I've always been a get-dressed-first kind of person, but it's solely so I can get out the door and go on my 1.5 hour dog walk. Once that's done, let the writing commence!
Many of my writer friends start out with a morning walk. They swear it gets the writing juices going, but it never worked for me. I do get some good ideas in the shower, often enough that I keep a pad and pen on the sink, just in case.
I may have to try that. I'll have to borrow someone's mild-mannered dog, though. My grand-dog, Sammy, is a German Shorthaired Pointer. He's used to running through the woods looking for action, so he'd never settle for a nice, quiet walk. 😏
Sep 15, 2023·edited Sep 15, 2023Liked by Ramona Grigg
Some days I write, some days I don't. Some days I edit what I write, some days I don't. Nothing's typical any more.
I don't miss my days of multiple reviews due every week for various newspapers or writing a book under contract. I think the freedom is why I've written and published 50+ essays and short stories in the last two years (and one month).
I do like coffee by my side, though, whether a Tassimo single, brewed Gevalia or a German or Dutch instant.
I don't write every day but when I do its most often like this. I've published more here at Substack than I ever did at any of my other blogs, mainly because I get feedback here. There's communication going and I don't feel so alone. It feels worth it.
If I'm writing or editing in the afternoon, it's Earl Grey tea.
It is nice to chat with people on Substack, isn't it?
I'll write every day if something is writing itself, demanding to be written, and it can be all through the day. Hopefully I can turn it off at bedtime, but if I wake up in the watches of the night with words in my head, I relish the total quiet.
Those middle of the night ideas are a crapshoot for me, though they always seem brilliant at the time. I write them down quickly, and I've finally learned to make them make sense, since I've lost many because I couldn't translate my own writing.
For me, it's not an idea, it's actual words that my unconscious has been writing while I slept. I get out of bed if it seems promising, and this is one of the essays I started at around 3am one morning: https://www.recoveringself.com/health/me-and-my-migraines
Well done, of course, and I can so relate! I've had ocular migraines off and on for years. Never any pain involved, and they're usually like twinkling lights that cover parts of whatever I might be trying to read, but one time I went totally blind.
It was the first OM and I had never heard of them before that. This one was like theater curtains slowly closing over each eye, from the outside to the inside, until all went black and I couldn't see.
My husband drove me to an urgent care clinic and they diagnosed it immediately. Of course, it began to dissipate while I was sitting in the waiting room and was gone by the time we left.
I get the twinkling lights when I read too much, but not long ago one started as I was driving alone along I-75, heading home with a couple hundred miles to go. I pulled into a fast food place and just sat there with my eyes closed until it went away. It only took a half hour or so.
Sneaky little buggers. But often they're quite pretty, now that I know they're only temporary. (At least I hope they are.)
Thanks, and I understand the scare. As my essay makes clear. I've actually published a few different essays about migraines. Everything's material, right?
Substack has restored my faith in humanity! Sounds a tad dramatic, but it’s true. I was probably one of the last people of my generation..I’m 55.. to give in and due to pressure from work, finally get a smartphone. I told people way back then, that they were tracking devices, not knowing just how right I was! Conversations invariably started with “ hello. Where are you?!”.. I always replied, and still do with an “ I’m fine.. and you?.. silence for a few seconds.. and then the conversation continues. I don’t do Facebook, but the arguments I saw on YouTube and a couple of other platforms, G+, being one, did nothing but depress me. It’s so friendly and engaging and so damned polite on Substack, that I can’t quite believe it. It’s how I thought the internet would function when it first came about. There are so many smart, helpful, encouraging people, that have taught me a hell of a lot, in what has only been a few months that I’m still taken aback. This was a great read. Long may this platform continue.👏⭐️
Usually I’m a late night writer. I stew over ideas during the day, letting them marinate., then pound away past midnight. The exception is vacation time when writing time is variable. But I’m thinking all the time. Loved your post!
LOVE. THIS. I can relate to the sit at the computer in your nightclothes sometimes (I usually get dressed by 10 a.m., but not always). Of course, I've never had a "paid" writing job (while I do sell some books, I have to spend money on marketing--gag---and try to break even. I've also been known to sometimes gift a book to a friend. I think my series books in particulars have a loyal following, which is cool. But what I love BEST is that you start your day exactly as I do ... have to do WORDLE before anything else!! Keep writing. We love to read your thoughts.
These days there's no real routine for me (full-time job, father to a three-year-old). Which can be frustrating at times, but there's only so much time in the day, and only so much energy. Last night I tried writing after I put my kiddo to bed and I just didn't have it in me. So I did my best to accept that, submit gracefully, and catch some zzz's instead.
