Anne Tyler Lord

The Writer’s Life: Getting in the Mood

What does it take for you to get in the mood to write?

Can you create an island oasis when you are writing?

Those are challenging questions for some of us. There are some writers that write on an oasis of solitude for hours each day, and others that grab fifteen minutes whenever they can and have children running around the entire time. But either way, it is important to find a place to get in the mood.

This week, I was inspired by a video tweeted by Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters). The video is by John Cleese, an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer (of Monty Python fame). He shared very insightful thoughts about the creative process. He encourages us to “find our oasis – then you can play.” He says we must “create boundaries of space & time” to support the most vital parts of our creative process. I was particularly interested in his examples of how we connect with the unconscious forces, where much of our creative work is done. When we focus our intention on what we’re writing, there is work continuing in our subconscious (in the background of the mind) even when we leave our writing space and engage the world.

John Cleese on Creativity

Other writers have been discussing creative habits and unconscious forces at work in our creative lives this week. I greatly enjoyed the recent article by Alison Wells at Head Above Water, Finding your keys: Creativity. This article was a beautiful exploration about, “what triggers us emotionally, what untaps the inner resonance that makes our work more meaningful?”  And, Jody Clement Wall at Zebra Sounds wrote an insightful article about striking a balance between solitude and participation with others in Creative Habits.

The latest techniques I use to get into the creative mood are centering exercises (based on cognitive psych) by Eric Maisel. The exercises include becoming completely still, conscious breathing, noticing destructive/defeating thoughts and replacing them through affirmations. So far, the centering exercises have helped me feel more calm, grounded and cleared in my mind to begin writing when I am not in the mood. (More about this topic next week.)

Fun

Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra perform the jazz classic: “In The Mood” (1946)

What About You?

Do you have any tricks or techniques to help you get in the mood to write or create? Or are you frustrated because nothing has helped on the most difficult days? Share your experiences in the comments below and follow along on Twitter at #Writers_Life.

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44 responses to “The Writer’s Life: Getting in the Mood”

  1. Coffee Klatch – June 24: Contests & More | Don't Fence Me In

    […] Favorite Tweets for Writers. Remember to check out the Favorite Tweets for Writers from this week by Nicole Humphrey Cook (@simplywriting) at It’s All About Writing. Thanks Nicole for mentioning my post from last week, The Writer’s Life: Getting In The Mood. […]

  2. e.lee

    love the John Cleese vid

  3. Laurel Marshfield

    In line with the “creative oasis” idea, I have found that “boxing” a writing period by setting a start time, a stop time, a clear and concrete list of writing tasks to accomplish during that time, and finally, checking off each completed task, works to make small and doable what can seem like a vast, amorphous task. (I call it the Box Method because those four elements can be visualized as the top, bottom, and two sides of a box.)

    Here is a blog post on the Box Method: http://tinyurl.com/29mdqft

    I am a ghostwriter and developmental editor and have worked with hundreds of authors in the last decade, many of whom I’ve recommended this method to and many of whom have found it remarkably useful.

    As someone who is primarily a writer myself, I use this method to get going when interest flags or other pursuits seem more enticing.

    One other thing I do is look for work that inspires me to get excited again about the possibilities of writing. As a result, I’m forever reading many books at once.

    Hope a few of your readers find the Box Method helpful.

  4. ganymeder

    OOoh, I forgot to mention in the discussion about making notes that I use my cell phone. I have a voice recorder app for quick notes or ideas,a notebook app, and also a small moleskine I keep in my purse. Usually every week or so I’ll condense all my ideas into the moleskine just to keep them together in one place. I don’t know if anyone finds that helpful, but its what works for me. 🙂

  5. Xan Marcelles

    Lessee…to get in the mood I…hey wait. That’s classified. I usually just get these pictures in my head and throw on some metal and pour a glass and let it go. That still sounds dirty. Damn. >.>

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Ha! Xan, you are just the coolest vamp I know! Thanks for stopping by!

  6. Olivia Tejeda

    Anne, This post came at the perfect time for me. Unfortunately, I can’t add to the conversation because I have not been at all successful at getting myself in the mood to write, or especially to revise, lately. Your post, the comments and the video have given me a lot of useful things to think about in this regard. Thank you so much! ~ Olivia

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Olivia, I know you have been writing about getting in the mood also. I hope a few things will help between my blog and yours – sometimes we just have those phases in our writing life. Hang in there!

