Five Tips for Getting in the Writing Mood

Happy June everyone!! I am both excited and a little anxious for this month... Excited because the twenty one pilots concert is at the end of the month and because my college class starts at the end of the month too (while also being a little anxious about it as well haha). Honestly, I don't know why I'm feeling a little off about this month... Maybe just cuz it feels like there's going to be a lot going on... I have an over the phone adviser meeting tomorrow and am helping at my church's VBS from 8 to 3 Monday through Friday next week. It'll be good but it's still a little daunting to think about :o

But anyways! There's been this weird trend going on right now in my life. Just in the past week I've watched several live videos and authortube videos and read blog posts (most all of them about pantsers or having to do with pantsers in some way) and they all have included, well, pantser stuff but also how to stay in a writing mood.
No one has mentioned how they get into the mood to write specifically but in almost every occasion it has been brought up and I just thought it was interesting because I've seen several similarities between all of them. Like almost all the writers have said a variation of the same thing. So, I thought I'd share cuz I mean if enough people are doing it then there must be something to it, right?

Before I begin though, I've decided for the month of June that I will dedicating all my posts to pantsers. So I'm going to talk about how to plot for pantsers, how to write/plot a series for pantsers, how to stay more organized without losing your inherent writing by the seat of your pants talent we all have. I feel like this topic can apply to anyone, plotter, pantser or plantser so I thought it would be a good way to start out this month.

So without further ado, here are five tips to getting into the writing mood:

1. Listen to your WIP/character playlist. I heard almost every writer over the past week say something about this. How creating a playlist that captures your WIP or MC's vibe and then listening to it before and during your writing session helps get you in the mood. For me, creating a playlist for my WIP is essential and one of the very first things I do when I start a new project. I don't know if anyone else takes it this far, but when I'm in the middle of drafting and editing and all that, my WIP's playlist is the only playlist I listen to. Right now I have the playlist for TLO memorized. Like I know when every song will come in the playlist and if I put it on shuffle my brain is like wait... that song isn't supposed to come next. It just keeps me in the headspace of TLO all day and helps me get into the right mood and vibe when I sit down to work on it. 
2. Use the same candle/or drink when writing. This I thought was really interesting. Brittiny mentioned it on her instalive video. How she burns the same candle or drinks the same kind of beverage while she writes and that gets her head into the right space to work on her story. I just found this really interesting because when you combine this with the music one above, you realize how much all five senses impact your mood to write. How much you use your senses to create an atmosphere to write. So like if you listen to the same playlist while writing your book every day, then eventually if you do it enough times, just listening to a few of the songs on the playlist will instantly get you into the writing mood. The same can go for candles or drinks. I personally am not a big fan of candles, I know *gasp* a bookworm who doesn't own candles :o;) but I am a big fan of tea. I've realized over the past few days that it really helps me to get into the writing mood to have a cup of tea to drink. I don't know, it just makes me feel cozy and more comfortable and I guess more like aesthetically happy which then lets me relax more and write. 
3. Clean writing space. I don't know about you guys but once my room hits a certain point of "messy" I just cannot do anything or focus on anything until it is clean. My room doesn't get super messy but my desk gets easily cluttered with stuff and the end of my bed, which is right next to my desk, is often full of books and notebooks and papers that I use when I'm writing. It just makes me feel like, I don't know if claustrophobic is the right word, but just unable to focus when there's so much clutter all around me. You may thrive in messy environments and if so that's great! You do what works for you. For me, I don't mind some organized chaos. I'm pretty sure half my room is a little bit of organized chaos. But my desk almost always has to be at least semi-clean and clear of junk or clutter. So if your finding that you just can't get into the mood and you can't focus on your writing, try cleaning up a little and see if that helps. 
4. Visual inspiration. The first two things I do when I start a new story is make a Spotify playlist and a Pinterest board. Again with the five senses, visual inspiration can be so important. As writers, we create our characters and worlds through words. The right descriptions can paint beautiful and vivid portraits of our story but I find that having some visual inspiration (especially one that is aesthetically pleasing) is super helpful. For Dream Girl (my novella I'm working on) the Pinterest board has been invaluable. Like I've referred to that thing so much! It just gives me that extra boost and is just so pretty and fun that when I go through my pins I almost always feel instantly inspired and ready to jump into the project.  
5. Comfort. I can't write in jeans or dresses or shoes. I can't write in normal clothes that people wear outside. I can only write in my pajamas and my very comfiest clothes. Find out what your most comfortable in and wear that while writing. To me writing is supposed to be comfortable and cozy. Writing is my passion, the thing I love so when I write I want to be absolutely comfortable. If I'm not... I can't write. At all. I can't focus either. So if you're comfiest in your ratty old t-shirts or tank tops and pajama pants or in your yoga pants and sweatshirts where them! 

For me, I guess what I'm saying is, I feel in the writing mood the most when my surroundings are aesthetically pleasing. It doesn't happen like that all the time. I just said up there that my room often is thrown into organized chaos. But there are some times when I just want the like perfect Instagram filtered picture of writing. You know when you have your cup of tea, are in your comfy clothes and have your colored pens and notebooks nearby. Just having my desk all set up like that makes me have a boost of energy and puts me in the writing mood. All because I have a cup of tea and my notebooks and everything is tidy and what I consider to look like the perfect writing environment. So find out what environment is aesthetically, artistically pleasing to your writer soul and go with that. If coffee shops make you have that same boost of writerly energy then type away at coffee shops. If its the library surrounded by books then write there. If it's in bed then write in bed! I guess technically this could be considered a sixth point but I feel like all five things above sort of pointed toward this image in my head of the perfect writing environment. 

I just found it really interesting how much the five senses impact our inspiration and drive and mood to write. Like I never even thought about it but after listing all five of these things I was like yeah I can see that... It makes total sense. Especially the music/candle/drink thing. I don't know all the technical, psychology words but the memory part of the brain can be triggered by sound and smell and taste. So when you link a particular song or smell or taste to your story, it triggers this sudden inspiration and mood to work on it. I don't know... I just thought that was an interesting thought. 

Have a great week everyone! 

What do you think? What are some tips or tricks you use to get into the writing mood?