What Works?

I've been thinking about the vastly different approaches to writing I and various author friends of mine use.

One writes 10,000 words a day, five days a week, no matter what. She believes in treating her writing like her day job and putting in the hours accordingly.

One has an office away from her home specifically for her writing (clearly this is an author who already sells nicely so she can afford it!). She thinks it's best to separate her home life from her writing life so she can be "all business" without any distractions.

One keeps the entire book running around in her head until three or four weeks before deadline and then pulls as many all-nighters as it takes to get it written in one shot. She thinks an author can't write every single day because you have to be living life and experiencing things to write about.

All three of these women are successful bestselling authors.

I find these different philosophies encouraging because I'm still trying to find my stride. I think I'd like to write every day, at least a chapter or, for a really crazy day, a scene, but some days the distractions of my life pull me inevitably away from my desk.

I think maybe I need a laptop. I think I should head down to the local coffee shop and park myself in the corner for a couple hours every day, plug in my ipod, and pour out the words. I find it hard to sit and write for concentrated periods of time here because something else is always demanding my attention (the laundry, the kitchen, the ridiculously large pile of ironing) and I can't seem to ignore it. Going to a coffee shop would be a way to have an "office" away from home where I could quickly get into a "writing only" mindset.

We'll see what my hubby has to say about getting me a laptop. = )