So I was listening to an interview with writer/director Peter Berg and he mentioned a writing habit where he writes in the morning as soon as he wakes up. He just wakes up and jumps into writing before doing anything else like checking e-mails or checking day's news or anything that might distract him. And it dawned on me that that's usually when I'm the most productive. After a good night's sleep and waking up before the kid or the wife, if I go straight into writing without looking at Facebook or Twitter I tend to be quite productive. So I tried it this morning and bam! I was on a roll. I only afforded myself maybe 1.5 hours but it was still a pretty decent session of pounding the keys.
Writers are notoriously ritualistic and even superstitious when it comes to writing and how they approach writing, but it's really no different than an athlete that has a lucky jersey or number or method. It's all about being in the right state of mind in the moment - triggering your "A" game on a consistent basis. Just like when I watch a movie, if I'm not in the mood to watch a certain genre, that film just may not appeal to me regardless of how good it actually is. But if all the right conditions align, even a crappy movie can be the time of my life. It's all about replicating those right conditions for weeks and months while I write a feature script. It's not easy but there is a method to the madness and that method is about being ritualistic.
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