For the day that a routine is more feasible... I've always felt better, and produced higher quality work, first thing in the morning, definitely with coffee, and most likely while wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants.
There are those days when it just isn't going to happen, and it's okay because something is always percolating in our heads, ready for that quiet time with coffee. 😏
Ramona, I have to tell you: I stay in my ridiculously casual clothes all day (until I have to go to my gym), and my routine is like this: I listen to the news while I'm brewing coffee, then I sit down to read Heather Cox Richardson's piece, and then I write for 2 or 2.5 hours. Every day, this works like a charm.
I'm sure dressing up is a "must have" for some folks to do serious work, but it is decidedly not for me!
My Westies let me write, but when i do Zoom coaching they will come into the room re-designed for Zoom and dig into the pillows on the couch and push them onto the floor,. wrestle, roll around, and have a puppy good time.
Sep 16, 2023·edited Sep 16, 2023Liked by Ramona Grigg
They are so happy to have company when we invite people over that they do a kind of floor show, wrestling, chasing each other in circles around the living room and then thundering back and forth around the house until they're exhausted. They're half-brothers and bonded much more deeply than our first two Westies, and cannot bear to be separated. When one needs to go out to the potty pen, the other races to a window overlooking it--to stay connected. It's hilarious, and very sweet.
Hi Ramona, love this post and all the responses. Just this week I have been freed from 6 weeks in a contraption on my right arm and hand, dominant side attached following shoulder surgery. A most frustrating time of wanting to put those ideas I had down on paper, write brilliantly for hours and post here on Sub. I did manage to reply to a few Subs using my lefty.
As to when or if I get dressed….sometimes . Really….have you tried pulling on your jeans with a monstrous sling on and not supposed to use you hand either?
Very good to be back at my desk and typing right handed!
It's an optional link to your presence on Notes. For example, if you're posting or commenting on Notes your readers can read everything you've posted there if you turn that feature on.
I've turned mine off. I want to be free to make inane, meaningless comments on Notes without worrying about my readers coming to my stacks and finding them!
During the pandemic, I got up at 530 every day to put in two hours of writing just for me. I would walk out to our barn where I have an office - it’s heated to 60 degrees F., but also has a wood stove if it is especially chilly. My Golden Retriever Molly would come with me. She would make me glad that there are no neighbors in the back of our property because she would always let out with what I called her Morning Bark, running around our pond barking her head off. It always made me smile. Then I would go to my office, give Moly a doggie biscuit, make a cup of coffee and get to work. That routine helped me write a book. Now Molly is gone - hit by a car last year - and I wonder if I stuck to this with such discipline because it gave me a reprieve from the pandemic or if I enjoyed that time with my sweet Molly. I miss her.
Thank you for this, Ramona and well done for doing it in your night clothes. Why not? Fashion isn't mandatory for being a writer but comfort most definitely is.
If there are rules, I fail from the get-go. I don't write every day because every day offers me life 'Outside'. Sometimes I write in bed of a morning till about 10. Mostly I head (dressed) to the couch or the window-seat when I'm ready to write (I have a dinky little portable writing table).
I have no hard and fast rule about the way I work because when it becomes a rule I become anxious and what is an undeniable pleasure (and has been all of my life), will become fraught.
I'm an indie writer, and if that means anything, it means I'm head cook and bottle washer in my own literary food van. Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way should perhaps be my song of choice. Although my terrier might say otherwise. He claims he is the Head of the Board...
They say that "Westies cannot be ignored" and it's true. Our first one would harrumph on a chair behind me while I'd be writing, then when that didn't work, sit at my side staring, and then when that failed to interrupt me, he would knock the waste paper basket against a desk leg to make me pay attention.
My writing days begins after I have gotten my house chores in order, and checked in with family members, then I am ready to check emails and comments, and work on articles for the day. It's like I have to everything in order - then I am free to write.
I, too, am most productive and creative in the morning. And that bed thing. Hard to start the day knowing you left the bed unmade. A few years ago, I started a morning meditation practice, which has also helped start the day with a focused mind.
I'm not fussy about much but I think my mom instilled that made-bed thing in me and here I am, many decades later, still feeling as if the day can't start until that one thing is done!
Bed making is required. Daytime clothes are not, except that, with full time work still taking up the largest portion of the day, I am sometimes forced to comply with the standard. That said, working for an environmental nonprofit means I can go from night to day attire without much fuss. Come to think of it, I could probably get by in my night shirt as long as the Zoom camera wasn't angled too low (ahem...!).
