Writing Routines

Lots of writers I know have different routines to get into the headspace for writing. And for every different genre, every different person, there's a different kind of routine. Some take showers, some start early in the morning before the world wakes up, some start late at night when everyone else has gone to bed. Some listen to a certain kind of music, or put on a certain hat or outfit, some have totems, some have to be at a desk or at a busy bar with their laptop.

I personally love writing later in the day through to the evening. I'll light a candle, and if it's quiet in the house I might put on some music, but if it's not quiet or I'm editing, I'll listen to white noise on my headphones that cancel outside distractions. I'll make a cup of hot tea or coffee, or maybe hot chocolate, and some nights, I might crack open a bottle of something alcoholic to completely unwind my brain.

Some writers leave their writing in the middle of a sentence so it's easy to pick back up the next day. I personally can't do that because of my OCD need to end a scene before I turn off my writing for the night but I can jump around from scene to scene in no particular order. I might start a book in the middle or at the end and work backwards. Just because you're writing a book doesn't mean you have to do it in order! Part of the fun for me is when you join a couple scenes together that weren't linked before. That's the best feeling.

So tell me, what activities do you start in the middle or at the end? Do you eat dessert first? Do you read the newspaper starting at the last page, or ask someone who the killer is in a movie instead of watching it to the end? Let me know in the comments.