Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.
Don’t forget to click the purple button to see what everyone else has to say on this week’s subject. It’s at the end of my post.
Is there a specific time of year when your ideas flow better and you find you’re writing more? What do think contributes to that?
I think I write more in summer, although I’ve never actually checked.
I get up early (I always have) and in summer, I tend to head out for a walk around the cliffs before anyone else has noticed that it’s light.
That’s very often where I get inspiration or I might spend the time working things out in my head. Very often, I’ll see scenes from a different perspective.
So that, when I return home, I usually have loads to type.
In the winter I have to go walking later to avoid falling over the edge, so I write while I’m waiting for daylight. Without the stimulation of the fresh air and sights of nature, it always seems to be harder to get any new words flowing. My mind is often still thinking about what I wrote yesterday.
Then, by the time I’ve walked, it’s later in the day and there are often other things to occupy my time (life and whatever), so writing has to take a bit of a back seat. I might only have time to make a few notes, which I’ll have to return to later in the day.
No matter what the season, I try to write at least 2000 words a day, every day. It may be part of a novel, a short story, or even a piece for this website.
I don’t always succeed but thanks to days where the ideas are flowing I manage to average more than that over a calendar year.
Lately, as well as being able to work earlier as the summer approaches, my scribblings have also been more focused on content for my Medium account.
In a new departure for me, I’m discovering the joy of writing responses to prompts. These are short pieces based on whatever ideas pop into my head when I see a few words or a picture that someone has posted. Although not all of the prompts I see get a reaction, sometimes I might be inspired enough to do three or four short stories in a week.
With less editing required than for full-length novels or series, this type of writing is increasing my daily word count.
And it’s widening my style. As well as flash fiction and short stories, I’ve even written some poetry. I’ve found that it’s good to operate outside your comfort zone every now and then.
So, perhaps the season isn’t the only thing that affects my output.
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Until next time.
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Lela Markham
Not an early riser, but I discovered this year that I write best when there are other people in the house. I’ve never had a time in my life until this last summer when I was completely alone or didn’t have to screen out the screams of children. My mom had an in-home daycare when I was in high school and college and then later I had my own children. Or my husband. But this summer, I had the house to myself and I struggled to focus. Which is weird. But now I have renters and they and their dogs provide plenty of noise, which for some odd reason, helps me to focus. They were — at first — “Sorry to interrupt you.” I think they now believe me that they really aren’t.
Richard Dee
I used to have music on, all the time, whatever I was doing. Now, I can’t listen and write.
Stevie Turner
I tend to be outside more in the summer, and prefer to write in the winter. Now I’m retired I don’t get up very early anymore and go on those 5:30am exercise runs. I go out about 8:30am for an hour’s walk and often think up plots then.
Richard Dee
I enjoy the solitude, in summer the area is filled with people on holiday and I like to get around before they wake.
P.J. MacLayne
Interesting that you spend less time on editing for a short piece. I get so caught up minor details I think my editing time actually increases.
Richard Dee
I can self edit short pieces as I go. The biggest problem is resisting the urge to turn them into longer ones. Novels require a lot more time and effort, I like to get second opinions on them.
Samantha J Bryant
I love writing to prompts as well. It puts the play back into the work. @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
Richard Dee
They are such fun, aren’t they? You never know what will come out when you let your mind run free.