Many blogs and magazines write about how writers write. Newbie writers lap these articles up as if they’re gospel and try to emulate. I know, I’ve been there. But the more I see how others write and how my own writing style is evolving, the more I realise there’s probably as many ways of writing as writers.
Some write at the ghastly hour of four A.M. Some write in the evening. It’s kind of like exercise that way: there are those who like to get up and moving first thing and others who’d rather wind down a long day with a good run. But then there are some who write on the train to work, or maybe at the coffee shop during mid-morning break … or maybe mid-afternoon break. Some would never darken a coffee shop with their laptop or iPad to write, maybe the would to browse or check Twitter, but not to write.
Some prefer total quiet with no one around. Some like noisy cafes or the kitchen table with the family running around and the dog chasing them barking away. Some prefer music with their writing, any music will do. While some will be choosy, carefully going through their selection to produce just the right mood for that day’s typing or writing.
Some will sit in an armchair, a pad of paper in hand and a fountain pen or maybe some ballpoint they picked up on the subway. But others will sit only at their computer in their ergonomic desk chair, the keyboard at exactly the right height. And a few will dictate either directly into the computer using a nifty program like Dragon NaturallySpeaking while others will dictate into a handheld recorder, or these days into one’s iPhone, whenever the urge hits them.
Some are disciplined and will sit down at the same desk at the same time every single day, even holidays. Others will only write when the urge hits them. Some go for the middle, being disciplined during writing months like ScriptFrenzy yet also writing when the urge wakes them up at one in the morning.
My writing style is a bit all over and depends on what it is I’m writing. Some blog posts get written on my iPad as soon as I wake up. Others I write only on my computer in broad daylight. And still others I write on my iPad in front of the TV when the news is annoying me or when I can’t focus on what’s on but need to write but don’t want to turn off the TV. Novels I write only on my computer with no music, no radio on, writing books, dictionary, post-its, notes, and my iPad scattered around on my desk or within reach. My iPad because it has all my research and outline notes on it (backed up in other places!). This year, I’m writing ScriptFrenzy on my iPad in the early morning, at the beginning of April before the dawn but now that the dawn is moving earlier and earlier, it’s after the dawn.
What I’ve learnt: The best writing style is whatever makes you write.
