On Writing : Do You Write Better Calm… or Chaotic? by Kat Spencer

personally.. working at a calm atmosphere always seem to work well for me so.

(A) Calm , clear and grounded

Funnily enough I get more writing done during the quiet periods of work (and I always risk getting distracted), so I found I actually work better with chaos than quiet. I guess because when it’s quiet my mind likes to get loud and not in a productive way ^^;

I think both states bring something different to the process.

The emotional and chaotic moments tend to generate the raw material — the intensity, the ideas, the truth behind the characters.

But clarity and calm are what allow me to shape that into something meaningful and structured.

For me, the best work comes from the combination of both.

A) Calm and definitely quiet, I need to get in the zone and get lost inside it. Of course more often than not I get interrupted by the husband who needs a snack and one of the 4 cats suddenly remembers that it's starving (bowl is full). They do this in turns because all together at the same time would just be rude.

Calm. No music or anything. Just me and my Mac.

When I'm in the zone, it's like meditation.

I've just been revising a novel manuscript, and there were entire sections I'd no recollection of drafting. Bliss.

Yes. I write better when I feel. If I don't feel I don't write, except if I'm writing about not feeling. Things sometimes get messy if I can't write it down fast enough to keep up with myself. Other than that, it's always calm clear and grounded, except if I'm laughing hysterically, enthused and excited enough to get arrested, or weeping deeply over a sad scene. Never underestimate the healing power of cake.

I write the best when I have some dialogue on the page. Once I can get a conversation going between two characters, everything else begins to fall into place. To do that, I definitely need my mind to be calm. I need to be able to clearly see the characters so I can build everything else around them. But ultimately, I always ask “what do these people sound like?” I have met thousands of people in my lifetime & it’s always amazing to see how much of their individuality & personality is defined through what they say & don’t say.

Hard to say - you're either int the zone or you're not.

I'll tend to selectively borrow elements from both. I'll use a calm structured process to give me a broad outline and northern star, but then delve deeply into what I'd think, feel and experience if I were the character in a way that refines the script.

Without the guardrails I'd be concerned that I go off track, and without getting deep into the emotional level I'd keep thinking that I'll miss key nuances about what a given character would feel, believe and yearn for.

Definition is so important....I cannot concentrate without sound. But it has to be the 'right' kind of sound haha. So my calm is chaos for others (I write to death metal quite a bit) and their calm might be chaos for me. My mind needs to be focused and inside the story for me to write anything effective. I need music to accomplish that.

Darrell Pennington your process is incredible. I can just imagine you enjoying being in the blissful peace of your creative flow, while Jinjer is delivering the soundwaves in the background. Although I'll tend to go more for the orchestral option, I have to admit that Maphra's rendition of 'Doomed' got me exploring more in that broad direction.

Kris Foye haha, thanks. I am older so yesterday it was Carcass that was providing my calm. I should say that once a project becomes sort of well defined I create playlists that I would want used for the project. Then when I am in re-write mode etc....I listen to it. So the music can vary from bluegrass to funeral doom and everything in between. But if there is no soundtrack I've created then it will be something on the heavy end of the spectrum.

A.) produces my lighter and warm stories while

B.) produces the base of most of my stories having more elements to wager than when writing in my calm where the focus is high and the stakes are not as intense than when my heavy mood and emotions guide me.

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Darrell Pennington That's an impressive range and I get what you mean about switching to something that speaks to what you're working on while you get everything well defined. The orchestral pieces (think Lord of The Rings) serves the same function for me. It's the first time I'm learning about bluegrass though, might have to investigate it some more.

Calm, clear and grounded, definitely. If chaotic, I cannot focus... :/

Kat Spencer For me, it’s a mix but if I had to choose, I’d say B: emotional and in the middle of it. That chaos brings out raw, honest ideas that feel real.

But the calm phase is where I shape it, refine it, and give it structure. So chaos creates… and calm perfects.

Abhijeet Aade That's a fantastic way of putting it.

Kris Foye I love bluegrass, I'm from the area where it originated so it's probably part of nurture rather than nature but if you love Celtic or Americana music I think you will like it. If I might suggest, start with the song Cumberland Gap by David Rawlins (there are many versions but this is my favorite - it was the opening song to The Gentleman as well) and then go to Billy Strings as his contemporary take will be a nice bridge to more original blue grass artists like Ricky Skaggs and of course the originator, Bill Monroe. My hometown has the Bluegrass Hall of Fame AND the best American BBQ available so keep Owensboro, KY in mind if you fall in love with it haha.

Darrell Pennington Ok thanks so much for this, I do like Celtic music. In fact I used to listen to some during my creative process. I'm going to make my way through these name and educate myself properly. And you said BBQ? Ok I'm booking my flight xD.

Haha - If we are back in the country hit me up and I'll take you to the best restaurants Kris Foye

Darrell Pennington Will do, many thanks

Kris Foye Appreciate that, Kris glad it connected.

It’s something I’ve been exploring a lot in my own writing process.

I write when both calm & when my brain is fried. However, I need the calm zone to work out the very intricate plot points, & time zones in parallel narrative. When I’m fired up, my characters may be pushed even more out of their own comfort zones, or may decide to action, on an emotional tangent. I don’t mean a script vomit of own thoughts, but to inject the internal rocket fuel felt in the moment, from my mind to page. The aim is, when reading back, scenes are tighter, new stakes have arisen & suspense heightened. I’ve re written scenes when stressed, & pushed story forward with zesty turbulence, that wasn’t there prior.