Because I don't want to feel like the only one...I don't want to feel like the only weirdo

but does anyone else do anything weird when they write? such as weird rituals, or only using a specific pen and nothing else? or maybe you have superstitions about your writing? What things do you do that help the writing process, even if it means it might seem strange to someone else?

I talk to myself. A lot. And not quietly. Out loud. I have full on character conversations and dialogue. Sometimes, I'll even take ON the role of a character while I sit, to get a better understanding of what they would do in any given situation...real world or story world or otherwise. I'll argue. I'll debate. I'll talk about my story out loud to work out plot, or to explain plot further. "She's only agreeing with her so it will shut her up, but come on. Deep down? Dude, deep down she's totally raging. Like, the kind of raging that would spark a dumpster fire just by looking at it! How can you NOT rage! Like...I can't even!"

Which, I guess is fine if i am by myself in my office...but sometimes I go write in public and I don't realize I have been talking out loud and when I realize it "Oh god! They must think i am a nut!!"

Another weird thing for me is the type of keyboard i use. I CAN use my laptop keyboard, but I've always had a sensory love for pressing buttons since i was a kid (Probably related to my ADHD), and certain keyboards give me pleasant shivers when the feel of the keys clicking... just... feels... so... right. I feel like I can type faster. My favorite key boards being old mechanical ones (old IMB, or the hella old apple keyboards.) or the way register keyboards feel (register...as in, the ones at stores).

When my in-law's were downsizing their home so they could move, they had SO many keyboards from the Video Villa stores they used to own (anyone remember those)...and hubby would look at me as if to say "NO! BAD DOG!" when i'd want to take another keyboard home. We have 6 keyboards. 8 if you count the 2 my husband has. And i'm always testing out keyboards at goodwill (yeah yeah, keyboards there are gross, I know)

I have an obsession with keyboards. oops.

So, please come be weird with me so I don't feel like a complete oddball!

Haha, I have a 2002 Apple Pro keyboard with the clear plastic enclosure. I'm certainly not as obsessive about keyboards as you are,but I certainly like the feel of big, solid keys. There's also something about the clakitty-clak sound that I enjoy.

I like to have Brownie nearby when I write :-)

Whitey wrote:Haha, I have a 2002 Apple Pro keyboard with the clear plastic enclosure. I'm certainly not as obsessive about keyboards as you are,but I certainly like the feel of big, solid keys. There's also something about the clakitty-clak sound that I enjoy.

right!! It's nostalgic, it's what i grew up with...these new fangled keyboards now a days are too quiet. Plus, i like to hear my loud typing because I type pretty fast so hearing the keys go at warp speed (engage!) makes me feel like some kind of typing super hero. Makes me feel like I am getting my novel done faster even if typing faster leads to more mistakes.

So, when you go to write in public...no one stops to question why a grown man has a stuffed doggie with him as he types? LOL! Sometimes, i'll bring some kind of stuffed plush when I go write...but more often than not, it ends up distracting me because I'll want to squeeze it or play with it.

Amazingly, I have never been questioned.

Or maybe I'm just so engrossed in my own writing that I don't notice people giving me strange looks ;-)

In actuality, I only write out when we have a NaNo write-in; and we encourage others to bring their stuffed animals with them too (as an ice breaker). :-)

I can touch-type really fast on a QWERTY keyboard, which is great, since it's, y'know, the standard. An entire day of hand-writing takes very little time to type--anything from about two minutes (with the sort of days I've had so far this year) to maybe around forty-five minutes to an hour (on a day when I go to multiple write-ins).

But my left ring finger inevitably feels like it's just hanging there, not doing nearly enough, just HOVERING. And it drives me nuts. To the point that it's actually kind of painful. So, whenever I think of it, I try to use more S's and W's, and even X's if I can help it. So when I'm feeling indecisive about a word, or having a hard time naming a character, place, or (yesterday) horse, I go with the one that will require more effort from that left ring finger. Nothing tickles my fancy like typing a whole bunch of s-based alliterations.

I have previously gotten VERY hung up on using EXACTLY the same pen until the ink runs out, but my pens all tend to look alike, and I no longer have the brain power available to keep track.

Regarding talking to myself and getting in my characters' heads... oh yes. Granted, I do so silently, and not always while I am actually WRITING... It's more likely to happen while I'm brainstorming. But don't be deceived. The fact that I talk to myself silently does not make me seem any less crazy to passers-by. I am very, VERY expressive when I silently talk to myself as my characters, but I don't realize it. So for instance, once, I was pacing around the back yard, searching for dog poop to pick up, and I was planning out a scene while I did so. Apparently, my mother was inside, watching me, and kept looking around to try to spot the person I was having such an intense conversation with.

Also, when I need to create a new player to play through one of my computer games again, I play as my characters. Some of them are very competitive, some are more lackadaisical... It makes it really interesting when I look back at the high scores and see characters from entirely different stories, set in entirely different worlds. (It also makes it really exciting when I actually play as myself and I beat one of "their" scores. Why yes, I do occasionally compete against my own fictional characters... is that weird?...)

TogetherAgain wrote:. . I am very, VERY expressive when I silently talk to myself as my characters, but I don't realize it. So for instance, once, I was pacing around the back yard, searching for dog poop to pick up, and I was planning out a scene while I did so. Apparently, my mother was inside, watching me, and kept looking around to try to spot the person I was having such an intense conversation with.

I just discovered last night, that I do similar. I notice that I might act out a character's movements to get a sense of what they are doing in a given moment. Are they brushing hair out of their eyes? Are they placing a fist under their chin or is it a finger? Did they roll their eyes? or maybe just tilt their head back in exasperation?

I found i did this because i wasn't sure if that certain action looked normal for that situation and i had to act it out.

and considering my story also has magic...and this magic often uses hand gestures...I am sure if i am not conscious about it in a public space...resting my hand on my chin like I am thinking about something might seem perfectly normal, but then when i start doing crazy "scarlet witch" hand and arm movements...some people might look at me like the weirdo i am! LOL!

I'M NOT A WEIRDO! I JUST NEED TO K NOW HOW HE'S OPERATING HIS MAGIC!

OH! and one last weird thing i HAVEN'T done but seriously am conscidering...now that my toddler is older and would have fun with them:

Those washable shower crayons. Not only can I use it when I get a random shower thought for my novel, but then the kiddo can have fun during bath time. I mean, think about it. How often do you get that random thought but "I HAVE NO WHERE TO WRITE THIS DOWN!" and by the time you do, you forgot what the thought was