Note From Tongal: “Roundtable Interview: Writers on Their Habits and Routines" is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
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In an effort to learn more about our writer friends and their work habits, we asked the same five questions to the following group of writers:
Laura Jean Leal (Netflix’s The Punisher)
Ryan Parrott (Hulu’s Chance)
Margaux Froley (Complex Networks’ In The Vault)
Bo Belanger (Netflix’s Richie Rich)
Cynthia Adarkwa (Complex Networks’ In The Vault)
Alex Raiman (SyFy’s The Magicians)
Megan Green (Indie film screenwriter)
Jay Gard (SyFy’s The Magicians)
What time of the day do you find yourself the most creative and focused?
Laura Jean Leal: Daylight hours.
Ryan Parrott: If I'm being honest, I actually feel being creative can be the opposite of being focused sometimes. If I had a nickel for every time I came up with some new idea when I was supposed to be working on something important, well... I'd be a much better writer by now. But to answer your question, I think I'm probably most creative right before bed. I usually scribble down some fix or idea or line right before settling in. And, in contrast, I'm usually most focused in the morning. There's a sweet spot of about two or three hours after coffee and before lunch when I can usually stay on topic.
Margaux Froley: Always in the morning. First thing before I’ve dealt with emails. There’s very rarely anything that demands my attention before noon (except my toddler) but once she is dressed and out the door to school, I am back at my computer for the most productive and creative piece of my day. I save more shallow work for afternoons, after toddler bedtime. I’ll usually work on my own stuff from 10am - 2pm. Take a lunch break. Dive back into general admin stuff, or my teaching in afternoons 3 - 5pm. And maybe any additional reading or student work from 7 - 9pm.
Bo Belanger: Mornings. Right when I wake up.
Cynthia Adarkwa: At night but I also like to sleep so you see my struggle.
Alex Raiman: 10am - 6pm is normally the most efficient time for me as a writer, in terms of banging out pages or executing a targeted rewrite... But the best ideas come between the hours of 2am and 6am. Delirium is a powerful tool...
Megan Green: In the morning. My brain shuts off around 2pm so I usually try to get right to work between 7 and 8am so I can get a few good hours in.
Jay Gard: The moment I wake up or the middle of the night. Mild exhaustion helps keep my defenses down and self doubt at bay.
Where do you like to work?
Laura Jean: Home or office (if I have one).
Ryan: I've actually developed some stranger writing habits. I usually start at a coffee shop, just to get out of the house and have some semblance of a routine. I'll write there on my computer for 2 or 3 hours, then if I hit a story snag or just feel restless, I'll go for a walk... either to another coffee shop or home or whatever. And I swear, nine times out of ten, I come up with something on that walk that's better than what I was just writing or fix a problem I didn't know was a problem.
Margaux: Home. Our loft is our office and I sit in a big recliner chair and make it happen from there.
Bo: Coffee shops. Prefer the energy being around other people vs. alone at a desk in an apartment.
Cynthia: My bed/my couch or a coffee shop.
Alex: Once a project is fully fleshed out, I prefer to write from a laptop on my couch at home. But my most productive brainstorming sessions come from going on long drives by the ocean.
Megan: In my home office. I get distracted in public spaces.
Jay: I have to rotate between my desk, my bed, my couch, standing at the kitchen counter, etc. The moment I get distracted (usually by the internet), my workspace transforms into a procrastination space and it’s time for me to find a new spot to hunker down.
Are you listening to music or watching anything while you write?
Laura Jean: Music if there's outside noises beyond my control I'm trying to drown out.
Ryan: I almost always listen to music when I write. Anything by Max Richter. Sometimes obscure movie scores or those epic music medleys on YouTube. I can write to pretty much anything... as long as it doesn't have lyrics. They're too distracting. I just want a beat to keep me going without thinking about it. Sorta like running.
Margaux: Definitely not watching. I can listen to some music in the background, or if I’m really solving story problems, I can’t have music. But sometimes even just the act of putting in earbuds helps turn on my focus. I also light incense while I write because I heard in Bali it helps connect your thoughts to a higher channel -- so if that helps, great! It does signify to me that the mental fires are burning.
Bo: Music. Lyrics are okay in early stages but when writing dialogue, [I] prefer classical or other forms with no lyrics.
Cynthia: I listen to movie scores. Right now I'm listening to Us, Phantom Thread and A Simple Favor.
Alex: If there's something on the TV while I'm writing -- nine times out of ten it's Lord of the Rings. And if there's music playing, it's never anything too lyric-heavy, as I find that distracting when I'm writing dialogue. I'll usually pick a film score that fits the project I'm working on and sort of just let Hans Zimmer, Trent Reznor, or John Williams score my writing sessions.
