Weird Things You Do While Writing

[sunstruckdream]

Here's my list...

While writing, I have:
Cried,
laughed,
yelled/shouted,
pulled off my shoe and thrown it,
peeled labels off of water and lotion bottles,
bent back all the corners of my thesaurus,
looked in the mirror and made a face to think of how to describe an expression,
read the dialogue aloud like a script,
repeated the former in a southern accent,
repeated the former in a british accent (to date I have one southern character and no british ones),
jumped around my room while thinking of how to describe the sensation of flying,
stopped to draw pictures of the characters,
stopped to work on part of another story,
made popcorn to eat while I worked on a rape and murder scene,
and, my favorite: stuffed my old baby blanket into the stomach of my shirt while writing about my pregnant character.

...

Judge me if you will...it's how I work. Good times, good memories.

~sunstruck

Side Note: Victor Hugo used to write naked. He felt it removed his inhibitions. Just a little tidbit for you...

 

[Lessien]

Wow...and I thought I was weird for watching Harry Potter fan videos on YouTube.....

 

[mochagirl]

I...
-talk to myself a lot while I'm writing. (And quite a bit when I'm not, for that matter...but perhaps I shouldn't admit that.)
-jiggle my legs, especially if I'm trying to get something down fast before it escapes into neverland (or wherever such thoughts/ideas/etc. go to).
-sing or hum or whistle along to whatever music I'm listening to.
-mess with my hair; twirl it between my fingers, pull it out of a ponytail, put it in a ponytail, twist it all up into an updo and then let go of it so it falls, etc.
-make faces to match my characters' expressions or to go along with the mood of the scene
-roll my shoulders and neck and listen to the bones crack
-shake my hands out
-eat chocolate

 

[Paladin Dave]

I listen to REALLY nerdy music if I'm writing scenes with any sort of engagement to them. Actually, I usually listen to music to match the mood, really. For sad scenes, "Don't wanna miss a thing" by Aerosmith, "Forever Yours" by Nightwish, "Adagio for strings" by... I forget. Beethoven's "Moonlight". That kind of stuff. Usually just whatever I'm in the mood for in any other situation. For scenes with any kind of hostility, though... Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire, Hammerfall, and a few choice Metallica songs.

Other than that, no weird habits, aside from strongly feeling the emotions of my characters when I roleplay. Don't write on my own enough to know if it applies then.

 

[TheDerek]

Listen to hard rock. I also talk to myself. Creeped my roommate out one morning, he thought someone else was in the room!

 

[sunstruckdream]

Listen to hard rock. I also talk to myself. Creeped my roommate out one morning, he thought someone else was in the room!

Haha...I've done that to my roommate too...

 

[WESTERNdeitySIXmoths]

"made popcorn to eat while I worked on a rape and murder scene"

what XD that's gross =P

 

[sunstruckdream]

..just being honest...

 

[Kokopelli]

Some of the things I have done...

• Drink rum
• Swear at the cats who are getting into stuff
• Tell the dog to take a hike
• Drink more rum
• Grumble that I am stumped and should be doing something else
• Watch fan videos of Jeff Dunham and Battlestar on Youtube
• Yell at the wife for bothering me when she knows I'm busy
• Listen to music
• Curse the person who drank all the rum
• Research more on the topic I've already researched
• Grumble because the wife wants to buy a game, but won't let me buy more rum to replace the rum lost to an unknown and elusive thief

 

[NeoScribe]

The lsit of weird things I do while supposed to be writing is:

*Listen to foreign music that sounds cool, though I have no clue what they're saying.

*Act out my fight scenes.

*Speak out the dialogue of my characters.

*Feed my fish.

*Look up at the ceiling and ask "Why, Why?"

*Turn off the computer after writing a grand total of 2 sentence... And then tun it back on and do it again.

*Watch The Prince of Egypt.

 

[Peace Eternal]

Things that I do/have done while writing include
~Pacing, a lot (alot?). I actually get most of my writing done while pacing with a notebook in hand. (I can't write anything while sitting at the computer. Something about all that white blank space that's just creepy)
~Drink LOTS of hot chocolat and tea.
~Have held a kitchen knife up to my throat to see how it feels.
~Suddenly decide that whatever I've just written doesn't fit with my current story so I'll start another one.
~Recite poetry
~Hum theme songs from Star Wars or LOTR or POTC
~Ask my character's questions and answer in their designated (sp?) 'voice'.
~Have yelled at my mom for interupting me, and thus got grounded from writing for a week. And my mom does follow up.
~Throw things
~Rub the binding on a softcover book on my chin.
~Talk to myself (Often in a British accent)
---------
Victor Hugo wrote naked? lol, Where did you find that 'little tidbit' of information?

 

[Doubtless]

- Rock back and forth in a scyzophrenic (sp?) sort of way

- Play "One Last Breath" by Creed over and over

- Talk to myself (seems to be a habit among writers )

- Try to pretend that I already did the required amount of schoolwork for the day

- Drum a beat with my fingers on my desk, or ...my head (????)

