Environment affects everything from mood, focus, and flow. I mostly write at home, but ambient visuals and music help me get me in and stay in the zone. I’ve recently come across ‘Medieval Fantasy Tavern’ ambience, which has some countdown sprints and I'm curious to try.
What do you do to create a focused writing environment especially if you’re working from home? For some of you I feel you keep a consistent time. Do you rely more on atmosphere or a consistent routine?
Once there is total silence in the room, I can get in the zone and stay there. Nobody must interrupt me so it works especially well from around 11pm to 5am.
I write anywhere at any time - but in bite sized chunks. Ask yourself a question about your piece and answer it by writing on your phone - who cares if it's in an airport with kids screaming - focus on the small question and the small answer. For routine - routine is good at home for example. BUT if you want to really deep dive, go to the place where your story is. I spent months on the Greek island of Patmos for that reason, finished the book manuscript but still haven't polished the TV Pilot and should have.
David Taylor that is fascinating and going to the place where the story takes place would help bring the writing to life and it would be the perfect escape from everyday life. I agree with little bits anywhere writing on the phone, I use voice memos for ideas anytime or anyplace.
Rishi Gallion that's an interesting time slot because I receive a lot of ideas in the late hours or early morning usually when I am needing to sleep winding down the conscious mind and entering into subconscious level. 5 am really stands out as a marker toward writing progress before the world takes you over.
if you find it difficult to write in the place where you spend your days, one alternative is to tell your story to a recorder. Say something everytime you have an idea. Then clean up the notes later. Or use AI to convert speech to text.
Goran Johansson I always notate concepts and if I tell Ai my concepts it will expand those in a cinematic library universe to infinity and beyond with script variations and alternate parallel multiverses but it I choose to elaborate on one idea that investment I own, or it owns me really, I just do the mechanics here or the overseeing of the mechanics.