It sounds like you're settling into a rhythm. Maybe a broken one, but there nonetheless. I'm glad. You're inspiring, and the world can always use more of that.
Dooo eeeet! Also, now I'm also going to assume that medical professionals in scrubs are in the "bra-optional" group - something I've never considered before.
I love, love, love that you write in your nightie! It's like you just gave us all permission, so thanks for that.
I am, by far, the best in the morning. If I wake up feeling low energy I need to move my body and have a cold shower and drink tea to rev it up. Then I will write. I wear clothes but they are not nice office clothes.
Smart. But no pictures, okay?
💕
I've always been a get-dressed-first kind of person, but it's solely so I can get out the door and go on my 1.5 hour dog walk. Once that's done, let the writing commence!
Many of my writer friends start out with a morning walk. They swear it gets the writing juices going, but it never worked for me. I do get some good ideas in the shower, often enough that I keep a pad and pen on the sink, just in case.
Yes, the shower can work wonders! Something about all that rushing water must free the brain.
I found the same thing happen when I used to swim.
Wendy, I literally just posted the same answer 🐕 I swear, my dog walk does more for me than for her.
I may have to try that. I'll have to borrow someone's mild-mannered dog, though. My grand-dog, Sammy, is a German Shorthaired Pointer. He's used to running through the woods looking for action, so he'd never settle for a nice, quiet walk. 😏
Hahaha mine aren't always peaceful either. My dog is a Shepherd/Clown mix...she's a total nut and never a dull moment!
They keep life interesting!
haha, yes! My dog is just an excuse, really.
Some days I write, some days I don't. Some days I edit what I write, some days I don't. Nothing's typical any more.
I don't miss my days of multiple reviews due every week for various newspapers or writing a book under contract. I think the freedom is why I've written and published 50+ essays and short stories in the last two years (and one month).
I do like coffee by my side, though, whether a Tassimo single, brewed Gevalia or a German or Dutch instant.
I don't write every day but when I do its most often like this. I've published more here at Substack than I ever did at any of my other blogs, mainly because I get feedback here. There's communication going and I don't feel so alone. It feels worth it.
If I'm writing or editing in the afternoon, it's Earl Grey tea.
It is nice to chat with people on Substack, isn't it?
I'll write every day if something is writing itself, demanding to be written, and it can be all through the day. Hopefully I can turn it off at bedtime, but if I wake up in the watches of the night with words in my head, I relish the total quiet.
It really is nice to chat here.
Those middle of the night ideas are a crapshoot for me, though they always seem brilliant at the time. I write them down quickly, and I've finally learned to make them make sense, since I've lost many because I couldn't translate my own writing.
For me, it's not an idea, it's actual words that my unconscious has been writing while I slept. I get out of bed if it seems promising, and this is one of the essays I started at around 3am one morning: https://www.recoveringself.com/health/me-and-my-migraines
Well done, of course, and I can so relate! I've had ocular migraines off and on for years. Never any pain involved, and they're usually like twinkling lights that cover parts of whatever I might be trying to read, but one time I went totally blind.
It was the first OM and I had never heard of them before that. This one was like theater curtains slowly closing over each eye, from the outside to the inside, until all went black and I couldn't see.
My husband drove me to an urgent care clinic and they diagnosed it immediately. Of course, it began to dissipate while I was sitting in the waiting room and was gone by the time we left.
I get the twinkling lights when I read too much, but not long ago one started as I was driving alone along I-75, heading home with a couple hundred miles to go. I pulled into a fast food place and just sat there with my eyes closed until it went away. It only took a half hour or so.
Sneaky little buggers. But often they're quite pretty, now that I know they're only temporary. (At least I hope they are.)
Thanks, and I understand the scare. As my essay makes clear. I've actually published a few different essays about migraines. Everything's material, right?
I can identify strongly with unintelligible handwriting!😂
Substack has restored my faith in humanity! Sounds a tad dramatic, but it’s true. I was probably one of the last people of my generation..I’m 55.. to give in and due to pressure from work, finally get a smartphone. I told people way back then, that they were tracking devices, not knowing just how right I was! Conversations invariably started with “ hello. Where are you?!”.. I always replied, and still do with an “ I’m fine.. and you?.. silence for a few seconds.. and then the conversation continues. I don’t do Facebook, but the arguments I saw on YouTube and a couple of other platforms, G+, being one, did nothing but depress me. It’s so friendly and engaging and so damned polite on Substack, that I can’t quite believe it. It’s how I thought the internet would function when it first came about. There are so many smart, helpful, encouraging people, that have taught me a hell of a lot, in what has only been a few months that I’m still taken aback. This was a great read. Long may this platform continue.👏⭐️
I couldn't agree more. This is the place!
