Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "writing-habits"

I spend big chunks of my time crafting my novels. Then I paid the piper. Last Christmas, I winced at my sore, stiff neck caused by spasmed muscles. It ached enough to keep me awake in bed. So, I googled until I found an exercise regimen I like. Now I do the stretching exercises (http://tiny.cc/2gow0) three times a day, and I've had no further neck pains. Knock on wood.

Getting away from my laptop has become more difficult and challenging than when I used a stationary desktop PC. A portable laptop can go with you anywhere -- yes, in there, to. So, what's an author to do?

I constantly tinker with my schedule and vary my activities. I walk a half-hour daily. The bottom line is I don't like to sit for long bouts. Sedentary sucks in my book, if you'll excuse the pun.

Sundays find me loafing, and I don't touch anything at all to do with my novels. This one-day break recharges my batteries. In 2005 major league baseball returned to Washington, D.C., offering me the chance to rekindle my boyhood love of the pastime. We train downtown to the home games, and I listen to them broadcast on the radio.

My approach is I want to bring my A-game each day to my writing, and I take the idea of scheduling my downtime seriously.

By Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Satisfying."
The Rap Sheet/Kirkus Reviews

One of the advantages of working out of your home is the leeway to set your own schedule. Since I kick off my day at 4 a.m., sometimes I lose a little alertness, say, around 1 p.m. Catching a few zzz's (10 minutes works best for me) in the afternoon is the picker-upper.

My grabbing a cat snooze trumps fixing a pot of afternoon coffee. My rule is no caffeine after 1 p.m, or I get the heebie-jeebies at night. Believe it or not, I can gin up with a new angle to solve a problem or how to set a new scene to my work-in-progress while I drowse off.

Of course, if I'm on a hard deadline, then I don't have a choice but to forgo the power nap. Some (many) days are just like that. But ideally.

Hey, I'm not alone in my thinking. My stepfather was a big believer in power naps. Thomas Edison, Bill Clinton, LBJ, JKF, Lance Armstrong, Winston Churchill also fitted in their daytime 40 winks.

Now, if you'll [yawn] excuse me [yawn], I'll go [yawn]...

By Ed Lynskey
@edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Satisfying."
The Rap Sheet/Kirkus Reviews

Authors are ususally thought to work in their private caves, or maybe they're hanging out at jazzy cafes or in library nooks tapping away on their laptops. I thought it'd be interesting to look at the more unusual locations where authors composed their books.

#1. Anthony Trollope wrote Lady Anna while aboard a ship.

#2. Gore Vidal wrote Williwaw) when he was 19 and based in the Aluetian Islands.

#3. Herman Wouk wrote The Caine Mutiny while aboard a ship, or so one of Wouk's shipmates claims: http://tiny.cc/7v661

#4. Harry Crews wrote some of his early novels while in a sweat lodge, or so one of his colleagues told me.

#5. Cervantes is said to have wrote Don Quixote while in prison at at Argamasilla in La Mancha.

#6. The irascible Ezra Pound wrote Pisan Cantos while interred by the American armed forces after his capture in Italy.

#7. Harry Whittington, "King of the Pulp Writers," once rented a solitary beach bungalow to get away from it all and write his novels.

#8. Raymond Carver. In the notes to one of his short story collections, he wrote about using an abandoned potters' shed as his writing bower.

Happy reading to you and yours!

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union