  7. Deanna Schrayer

    Great post as usual Anne. I love Glenn Miller – thanks for that, and thanks to Dan for the music suggestions. I’m loving that Coldplay song, and am surprised I’ve never heard it.

    Like many of you, I am challenged by the kids being home during summer. I was surprised to realize this past Monday they were here during my lunch hour, the best time of day I’ve found to write. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that and planned around it BEFORE school ended.

    Also like many of you, some of my best ideas, (or seemingly so at the time), come when I’m drifting off to sleep. Yes, I have to get up and get it down or it drives me nuts, and yes, this causes poor rest, for which I know better. I guess it can be considered an obsession, at least for me.

    My best writing seems to come when I’m sitting on a creek bank, away from all the racket of the world. I must have complete silence to write anything coherently. Of course I write whenever I feel like it, but, as you said Anne, it’s really difficult when you’re on a roll and are interrupted by someone walking into the room and starting to talk to you without even thinking you might be busy. They don’t understand! But they never will, so no need to stress over it. I’ll just take any time I can get.

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Deanna,

      Oh how nice to sit on a creek bank! But I do know you are really good at “writing on the fly.”

      I guess that is good that you were surprised to see the kids at lunch, they must have been quiet while you were working!

  8. Sam

    I’m finding the only way I can write is in total silence. I really wish I could master the technique of grabbing a few minutes here and there, but sadly I must pack the family off out somewhere if I’m to get any real writing done.

    Anne, thanks so much for another inspirational post. 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Thanks Sam – isn’t total silence bliss?!

      1. Sam

        Shhhhhh! 😉 Sorry, couldn’t resist. Yes, total silence is bliss for me, and very restful.

  9. ganymeder

    Jemi,

    That’s how I get most of my writing done, except it’s more like 10 minutes here and there.

    Anne,
    Actually, Monsterbat attends Virtual school, which means I’m his learning coach throughout the day. So Summer break I actually have less to do since I don’t have to do lessons with him every day. Also, for one week a year he goes to camp and that’s when I get time to do stuff that I wouldn’t normally have time or opportunity for. I miss him, but I figure he’s having fun so I should too. hehe 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      I homeschooled for 3 years but didn’t use the virtual school. The kids went to school for the first time last year. I have been thinking a lot about virtual school and talking with them about it over the last year or so. It will be our plan if the kids do homeschool again – we have about 3 different ones available and they have so much to choose from. The curriculum is definitely better than our school’s.

      1. ganymeder

        Yeah, I think the Virtual school is a nice compromise between public and homeschool. You get better curriculum, go at the child’s pace, flexible schedule,etc. but you don’t have to plan every single aspect out yourself. I also like that there is a teacher to consult if you have problems, questions, etc.

        I figure when MB goes to camp, I’m going to visit the Art Museum one day just so I can go by myself so I can take my time. I’ve gone several times with MB for ‘field trips’ which were really cool. He’s a big fan of abstract art, especially cubism, etc. I love Rodin, and the museum has a room full of his work, plus a large ‘Thinker’ in a park outside. I figure that’ll help my creative juices!

        Just a minor aside, do you believe that someone actually disfigured ‘The Thinker’ at the Cleveland Art Museum? Some kids (years ago) blew a hole in it, the front corner is all messed up. I mean… what were they thinking?

        1. Anne Tyler Lord

          That is just shameful that someone would blow a hole in ‘The Thinker’! That kind of damage is ‘unthinkable’ – we can’t replace this stuff!

          I love going to the art museum, too. My fav is in Chicago – so many masters!

  10. Jemi Fraser

    I’m going to sound so lame…

    I don’t have any special rituals or places or anything. I tend to squeeze my writing time in wherever I can fit it. It tends to come in chunks of 20 or 30 minutes. Because time is limited, I’ve learned to just write.

    I do firmly believe that my subconscious does a ton of work while I’m doing other stuff. A lot of the things I write pop into my head fully formed. It’s fun 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Jemi,

      That doesn’t sound lame at all! I would have loved to be able to even do that much a couple years ago!

      How cool to have things pop in fully formed! That is definitely a time saver. Here we do all this work in the background of our minds and we probably don’t even realize it – the ultimate form of multi-tasking!

  11. Laurita

    First of all, I want to tell you how much I enjoy these posts of yours. They always give me something to think about.

    What gets me in the mood for writing is reading work by other writers. It gets me thinking “look what they created” and put me in a creative mood.

