How do you stay focused to write a story?

[Le Jacquelope]

I find it hard to just sit down and not be distracted by things around me, so I can just pound out a story.

I'm sure others have this problem, too...

 

[Bobmi357]

If you're doing a short sex story there really isn't much to concentrate about. Longer storys (multipages) should be outlined first. This way you can go back to the outline and flesh out the story as your mood permits.

Creative writing isn't something you simply turn on and off like tap water. It can be a slow and painful process to write a longer story.

 

[Monazwx]

Creative writing isn't something you simply turn on and off like tap water. It can be a slow and painful process to write a longer story.

I second this.

Also, where do you write? Maybe you should try changing the environment if you find that
you're inspired and just cannot get anything down.

 

[CelticFrog]

I've found that sometimes getting distracted is the best thing that happens to me in various cases. For example, when I'm stuck and can't figure out where I want the story to go, even though I've done my outline (I do them for even the shortest of stories or I can't keep up with my train of thought). I'm obsessed with detail, though, and lots of times if I get distracted and start messing around with other things like the internet (oops!) or if my son wakes up from a nap or sleep, it helps me clear my mind and process the story in the back of my mind instead of the forefront.

Then again, the distractions that I don't like include my husband watching movies really loudly less than 20 feet away.

Ang

 

[sheath]

I find I write best when I am truly inspired. That usually means after making love, in the middle of the night, after a few hours sleep...I tend to wake up, walk to the computer and write out what just happened right before I drifted away.

It has worked well so far.

When inspiration strikes, go with it. Whatever it takes, go with it. You'll never be disappointed by what you come up with.

S.

 

[CelticFrog]

Random wonderment...

This is going to sound horribly cheesy but it just might work... I've done it with a stereo before, but never headphones.

Could you put on headphones with a porno-type soundrack (there are Sex-O-Rama CDs out there... bowm-chicka-bowm-bowmp music) and listen to that to cancel out other auditory distractions?

What sort of things distract you? Kids? SO? God Awful refridgerator motor that's almost as loud as the garbage disposal? Finding ways to combat distraction would be easier if you could narrow it down to what generally gets you off track.

Ang

 

[Le Jacquelope]

If you're doing a short sex story there really isn't much to concentrate about. Longer storys (multipages) should be outlined first. This way you can go back to the outline and flesh out the story as your mood permits.

Creative writing isn't something you simply turn on and off like tap water. It can be a slow and painful process to write a longer story.

Mine are usually longer stories.

And just about anything can distract me. I sit in one place at work for an hour at a time.. doing it at home isn't always my cup of tea. Unfortunately that's when I need to in order to write

 

[Parklife]

For me, I find that when I'm in the right frame of mind/mood to write, I rarely get distracted. If I'm not in the writing mindset, then distractions comes easily. So, i know if i'm being distracted, it's not the best time for me to write anyway.

But once I'm 'in the zone', I can whip through pages of a draft without being distracted in the least. This can be a bad thing though as I can pretty much forget to do everything else (eat, sleep, drink something, etc...). But, when words flow, I need to take advantage of it and let them all come out.

This tends to make writing a slow process for me as I can't just force myself to sit down and right but I know that when i'm ready, it'll just happen.

The same goes for edits of previous drafts. When the mood strikes, the mood strikes and I can do it.

Thank god I don't ever have to write for a deadline... I know i could never do it.

 

[Noor]

I listen to music without words, sometimes classical or world music, something so I lose a sense of time.

When I used to travel alot I wrote on airplanes, the engines drowned out a lot of distractions.

Sometimes I got to the art musuem, walk around a bit and then sit down and write in the cafe, or the local conservatory and write in the fern room. I prefer places without many people. Inside aquariums is good too. Quiet cafe's where I don't know anyone.
I write at the orchestra if I am moved to and there is not one around to take offense.

Sometimes I take a long walk with a small tape recorder and transcript it afterwards.

when I was younger in high school I used to write on amusement park rides like the scrambler or one of those rock ships on chains, I knew most of the operators.

If I really want to write something and am stuck, I do the 3 morning pages stuff ala cameron and also I sit down for 15 minutes a day and just write something.

I hope this helps.

 

[ldlarry52]

There is no quck fix to your problem. I, too, get distracted and become unfocused and loose interest in a story. I think you need to patiently wait for an idea that really gets the jucies flowing and your story will flow out quickly.

Also, don't get bogged down on too much detail. Get the basic story down and go back and fill in more detail.

Make sure you really are in the mood to write. For me writing eroitca is a turn on. So is reading others' stories and watching porn. What ever is turning me on that is what I do. It's all about having fun. I don't have to write, read or watch porn I do it when I am in the mood because I enjoy it.

I havn't written anything for awhile. I have several ideas and I will eventually find the time and get the mood to write them down. In the mean time I just enjoy other forms of erotica.

LDLarry52

 

[Noor]

oh I forgot, don't worry about spelling or grammer, just get the content of the story down first, after that is done then go and check it.

some stories are meant to written long hand with funky pens, even fountain pens.

Erotica is easier to write for me when listening to latin jazz at a club, at a table close enough to the band so no one walks around me.

 

[mystic_Arrival]

I have ideas that sit and perculate in my head for a few months until they can't be held in any longer. Then i seem to pull an all nighter as i get them typed up. Eventually, if that happens long enough, i end up with a novel, or a piece of trash depending how it turned out. I dont ever sit down to write without going through that process so I dont know how one would otherwise stay focussed lol.

