your writing scene? Any tricks to share to help keep me from distractions? I’m giving it a go tomorrow since I think I have the day off, and I think the results are going to be very exciting.
L.S. Engler 
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