Writing Gimmicks

Osiyo~

I was surfing the sites I like today. Should be writing, but needed to check my social networks and offer comments first. I’ve been waiting for something new for the ole blog to jump into my head, and then I had an epiphany in mid-browse. So here I am, writing as I should be—just on the wrong page and about the wrong content. It still counts, right?

How many of you out there write with music? I know, old subject, and not what I’m blogging about today, regardless of how this reads now. Hear me out before you run for the hills, or Christine Bell’s site (which is way more fun if you have to choose between the two escapes). Music is important to my writing, I’ve discovered. It affects my mood, content mood, sets a scene for me at times, like when one of those hot cowboys serenade! Yeah, I love country music best, though I listen to Katie Perry and other pop musicians. I dig 60’s music. So music is a good part of writing for me for various reasons—including blocking out hubby’s tv.

I also enjoy a writing treat. A snack I can take to the chair with me to keep my energy boosted, and my butt seated. Chocolate is a preferred snack, like the chocolate martini cheesecake I had yesterday during crits. Can you think of a better time to eat chocolate than during crits and revisions? Nope, me neither. And havta have my coffee. 

Add, to my list of writing gimmicks, friends. I have, absolutely NEED, to check in with others throughout the days, just to remind myself I’m not alone in this business. So often as a writer it tosses us into a closed room for hours of self-induced solitary confinement.  That’s where Twitter (find me @CalisaMS), Facebook/calisaselfridge, blogs, eHarlequin, various writing groups I chat with, and here-my blog- comes in. The wonderful people in the same industry boost my enthusiasm. They inspire me, whether through good writing or bad (in my opinion only), to write the best I personally can. To keep trudging forward toward publication. So I must keep them in my writing day.

But the real topic of the day—Scents. It came to me as I was not-writing-when-I-should-be today. I went to a gun and knife show in the city with hubby yesterday and—of course, why the heck not—there was a Scentsy booth smack dab in the middle of the many arms booths. My daughter had gone to a Scentsy party not long ago and gave me some of the Butterscotch. It’s not a candle, just the scented candle wax you put in a cutesy tin with a tea light underneath to melt it. The aroma goes everywhere. Hubby usually asks what I’m burning, or cooking, depending on the length of time it’s been on.

I stumbled across the scent booth at the show and stopped to ‘check it out’. No plain vanilla, my fave scent, but there were a few exotic vanillas I didn’t care for. Then, I dug in a basket and found Lavender Vanilla. I put that one to melt today and it makes me feel relaxed as I write. What a concept. 

So I’m wondering how my Christmas Berry, Cinnamon, Spiced Apple, and the other scents I normally use, affect my writing comfort. I’m now on a mission to try each at different times, maybe one a week, to see if they make me feel differently surrounded by the smells I love. Will my fave vanilla actually cause me to write less, faster, more clear-headed? Will Lavender Vanilla actually induce sleepiness by relaxing me too much? Oh, I hope not because I really like the new scent! Does Apple Spice make me hungry and I’ve just never noticed?

We’ll see what happens over the next month or two. I really enjoy my scents and have a few favorites. 

In the meantime, what does your ‘Writing Gimmicks’ list look like? What smells affect you in one way or another while writing? I really want to know if you out there use or do anything on a strictly routine—have to—basis to help you write.

Dodadagohvi~