 

[SummerMorning]

Thank god I don't ever have to write for a deadline... I know i could never do it.

Nice...deadlines are the only things that really get me writing! Don't let me be the person to tell you how horrible one feels at 3 a.m., the draft finished and time to proofread. Gakk...truly, nightmarish.

But it seems to work - at least folks tell me my articles are quite readable. We'll see what the Literotica crowd says when I get round to writing anything , since there are no deadlines here, far as I can tell...

 

[rrlr420]

story

I dont know about most of you folks, but I find myself rewriting my stories several times before I can say I like it. If I get a first draft in one sit I'm happy. Then over the next few days I'll read it and make changes until I am satisfied. I very seldom write something with only one draft.

 

[DevilishTexan]

I jus gotta be horny, but I know how ya feel. I don't write as often as I'd like because I wanna get it done and over with the first time!

 

[English Lady]

Lovingtongue...I don't fight distraction I go with it. Whenever I am writing I have my internet browser windows open too so when i get a lull in my story I can post a bit on the message boards or check my email or something. Work with the distractions,let them be and I am sure you'll find you actually write more than if you try and fight the distractions.


hope that made some sense!

 

[CelticFrog]

Going with distractions seem to work pretty well for me, too, EL...

The whole writers block thing to me makes pretty good sense for some, but with me all I really need to do is ignore writing for a few hours or something and it worms its way in. Kind of like how counting sheep or trying to get to sleep generally doesn't work but then you stop trying and suddenly you're waking up to a godawful alarm clock.

I think I've just rambled.
Ang

 

[Le Jacquelope]

English Lady: I try to work with distractions myself. But I practically fail any personally-set deadlines doing that.

I jus gotta be horny, but I know how ya feel. I don't write as often as I'd like because I wanna get it done and over with the first time!

I write when I'm horny, and then edit when I'm not.

 

[acamstar]

when you're writing a story about sex, its easiest if it's about a personal experience... because that way you can just get lost in the memory, and write from there. I just put myself back in the scene and replay it in my head, and before I know it, I've written like 4 paragraphs! If it's something I'm making up though, it's harder cuz I have to think about it more... and I usually base some of it from personal stuff in the end, anyway..

 

[Imi]

Nice...deadlines are the only things that really get me writing! Don't let me be the person to tell you how horrible one feels at 3 a.m., the draft finished and time to proofread. Gakk...truly, nightmarish.

But it seems to work - at least folks tell me my articles are quite readable. We'll see what the Literotica crowd says when I get round to writing anything , since there are no deadlines here, far as I can tell...

Thank god I'm not the only one who does that. Both in my private writing and professional ones. (It really sucks ass that I need deadlines for the professional stuff. It really gets people pissed at you, but what can I say? That's the way I'm wired.)

Keep in mind that thinking is part of the writing process. If you're distracted, the words might not be ready to come out yet. I find if I force the words, they're never right and I usually pitch them. When they come, they come fast and very rarely need much revision.

In terms of long term stories, man that can be difficult. Once I thought to do a short story that snowballed into a fan fic novel that took me 18 months to complete. But it was intricate and had a plotline that a lot of people found clever. I remember being at a Con sometime after and being asked by someone I had never met before if I was gonna do a sequel. So sometimes the time is worth taking.

 

[Frustrated49]

I just started writing a story so I'm not an expert. I write for a bit, take a break, read what I wrote, write more, I think about my ideas and where they are going during the day and I make notes for later. Since I have a job and other interests I can't just sit and write for hours at a time.....so this is the way i do it.

 

[Bobmi357]

some stories are meant to written long hand with funky pens, even fountain pens.

GAWD! If I had to write anything manually I'd probably not write it at all. I am firmly entrenched in the land of keyboards.

I do keep a notebook for jotting down notes when I'm coding a new program, but they tend to be fairly cryptic, kind of a personal shorthand.

I've written dozens of articles for my website and other online publications. But never have my hands touched a pen/pencil for that sort of writing since high school.

 

[CelticFrog]

GAWD! If I had to write anything manually I'd probably not write it at all. I am firmly entrenched in the land of keyboards.

I do keep a notebook for jotting down notes when I'm coding a new program, but they tend to be fairly cryptic, kind of a personal shorthand.

I've written dozens of articles for my website and other online publications. But never have my hands touched a pen/pencil for that sort of writing since high school.

I sympathize terribly. I don't like using a pen, but not necessarily only because I'm a computer geek... writing manually, I can't keep up with my thoughts, and at least when I'm typing I can get a word out hundreds of times faster.

Lately, what I've done is jot down a quick 'duh' plotline... by 'duh', I mean I literally wrote "Male+Female. Couch. Afternoon. Food." That was it. But I take that plotline, think for a few minutes about what I could do with that, and once I have a virtual movie running around my head with faceless, generic looking actors, I start writing. As I write, they start to take better form and shape, but they start out as nothing. With the speed my mind starts racing at, if I'm trying to WRITE write, my hand hurts and I have to stop. When I stop, I lose momentum.

So yep, keyboards are my pens of choice. Today I had to start work on a prologue that wouldn't get out of my head on PAPER (GASP!) because my SO was taking advantage of the fact that I was pacing, thinking about my idea for this prologue, to jump on the computer and play a game. Bastard...

Ang