Writing Habits

Andi over at Tripping Toward Lucidity blogged today about writing rituals and habits. I responded there, but enjoyed the topic so much that I'm copy-and-pasting my comment here:

The only truly unbreakable writing habit I have is procrastination. I can find all kinds of other things to do before starting the paper. Wash dishes, take a shower, go for a walk, straighten my bookshelves, braid my hair, sort out my photos, and OMG look at how those coloured pens got all out of order!!! *snort* My writing space looks kinda like the photo you posted, though. 'Cept my chair is worn out, faded fabric with a really yucky brown/beige floral print; and my "footstool" is the wooden desk chair that I pull across the room cuz I don't own a proper ottoman, don't wanna spend the money, and don't have space to keep one anyways; and the walls are grungy used-to-be-white horrid wallpaper that's peeling off in every corner and along every seam; and I don't own a dog. Okay. Now that I think about it I guess it's not much the same at all. But I do have that annoying sloped ceiling above my head that always seems to get in the way when alighting into or emerging from one's writing fervour. Just one of the perils of life in a third-floor dusty Dickensian garret.

As far as distractions, I cannot work ANYWHERE where people are moving around, such as at the library. I utterly HATE doing research or writing at the library. The whispering around me makes me nuts. But I've gotta have music, and I've gotta use my earbuds plugged into my laptop, and the volume tends to get scooched up higher and higher until it's eventually at its max. The genre doesn't matter -- it can be jazz, rock, blues, classical, whatever -- but It has to be familiar music, not NEW music. Familiar music just blends into the background; new music draws my attention away from the work. And once I do (finally) get out of procrastination mode and settled in my space with the music blaring into my ears, I tend to sit and write until the damn thing is done. Not unusual for me to go five/six hours without stirring from my spot.

And in case you think I'm kidding, the photo above is my writing spot as it looks at this exact moment. I particularly like the towels hanging over the radiator at my left elbow. Charming, don't you think? Yes, I really am living a very very (very!) simple existence just now.

How about you? What are your writing peccadilloes? I'd love to hear about your unbreakable habits too!

Listening to: Could Fly (Keith Urban)
Thinking about: Booking another vacation (Scotland)