Environment & habits

If you were asked to describe your writing process, you would probably begin by identifying your writing habits--the conditions and tools you believe you need whenever you write.

Some of these habits are formed by chance.

If you wrote an award-winning essay by secluding yourself in a quiet area of your home, with no TV, telephone, or human distraction, then you may be convinced that you need isolation, silence, and simplicity to write successfully.

If you produced a wonderful term paper or magnificent article while seated at a park bench, dogs barking and children playing in the background, you might believe you need a similar environment to write effectively.

Some writers look on their writing habits as rituals, procedures to be followed faithfully each time they write. They wear the same khaki pants, play the same classical music, and walk around the house three times before they begin.

Although many writing habits form by chance and take on the nature of ritual, most come about almost unconsciously and conform to a writer's other personal habits.

Most people fall somewhere between two extremes of working styles.

You will probably experiment with several approaches before finding the environment and habits that work best for you.

What matters is that you develop habits that enhance your concentration rather than interfere with it.

If you try to write in a distracting environment, in an uncomfortable desk and chair where the room is gloomy, you are sabotaging your ability.

Find a comfortable, quiet, well-lit spot where you are as free as possible from internal and external distractions.

Finally, you should consider that writing is both a solitary and a social act. At times you need isolation and silence to search for words that make meaning.

At other times you need community and conversation to see if your words make sense. What matters is that you find the environment and habits that work best for you.