Megan: Usually no. I find music distracting. The exception is with dialogue passes, when it can be helpful to have some instrumental music playing that lines up with the tone I'm going for.
Jay: Films inspire me to start writing, but I get too sucked into them to write and watch at the same time. So I listen to music. If it’s an album I know well, the lyrics won’t distract me, but usually I turn to film and video game soundtracks. Something epic enough to be motivating, but ambient and repetitive enough to fade into the background.
How many days a week do you write? And do you judge a work session by pages, scenes, or hours?
Laura Jean: 4 - 5 days. And I judge a work session by pages.
Ryan: Right now, because of my complete inability to hit deadlines, I have to write seven days a week. Not all day, sometimes just a few hour block here and there... and I find I can't do any more than that without needing to get up. When I'm writing comics, I usually break it down into daily pages. When it's TV or film, it's a little more like scenes or beats... depending on how good my outline is.
Margaux: Definitely Monday - Friday. Weekends are tough because of having a toddler -- but I do love an afternoon to be able to take two hours and get pages done on a Sunday. When I’m on pages, I try to get through 3 pages a day, bare minimum. If I get an act done in a day, I’ll be okay with stopping for the day.
Bo: Six. Need a day off. I judge a session by hours. I'm happy if my butt is in a chair for a few hours a day writing. Although maybe I'd be more productive by pages.
Cynthia: Not enough days, but at least 3. I judge a work session by page count. I like to walk away with at least a solid 3-5 pages per work session. I usually can't work more than 2 hours at a time. I'm complicated.
Alex: There is not a single day that I'm not either typing out a document or actively taking time to brainstorm my next project. And if there is a day on which I don't work, you can bet I'm not happy about it. I will retroactively delete work sessions from my calendar if they're not productive enough, so I'd say that, to a nearly psychotic degree, I only judge a work session by the results -- in completed scenes, not pages.
Megan: Ideally 5 days a week but 2 is more realistic with other commitments. I usually judge by some combo of pages and hours. Like whichever comes first. I try not to beat myself up if I don't make a specific goal in a given day as it generally harms my productivity in the longer term if I'm too rigid.
Jay: I don’t have a regular writing routine, but when I’m writing, it’s to the exclusion of all else. The process is a consuming, full-time marathon. Of course it takes me time to ramp up to full fervor, so the first few hours (or days) of any writing session gets spent doing nothing while I work up the focus, nerve, and creative energy to put something on the page. That’s why for me, scene or page count is a more accurate representation of my productivity than hours spent in front of the computer.
How do you get out of a rut when the usual routine isn't working?
Laura Jean: Exercise or move around.
Ryan: I trick myself into writing by breaking my pattern. I'll write an email to a friend explaining the problem (which I never send), take a notepad somewhere and just write everything by hand. Or drive in my car, do the scene in my head, then pull over someplace and type it in my phone. Anything but sit in front of my computer. Letting go of the format can really free you up sometimes.
Margaux: I work in a new place -- go to a coffee shop. Go to the library and pick out a random non-fiction book I would never read otherwise. Whatever it is, I make a point to go back and find a connection with my project -- go back to that original spark of what drew me to that project in the first place. If my routine isn’t working, generally it isn’t my routine -- it’s a mental choice or block that is taking me out of the connection with the project. Short answer -- if I have made the stakes of a specific project more important to me than the stakes for my characters within that project, then it’s going to be too hard to write. Go back into it, meditate, connect with the character and up their stakes -- take me out of the equation.
Bo: Talk with people. Try to get out of my own head. Take a break too, let the subconscious do some work.
Cynthia: When my usual routine isn't working I work in a new place like the library, or even outside in a park. Fresh air/walks help too.
Alex: I call someone smarter than me, explain the problem I'm faced with, and pray they come up with a solution that I didn't think of. And either they come up with a brilliant solve -- or even better, they help me take a breath, and help me figure it out for myself.
Megan: I try to change my methods. Sometimes I'll even write by hand for a day or so and then transcribe it into Final Draft. Just making a change in my working process can help. Sometimes I'll try to go work in a public space just to change things up but that's rarely helpful. On rare occasions when I can swing it I love to have a mini retreat for myself where I'll go to a cabin for a few days just to focus on writing.
Jay: If I’m not on deadline, I say "forget it” for the day, and watch something comfort food-y to remind me not every word has to be brilliant. And for when a deadline’s looming? Well, that’s what writing partners (or friends!) and phones are for.
