…I will drink if I am thirsty or eat if I am hungry. However, that requires me to be enough aware of my body to know if I need food and enough in reality to remember long enough to do something about it. This isn’t a problem if I’m procrastinating, but my husband has been known to make me tea and set snacks in front of me so I won’t have to interrupt the ink flow to do it myself.
…TV is a death sentence. Music sometimes helps me focus and sometimes destroys my focus. It can’t nag pull my attention away from my story. If a character I’m writing has a favorite artist or genre, listening to that helps me get in their heads and find the atmosphere of the story. I’ve listened to a lot of Japanese music while working on my Japan-set urban fantasy novel. When in doubt, silence is golden.
…I can’t wait for inspiration. With so many stories in my head, there’s always something for me to do. I try to write every day because bad things happen when I don’t (see this post). And I save EVERYTHING.
Why do I save EVERYTHING?
So glad you asked.
When I first write something, my perception is skewed. Something I think is amazing and wonderful, I come back to it later and discover it’s really crap. And sometimes a bit I thought was awful and should never again see the light of day turns out to be mind-blowingly spectacular. I can’t trust my initial impressions of my own work.
Thanks for awesome questions, Phil!
Melissa Burkart 
U’re quite welcome, & thank U 4 sharing 4 sharing your insights, 1n2 your creative process! l’d reciprocate, but l figure b4 l do so, it would probably be best if l had something,if not published, then at least something finished (even if it was just gathering dust) That said, l’ll share this much, l guess. l’ve been unemployed 4 over a year now, & a 4mer coworker of mine, we kind of caught up w/ what each other was doing. l told him that l was still looking 4 work, & that w/o finding any, l was off n on dealing w/ frustration, & that melancholy tended 2 be the pillow that l rested my head on, most nights (ok ok, maybe l didn’t wax on quite so faux poetic) That was the gist of it, however.
Anyhoo, my ex-workmate had mentioned remembering me drawing, as l was waiting 4 the work bell 2 sound off, and since he was an artist in his own right, his suggestion was, all these tangled up, melancholic feelings that l’m having, turn them in2 creations on paper. l didn’t have the heart 2 tell him, that my mind just doesn’t work like that. ln fact, l’m envious of anyone who can translate whatever emotion that they’re going thru, in2 something that can be reproduced on paper, or canvas. l tend 2 be one that has 2 go thru what l have 2 go thru, & when the dust settles, then “create”.
My apologies, M.J.! While l’m not noted 4 my brevity, l really try not 2 prattle on like a parrot stuck in a room w/ a hundred running tape recorders. Anyway, if u’ve made it 2 this point, thank u again, 4 responding 2 my (?’s), and 4 the shout out! 🙂
Everyone has a different approach to their art. Maybe that’s how he finds inspiration for his. All I know is that when depression hits, I can’t write. Sure, later on the experience may fuel some story detail, but in the middle of it all? Not a rainbow-farting unicorn in sight.
Unemployment is rough. I don’t know how you’ve retained your sanity so long, and I certainly wish you good luck for the future.
(Also, everyone has their own approach, as I said. Wherever you are on your artistic journey your approach is no less valid than anyone else’s. So please, feel free to share!)
Thx 4 the kind words. As 4 my sanity, l try 2 keep in mind; Every day above ground, is better than a day below it. Btw,..l loved the story about the dragon, although many or the commentors on that vid, seemed 2 think that it wasn’t up 2 the standards that Blender had been known 4.l thought it was exceptional.(though sad)