- Act out scenes

- Pace

Side Note: Victor Hugo used to write naked. He felt it removed his inhibitions. Just a little tidbit for you...

That was sooooo unecessary.

 

[sunstruckdream]

Hahaha...okay, about the Victor Hugo thing...

For Christmas my friend gave me a book called "The Writer's Block." Most of it is random prompts and images to inspire ideas during periods of writer's block, but there are also pages giving quotes, thoughts and advice from famous writers. There was section on how famous writers would "get in the zone;" one writer said they liked to write in pajamas, to feel relaxed. Another writer was reported as saying she dressed up in business clothes to write, because she got more done when she felt like a serious professional. And finally, the section finished off with the legend of Victor Hugo's choice of (or lack of) attire.

So...yeah...

 

[mochagirl]

I can honestly say I've never written while not wearing clothes. Ew.

Sounds like a cool book...hmmm...

*goes off to check the library*

 

[Tariel]

- Listen to the first six tracks on Casting Crowns' first album - I don't even like Casting Crowns!
- Compulsively check my word count
- Doodle
- Call my brother
- Call my mom
- Check my mail
- Go to class
- Wiki strange off-topic topics
- Chat online
- Make food disappear (I swear I didn't eat that bowl of Ramen)
- Make lists like this one

 

[Kokopelli]

I can honestly say I've never written while not wearing clothes. Ew.

Sounds like a cool book...hmmm...

*goes off to check the library*

That would make for an interesting author bio at the of the book: John/Jane Doe, pictured stark, ravin' naked in front of God and Country.

Can't say that I've done that either... though describing the scene with me[/] in it would make for a nice horror setting.

 

[Tariel]

I prefer to write fully clothed, thank you very much

 

[avatarblade2000]

-I think every writer talks to themselves, but man am I in excess. I'll switch back and forth between two, three, maybe even an entire room of characters, reciting their dialogue to myself, reenacting the scene (I do a little acting too, so...), and eventually tire myself out.

-I listen to music to set some sort of rhythm to the tone I'm aiming for - then sometimes sing the songs myself, speeding them up, slowing them down, going up and down a few octaves...till I forget what I was doing and get back to work.

-I feng-shui my room sometimes, moving furniture and random piles of paper, just to get my mind going again. Sitting for hours can cause mental catharsis.

-Make an entire meal - one or two plates worth - and eat them crosslegged on my bed while I think.

-I typically pop a movie in and study its plot, characters, atmosphere, see if I can emulate it somehow. Miyazaki, Christopher Nolan, the occasional Jim Henson...sometimes I purposely watch something that clashes with the mood I'm in to put some more perspective on what I'm doing. I go to Scene Selection on a lot of the DVDs and write out the scene names, break them down to their components and intentions plot-wise.

-I have pestered my family, particularly my younger brother, verbally while in other rooms just to study their reactions. I base more characters off of them than they'd like to know.

-I randomly open other Word docs while working to see if they can lend some sort of element I haven't used yet...usually, all that gets me is distracted writing on something I shouldn't be. *shrug* Oh well. One of those six screenplays will be a movie - SOMEDAY.

 

[Twelve]

- Listen to music (I listen to various Christian music, so I usually can find the right song to match the mood.)

- Act out the scenes (every one of them).

- Pace

- Tried to hypnotize myself into a state of insanity (I don't recommend that)

- Argue with my characters aloud. And I talk to myself.....a lot. I think you're right, Doubtless, that must be one trait of a writer.

- Drink large quantities of sweetened tea

- Swung a curtain rod around like a sword

- Watch/criticize movies, and make fun of the characters as they speak.

- Drum my hands/fingers rapidly

- Look through the dictionary for random words I don't know (not to learn anything)

- Throw any nearby writing utensil across my room

- Develop another plot for another story (I currently have 16 stories on my hands.)

- Searched the internet for pictures of storms, otters, and/or castles. (Totally unrelated things, I know).

- Stared at the sky when there are clouds

- Blurt out random words.

- Light things on fire

I think I can safely say this: Writers, in general, are strange.
(And I think it's spelled schizophrenic.)

 

[Twelve]

read the dialogue aloud like a script,
repeated the former in a southern accent,
repeated the former in a british accent

talk to myself a lot while I'm writing. (And quite a bit when I'm not, for that matter...but perhaps I shouldn't admit that.)

I also talk to myself. Creeped my roommate out one morning, he thought someone else was in the room!

Speak out the dialogue of my characters.

~Ask my character's questions and answer in their designated (sp?) 'voice'....
~Talk to myself (Often in a British accent)

- Talk to myself

I think every writer talks to themselves, but man am I in excess. I'll switch back and forth between two, three, maybe even an entire room of characters, reciting their dialogue to myself, reenacting the scene (I do a little acting too, so...), and eventually tire myself out.

Argue with my characters aloud. And I talk to myself.....a lot. I think you're right, Doubtless, that must be one trait of a writer.

Then it's decided. If you don't talk to yourself you aren't a writer.