Fortunately, I write for fun.
Me, too. Even when I was a paid reviewer, it was a joy to work in that form, and all of my 27 books have been a treat to write.
Usually I’m a late night writer. I stew over ideas during the day, letting them marinate., then pound away past midnight. The exception is vacation time when writing time is variable. But I’m thinking all the time. Loved your post!
I wish I could write late at night, when it’s quiet and distraction-free. But my brain is fried by then.
🤣
LOVE. THIS. I can relate to the sit at the computer in your nightclothes sometimes (I usually get dressed by 10 a.m., but not always). Of course, I've never had a "paid" writing job (while I do sell some books, I have to spend money on marketing--gag---and try to break even. I've also been known to sometimes gift a book to a friend. I think my series books in particulars have a loyal following, which is cool. But what I love BEST is that you start your day exactly as I do ... have to do WORDLE before anything else!! Keep writing. We love to read your thoughts.
Yes, Wordle is so addictive. I'm glad I can only do it once a day. I'm hearing about Connections now and I don't even want to look!
Yes, thank goodness there's only one a day! My morning doesn't feel right if I don't start it with Wordle.
These days there's no real routine for me (full-time job, father to a three-year-old). Which can be frustrating at times, but there's only so much time in the day, and only so much energy. Last night I tried writing after I put my kiddo to bed and I just didn't have it in me. So I did my best to accept that, submit gracefully, and catch some zzz's instead.
For the day that a routine is more feasible... I've always felt better, and produced higher quality work, first thing in the morning, definitely with coffee, and most likely while wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants.
There are those days when it just isn't going to happen, and it's okay because something is always percolating in our heads, ready for that quiet time with coffee. 😏
Ramona, I have to tell you: I stay in my ridiculously casual clothes all day (until I have to go to my gym), and my routine is like this: I listen to the news while I'm brewing coffee, then I sit down to read Heather Cox Richardson's piece, and then I write for 2 or 2.5 hours. Every day, this works like a charm.
I'm sure dressing up is a "must have" for some folks to do serious work, but it is decidedly not for me!
Good to know I'm not alone. Thanks! We could start a new fashion line called 'Writing Wear'.
Every piece of clothing would have a bunch of words we could draw on when we need them.
Just a thought...
Can there be small senior dogs around?
My Westies let me write, but when i do Zoom coaching they will come into the room re-designed for Zoom and dig into the pillows on the couch and push them onto the floor,. wrestle, roll around, and have a puppy good time.
I love them already!
They are so happy to have company when we invite people over that they do a kind of floor show, wrestling, chasing each other in circles around the living room and then thundering back and forth around the house until they're exhausted. They're half-brothers and bonded much more deeply than our first two Westies, and cannot bear to be separated. When one needs to go out to the potty pen, the other races to a window overlooking it--to stay connected. It's hilarious, and very sweet.
Oh dude. If you ever feel up to it, please post some video of these goobers on Notes, and tag me! Would love to see that.
I have a terrific scarf filled with words.
The joy of doing something you love in bra-free abandon! Tis the best.
Aha, you've hit upon the real reason. Congratulations!
Knew it! lol I like to paint. I am absolutely never dressed for that. I can relate. 😊
😉😉😉
Let me clarify...I am “dressed” in comfy paint-splattered clothing that definitely does not include wearing a bra. End. Lol
😂🕺
😂👏
Hi Ramona, love this post and all the responses. Just this week I have been freed from 6 weeks in a contraption on my right arm and hand, dominant side attached following shoulder surgery. A most frustrating time of wanting to put those ideas I had down on paper, write brilliantly for hours and post here on Sub. I did manage to reply to a few Subs using my lefty.
As to when or if I get dressed….sometimes . Really….have you tried pulling on your jeans with a monstrous sling on and not supposed to use you hand either?
Very good to be back at my desk and typing right handed!
Oh, Bonnie! What an ordeal! The last thing you want to have to think about is wrestling with clothes.
Glad you're back where you belong! Hope it goes well. ❤️
I hear you. I've had surgery on both hands and navigating life with a cast was really frustrating.
Ramona, have another query perhaps you or others here have opinion…..NOTES!
I assumed that Substack notes on each of our sites was for us, personally to put forth ideas or questions to our subscribers….. nope, that’s not it….
So why or how use it…or not? And what about chat?
