{"id":2777,"date":"2011-05-09T05:00:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=2777"},"modified":"2011-05-08T22:02:44","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T03:02:44","slug":"monday-motivation-the-best-time-to-plan-or-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2011\/05\/09\/monday-motivation-the-best-time-to-plan-or-write\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Motivation: The Best Time to Plan or Write"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.”
\n– Agatha Christie<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For me, it’s in the shower…or in the car…<\/p>\n

Other times it’s on walks, or even while I’m playing tennis…<\/p>\n

Now that I’m back to working outside the home, it’s during lunch, too…<\/p>\n

And yes, sometimes it’s even while doing the dishes.<\/p>\n

Planning and Writing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I can plan what I want to write anywhere. While driving and when I’m walking are when most ideas come to me, but there comes a point where I fill my head with planning while driving that I can’t capture all my thoughts, or that my iPhone isn’t a handy way to catch a flood of ideas while walking.<\/p>\n

A Room of One’s Own<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many writers have to have certain conditions all come together in order to work.<\/p>\n

Given a choice, I like going back to my office for hours and not hear a sound or experience an interruption. I like dumping all the planning from my head into my computer. I like losing myself in what I’m doing, especially when working on more serious fiction or an article involving piles of research.<\/p>\n

A room of one’s own is nice, but many writers don’t have the luxury of their own space and time.<\/p>\n

Ideal is Not Always Possible<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As we rush about, having the ideal writing conditions is not always possible; in fact, I’d guess that most <\/em>people who write don’t get 15-20 hours of uninterrupted writing time during the week.<\/p>\n

So they condition themselves to plan and write when they can: in coffee shops and cafeterias; on buses and while riding the train.<\/p>\n

I’m typing this in the living room while sitting next to my wife, who’s watching TV. I could be in the office–alone for hours, in fact–but it’s a nice morning and hanging out with my wife<\/a>, even if it’s just a matter of proximity while we do our own things, is nice.<\/p>\n

Like so many other writers, I’ve conditioned myself to plan and write where and when I can, even though I love <\/em>being left alone in my office for hours.<\/p>\n

Where Do You Plan and Write?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What about you–do you have one place where you plan and write, or several?<\/p>\n

When does the flood of ideas hit, and what do you do to capture it all?<\/p>\n

I’d share more of what I do, but it’s almost lunch; soon there will be dishes to be done and planning to do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” – Agatha Christie For me, it’s in the shower…or in the car… Other times it’s on walks, or even while I’m playing tennis… Now that I’m back to working outside the home, it’s during lunch, too… And yes, sometimes it’s even while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2777"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}