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Thanks so much, Laurita. It is gratifying to know that my posts are helpful, thought-provoking or just plain fun.

      Reading others is definitely a good place to find a spark!

  12. Juliana

    What a fabulous speech from John Cleese! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      glad you enjoyed it! You have a very interesting website – I like the title – Write Play Repeat!

  13. Laura Eno

    Like Marc, I find many of my ideas popping in as I’m drifting off to sleep. I can’t rely on a keyword though. Instead, I have a large pad of paper and pen and jot things down…in the dark and without my glasses. I’m able to read (most of) it in the morning. 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      I’m with you there! But isn’t it frustrating to know you had a brilliant idea (it seemed like it at the time) and then you can’t read a darned thing of the notes? I have a new system of getting up and writing by a nightlight in the bathroom – but it does keep me up longer. My handwriting is so bad that it is a stretch to understand it when I write my best.

      1. Sam

        Anne, Laura, Marc, I’ve been lucky enough to find a ballpoint with built-in flashlight that illuminates the tip. Very handy to keep with my bedside notebook. Some of my ideas don’t bare scrunity the morning after the night before, but at least I can read my scrawl.

        1. Anne Tyler Lord

          Oooo, very cool! Leave it to you to have a really cool pen!

          1. Sam

            Hehe, thanks Anne. I only wish I could remember where it came from so I could get the info out to all my writerly friends.

    2. marc nash

      I wouldn’t want to wake the Mrs by switching on the light or scribbling too noisily!

  14. judy

    LOVE the John Cleese video. I’m afraid I may have no idea that I have no idea what I’m doing!

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Ha! Judy that is so funny. You know, I don’t think it really matters. Some of us (me) just have a weird obsession with the inner life!

  15. Dan Holloway

    I find music very helpful as a wa to ensure that my mood doesn’t change from day to day when I’m writing and leave a novel suffering from general wonkiness. I’ll tend to listen to the same CD non-stop for the duration of a novel, whcih means I can get straight into the same mindset I left off. If I’m writing a novel with 2 POVs, I’ll use two CDs (my first novel, a thriller, was written entirely to either Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head and Skunk Anansie’s Stoosh; Songs from… was written to Rammstein’s Mutter; and my WIP is being written to The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards)

    I find it helps to have the music surprisingly loud (headphones of course!!) it seems like this should be off-putting, but it isn’t – it means everything but the music goes, and that enables me to get straight into voice (which is never anything like the music!)

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Dan,

      I find that very fascinating that you use music to maintain the mood of your novel. I chose a few songs and did that with the novel I began during NaNoWriMo. I used different songs for each character and for a couple different sections of the book (different phase of the arc). I also found it helped to recapture the mood of that character during that time. I find it hard to write about, for example, deep pain, misery or desperate times on a really happy, good day – and vice versa.

      Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head – one of my favs, too

      Skunk Anansie – Wow, never heard of her – I listened to a few – very powerful stuff – definitely lots for characters to hang their emotions on

      Rammstein’s Mutter – this guy scares the crap out of me

      The Dead Weather’s Sea of Cowards – also new to me – cool and very intense

      Wow, that is some head full of intense music!! Thanks for sharing all this, I understand how it can help to become one with the music and block out everything else to write (yeah, man, that is cool) – but please, I beg you, turn down the volume so you won’t loose your hearing! (sorry, I broke out into mother mode)

  16. Lou Belcher

    Great Post…. thanks for the reminder to carve out enough time to get into the level of concentration needed to create. Super video find!

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Thanks Lou, I really enjoyed the video too!

  17. marc nash

    Hi Anne, I’m not sure about an oasis among the pell mell for me, since I will always stop what I’m doing, or find a why to jot something down whenever an idea comes to me. I do regard myself as being ‘on’ 24-7. Of course one eneds a block of time to then transcribe and write that all important first draft, but I can plan towards forging such a time – take my leave from work etc.

    I find I have the most ideas and problem solving creep up on me when I retire to bed. All the events of the workaday world slip away and into that space, that quiet place of repose before sleep’s descent, then comes into my mind all the creative life that had been held at bay by the activities of the previous calls on one’s time. Of course the deluge of thoughts can also lead to sleepless nights, which I’ve had many of. But I’ve trained my mind to recall a key word for each idea I want to remember in the morning and as long as I remember that key word, I can pretty much recover the whole sentence/dialogue exchange that lies behind it. I reckon I lose probably no more than 25% of thoughts this way, but I have been doing this fior nearly 20 years now!