It's an optional link to your presence on Notes. For example, if you're posting or commenting on Notes your readers can read everything you've posted there if you turn that feature on.
I've turned mine off. I want to be free to make inane, meaningless comments on Notes without worrying about my readers coming to my stacks and finding them!
Ok, unclear, though where or how one turns off/on.
Thanks.
Dashboard/Settings/Navigation. Then uncheck the 'eye' at Notes.
During the pandemic, I got up at 530 every day to put in two hours of writing just for me. I would walk out to our barn where I have an office - it’s heated to 60 degrees F., but also has a wood stove if it is especially chilly. My Golden Retriever Molly would come with me. She would make me glad that there are no neighbors in the back of our property because she would always let out with what I called her Morning Bark, running around our pond barking her head off. It always made me smile. Then I would go to my office, give Moly a doggie biscuit, make a cup of coffee and get to work. That routine helped me write a book. Now Molly is gone - hit by a car last year - and I wonder if I stuck to this with such discipline because it gave me a reprieve from the pandemic or if I enjoyed that time with my sweet Molly. I miss her.
Goldens are great distractions! They’re lovable and goofy and impossible to ignore.
Thank you for this, Ramona and well done for doing it in your night clothes. Why not? Fashion isn't mandatory for being a writer but comfort most definitely is.
If there are rules, I fail from the get-go. I don't write every day because every day offers me life 'Outside'. Sometimes I write in bed of a morning till about 10. Mostly I head (dressed) to the couch or the window-seat when I'm ready to write (I have a dinky little portable writing table).
I have no hard and fast rule about the way I work because when it becomes a rule I become anxious and what is an undeniable pleasure (and has been all of my life), will become fraught.
I'm an indie writer, and if that means anything, it means I'm head cook and bottle washer in my own literary food van. Frank Sinatra's I Did It My Way should perhaps be my song of choice. Although my terrier might say otherwise. He claims he is the Head of the Board...
What kind of terrier? I have two Westies, half-brothers, who are a constant source of amazement and amusement (except when one of them is up at 4am).
Jack Russell. Dominant, funny, sweet, exasperating and feisty! Like any Chairman of the Board.
I should have guessed. :-)
They say that "Westies cannot be ignored" and it's true. Our first one would harrumph on a chair behind me while I'd be writing, then when that didn't work, sit at my side staring, and then when that failed to interrupt me, he would knock the waste paper basket against a desk leg to make me pay attention.
I love Westies looks. They’re so adorable I’d probably let them get away with anything.
Very affectionate, super intelligent, very tuned in to human emotion, and our guys LOVE watching TV.
Ah. My JRT jumps on the couch or window seat and actually draaaaags my fingers from the keyboard. Wretch!
Had one fantastic westie when I was kid. But it’s been Jack Russell terriers for me ever since. So intelligent and faithful. Especially the females!
Yes, we've had them for 48 years - love the crazy breed.
My kind of writing plan! “My way”.
Old Blue Eyes probably has a song for every part of the writing life!
My writing days begins after I have gotten my house chores in order, and checked in with family members, then I am ready to check emails and comments, and work on articles for the day. It's like I have to everything in order - then I am free to write.
My rules aren't hard and fast, except for the made bed and conquering Wordle, but I do like working in the morning best.
I, too, am most productive and creative in the morning. And that bed thing. Hard to start the day knowing you left the bed unmade. A few years ago, I started a morning meditation practice, which has also helped start the day with a focused mind.
I'm not fussy about much but I think my mom instilled that made-bed thing in me and here I am, many decades later, still feeling as if the day can't start until that one thing is done!
Ha! Now that you mention it, my mom’s the one who instilled that in me, too.
Bed making is required. Daytime clothes are not, except that, with full time work still taking up the largest portion of the day, I am sometimes forced to comply with the standard. That said, working for an environmental nonprofit means I can go from night to day attire without much fuss. Come to think of it, I could probably get by in my night shirt as long as the Zoom camera wasn't angled too low (ahem...!).
It sounds like you're settling into a rhythm. Maybe a broken one, but there nonetheless. I'm glad. You're inspiring, and the world can always use more of that.
I’m seriously thinking of scrubs. That way I could call them working uniforms. 🤣
Dooo eeeet! Also, now I'm also going to assume that medical professionals in scrubs are in the "bra-optional" group - something I've never considered before.
I love, love, love that you write in your nightie! It's like you just gave us all permission, so thanks for that.
I am, by far, the best in the morning. If I wake up feeling low energy I need to move my body and have a cold shower and drink tea to rev it up. Then I will write. I wear clothes but they are not nice office clothes.