Indie Book Club discussion

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." - Hemingway

One of Hemingway's most notable methods for writing is locking himself in his basement or pushing his boat just off shore with a typewriter and enough booze to drown a third-world country. He'd return to civilization when the booze was empty or he had a completed novel.

What I'm curious to know is - what's your extreme writing environment? All of us have that ol' standby of the laptop on the couch or the corner nook of the kitchen, and some of us may even have a dedicated office or study. But is there a place, a method, or some other thing you do when "causal writing" just isn't enough and you want to crank out an impossible literary goal? Or have you ever "Pulled a Hemingway" and locked yourself in a room for a day (or longer) with nothing but your vice, your thoughts, and a laptop or pad of paper?

Ipad w/ bluetooth keyboard, in my car in Phoenix (I'm in Havasu), waiting for my wife to finish with her work-related stuff. I'm sitting in the back seat pecking away on that small keyboard 'cause inspiration struck. Did a chapter and a half that way last year.

I don't really have any "extreme" writing environments now, unless sitting on the couch with a Pug constantly putting his paw on my keyboard, counts. In the vein of Big J's reply, though, I used to write one handed while my newborn son (this was two years ago now) slept on my arm.

When I'm finishing a book, I either check into a hotel for a day or camp out at the library all day and write until it's done:-)

Thank you Jewel for being one of the extremes. I personally will shut myself away from all life for a day. No phone, no internet, no human interaction. I just lock myself away for a good 12 to 14 hour shift, until my eyes are bleary and my brain is mush. I don't do this often - but once in a while I just need that solid day of "me and my writing" time.

My extreme method used to be that I would lock myself in my home and not answer the phone, but that was when I lived alone. I really need to start using the hotel room method!
I suspect that random distractions while I'm caught in a writing fever have added 8 points to my blood pressure.

Wednesdays have been a really good day to write for me. Two hours in the evening. From 7-9pm. And then again on Thursday evenings for another hour.

I can't stand American Idol... :)

Tuesday evenings. The wife watches Glee, and I make myself disappear for an hour to write in silence...

LOL! Thankfully my wife doesn't care for that show. I honestly thank my lucky stars. But, it's damn-near as bad with American Idol. Drives me nuts.

So, whenever she wants to watch that stuff I pull out my laptop and work on the latest chapter. Thankfully I can tune out most anything.

Charles wrote: "Thank you Jewel for being one of the extremes. I personally will shut myself away from all life for a day. No phone, no internet, no human interaction. I just lock myself away for a good 12 to 1..."

And then party when it's done. For my family, that is the best part of Mom being an author:-)

I've sat myself on a mountain top for some quality writing...but that's probably about as extreme as I've gone. Not quite the same as locking oneself in their room all day, but I have to say it probably has better air. Rangers tend to frown at pulling any Hemingways up there, though. I can only surmise whiskey and nature are not friends. All things phone and internet related have a tendency to die about half-way up, though, so you can certainly bid farewell to distraction.

I'm going to consider sitting atop a mountain to write probably the most epic location I've ever heard of. It's not as self-destructive as "Pulling a Hemingway", which is about as close to a mountain as I've ever achieved, so hat's off to you good sir.

For some reason Panera is my place to go. I have finished three books there. One in a nine hour writing session. As far as extreme I guess I do have to combat not eating 17 loaves of bread while writing. But...other than that. It is the place I hunker down and write it out. Maybe them limiting internet connection is the draw...no distractions.

Lorena

If I really need to focus on my reading or writing I wait till the wife and kid are in bed then venture to the basement for a late night session. It's pretty amusing when I take a backpack loaded with snacks, energy drinks, books, my kindle, and the iPad downstairs.

I'm so glad we're not a self-mutilating bunch of artistic authors. I keep expecting that one person to say "Oh for that boost of creative energy I drop acid into both my eyeballs and drink a gallon of 151 proof, then write a whole novel while in recovery at the hospital." Go us!

Scott wrote: "If I really need to focus on my reading or writing ..."

Hah! So you do write after all! I knew it! IknewitIknewitIknewit!! :)

Jeffrey wrote: "Scott wrote: "If I really need to focus on my reading or writing ..."

Hah! So you do write after all! I knew it! IknewitIknewitIknewit!! :)"

By writing I meant when I get behind on reviews. Still no original or unoriginal stuff coming from me.

Oh. Phooey!

I don't hide when I'm writing. I make everyone else leave.

Steve wrote: "I don't hide when I'm writing. I make everyone else leave."

Awesome.

Steve wrote: "I don't hide when I'm writing. I make everyone else leave."

"I am commandeering this land in the name of writing. I shall call it...this land."