    Great post as ever Anne (I’ve also just remembered having read alison Wells’ blog, that I’ve actually been to Minneapolis St Pauls – three weeks after my wedding I left my bride at home to go to an old friend’s wedding there (he was English, marrying a Minnesotan). I was part of the bridal party, so the clothes were being hired for me. I turned up at the airport with hand luggage only, as it was a long weekend long haul – got some funny looks from security and immigration. But transatlantic longhaul over little more than 48 hours is a killer I can tell you! I remember the drive from the airport through the dark, but seeing the outlines of the various lakes. Didn’t have much time to see anything else though, other than a golf course (can’t stand the sport). Sadly no oasis on the greens there to encourage creative thinking!

    Marc

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Marc,

      I can see you are a honed professional with a daily flow that works for you to get your ideas captured. I also get a flood of ideas before bed when it is quiet. But I have to get up and write them down or I forget & can’t go to sleep because I am afraid I will forget. You are lucky to have the “key word” system down.

      So you have actually visited Minnesota? Wow. If you would have saw it I wonder if you would think it looks pretty much like parts of England? Rolling hills, woods, fields, farms – at least the landscape – buildings quite different. That must have been the MOST tiring weekend to fly in and back home so quickly!!!

      1. marc nash

        well I couldn’t abandon my new bride for any longer could I?

  18. 2mara

    I used to be able to steal time while my kids were at school, but this summer break is killing me. Now, I have to get them in bed or separate them and hope they don’t need anything.

    Another problem I have is that my office is in my living room, and my husband watches very LOUD TV, so I plug into my ipod. I have a couple of cds I can go thru, that drowns everything out, and help me enter that writing realm.

    I am writing on borrowed time until school starts back… for my sanity’s sake, it better be quick.

    Great post!
    ~2

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      I see you are another busy mother in the summer searching a way to create your space to write. Good luck with finding a few quiet moments or at least a few concentrated (blocking out noise) moments to get some writing done!

  19. ganymeder

    Great post! And I loved the John Cleese clip. I’ve noticed a lot of the same things about myself, especially the part about interuptions and sleeping on a problem. That’s why I usually like to write my stories pretty early and then let them ‘simmer’ a little. I’ll tweak them at least a couple times before I post.

    What’s funny is that I’ve experienced everything he talked about, albeit on my own tiny scale. A couple month’s ago, I wrote a #fridayflash, Puck’s Surprise, and accidently deleted it with less than an hour to go before the Midnight deadline. I rewrote it quickly and posted it just in time. Later, I found a print out of the one I deleted accidently, and it wasn’t nearly as good as what I’d rewritten on the fly.

    As far as creating an oasis, I’ve been attempting to do that with various ‘deals’ I make with Monsterbat. Unfortunately, they vary from day to day because he forgets and interupts me anyway. The general rule is, “Unless you spontaneously combust, DO NOT INTERUPT ME FOR THE NEXT (X Amount of) MINUTES.” Sometimes it works. We’re trying a new deal now for Summer where Mornings are for me to get my things done (housework, bills, writing, etc) and for his chores, then afternoons are for him and doing fun stuff. I think writing is fun, but you know what I mean. I’ll let you know how it goes!

    Oh, also I’ve noticed that if I’m tired I can’t concentrate on writing. So if I take a nap…that’s still working; right? 🙂

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Gany,

      Oh I hear you about the summer time and kids home. It takes a lot of bargaining. I think this summer is the first time I have gotten longer periods of time to write with the kids home. They read 2-3 hours a day (to earn a little video game time). But it is hard, with even one interruption you can lose where you were.

      That is very interesting about your #FridayFlash, maybe we should all try that as a technique to better writing? But it could be stressful.

      Good luck on your summer schedule and getting uninterrupted writing time.

  20. moonduster (Becky)

    I have to wait until my kids are in bed. Of course, at that time, my teenagers are still up and either listening to music or watching tv, so I don’t get silence to write in.

    Usually, once I start writing, I get very focused and can tune out everything around me. There are still days (way too many of them) where I cannot focus and nothing gets written, or, if it does, it’s all material that I end up having to trash.

    1. Anne Tyler Lord

      Hi Becky, it can be hard to find the oasis. But you are right, there are many times I have gone to a coffee shop to write and go into my own little oasis of total concentration blocking out all the noise.

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