There is no special thing I surround myself with in my work area. There is nothing special I do to try to concentrate. I have travelled around so much, so many different places and settings I've lived in, whatever is around me is fine. I only ask if anyone else is around they not talk to me but leave me mostly alone.
Just what I need; my home. I'm a major homebody, so that's all I need is my home. I also need music. Certain songs to whatever I'm writing.
Books.
The craft of writing is such a romantic endeavor--however, my romance consists of an ipod, headphones, Diet Coke and a bag of beef jerky.
Oh my word. You would probably not want to see my work space. I am a consummate collector. My typewriter is surrounded by stuffed animals, broken clocks, musical instruments, ornaments, keepsakes, souvenirs, bric-a-brac and clutter. I like to think of it as an externalisation of my mind. A vast storehouse of conflicting, synchronistic 'story-prompts'
Nothing in particular. Just need a computer that works
Noise! Which is probably a little backwards, I know. I just can't concentrate in silence, I find the small noises, like the ones your house makes - the clicks of the radiator, the ticks of a clock - really distracting. But give me some noise, either the TV or music, and I'm good to go. The same doesn't go for people, though. If there's a room full of people talking, I'll be distracted again. So I guess it's certain types of noise - background noise - that help me to concentrate.
The accoutrement of writing: dictionary, thesaurus, book of names. I don't need any type of mood enhancement, I need practical equipment to write. I might go somewhere or dream about going somewhere beautiful (someone posted a gorgeous outdoor table w/books pens, etc.,) to sit and enjoy but that's only if I'm writing non fiction, like journaling or letter writing. When I am at my desk I am working on novels or short stories. Too much stuff is distracting to me.
I like to listen to music. I created an entire set of musical pieces because I wanted to have the right music to inspire me for a project I had started, and still have not finished (http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/Music%20-%20IssaClips.htm). During the late 1980s, while visiting my brother Bill in New Mexico with my soon-to-be-wife Carrie, she and I were browsing in a bookstore in Santa Fe. Carrie picked up a book about the “lost years” of Jesus, the years the Christian bible makes nearly no comment about, from Jesus’s teen years, to his thirties, when he emerges with his fully-formed spirituality and his mission that would change humanity, both spiritually and historically. Carrie toyed with buying the book, but put it back on the shelf. As we walked around the bookstore, I realized that I wanted that book—the “lost years” of Jesus sounded fascinating.
The book I bought turned out to be a fringe book, written by the wife of a recently deceased leader of a small, unconventional loosely Christian sect. But the book introduced me to the legend of St. Issa, a man who around the time of Jesus, reportedly traveled from the Middle East to Tibet and India, who learned Hinduism and Buddhism, and then brought them back to his homeland where he was executed by local authorities for some perceived transgression. This story fascinated me. If this St. Issa was Jesus, then Christianity links East and West. With Islam’s link to Christianity, this story implies links among much of humanity’s spiritual traditions. I saw a possible novel, based on this legend. I dove into research, eventually buying over a hundred books on related subjects.
I have now read over fifty of those books, and this is still project I intend to complete one day. But I discovered that the topic of Jesus’s “lost years,” and of the true historical events of Jesus’s life, is an intensely complex subject, and I am still toying with this project, and how best to offer it. The new working title is Yeshua (Aramaic for Joshua—Jesus is the Greek version of the same name, and almost certainly not used to address the historical Jesus). I have read everything from books by scholars who argue there was no historical Jesus to those who argue for total accuracy of the Christian New Testament.
How does all this get to the music? I started reading and outlining for a novel on this subject—working title, “St. Issa.” As I said, I love to listen to music while I work. I looked for music that would bring me to the mood I wanted. I couldn’t find any music I was happy with. So, I decided to create it myself, a fusion of West and East. There are more details about the music, including clips of the music, at my website: http://www.richardwarrenfield.com/Music%20-%20IssaClips.htm.   | | |
I'm a flighty writer I record stuff into cell phones. I have a pad of paper by the side of my bed . I sit and write only on my adult projects. My childrens books have always just come to me in dreams.
BLANK walls.
As little as possible. I don't like distractions!
Actually, I don't surround myself with anything much. All I need is endless cups of tea and snacks. Concentration is a matter of time for me; after a while I just 'go into' the work and am lost to anything else. God help anyone who interrupts me, though--I get very snappy when that happens! Coming out of an extended spell of concentration feels to me like waking up. I yell at whoever 'woke' me, then yawn, stretch, blink, work the knots out of my fingers, then demand another cup of tea.
If I'm working on my laptop I just write in the living room with the TV off. Up in our little office I might have some music on. I'll always have my dictionary to hand! That's my best friend when I'm writing!
Musics. Musics can help me to focus on what I'm doing. |
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