Advice on writing...

...to my fellow bloggers and writers out there.  Everyone is different.  Everyone will have their own writing space, time, method etc.  What helps me write and gets me in the zone may be totally different to everyone else who is reading this.  However, I thought I might share with everyone what helps me write.  What sets the tone and gets me in that special zone...hope it helps anyone out there with the dreaded writers block:

1. Music - I love music.  It plays a massive part in my life.  From the moment I get out of bed to the moment I get back into bed.  Every time I write, I listen to music; writing this I am listening to the mighty Devin Townsend.  For me, it sends me to a place away from everyday life, away from the 9-5 factory job, away from the pressures of paying bills and the depression of daily news...in other words it sends me to the zone and doesn't distract me at all.  (I have a very stressful job so on my breaks and dinners, I go and sit in my car and listen to some music just to escape for that hour during the day.)  In fact, depending on what I am writing, it can be a real help.  For example, if I was writing a dark poem, I would stick on some deep heavy metal crunching music - Slayer.  If I was writing a wish washy daydream type poem, I would stick on a soundtrack score - Tron Legacy...and so on.

2. The Zone - so music sends me to the zone.  Once you are there, make the most of it.  But, for me, it is possible to stay in the zone even if you get distracted.  For example, when I write, I don't just stare at the computer screen the entire time I write...I look around a lot, I check my phone, I get up and grab a drink or bite to eat, I will even answer the phone...as long as you stay in the mindset and are determined to complete the task you have set yourself, you will stay in the zone.

3. Punctuation and spelling - forget it...at the start.  All you want to do to begin with is get your words on the page.  Punctuation and spelling can come later, words sometimes only appear once and if you forget what you wanted to write because you couldn't decide where a comma or full stop should go, then you will never succeed.

4. Rawness - embrace it.  Now this point, I know people will disagree with.  It doesn't take me long to write a poem.  As long as I am in the zone with some good music and a subject that is gripping me, it probably takes me about 20-30 minutes to write a 30 line poem.  And that is that.  I may make very minor changes - couple of words, punctuation, etc - but then to me, that is a finished poem.  I like to leave the impression of rawness and feeling in a poem because to me, that is what poetry is all about; an outpouring of raw emotion in that moment.  A poem should never be rewritten, revised, polished up, etc...it becomes less of a poem when this is done.

5. Experiment - and why not?  I would agree that you should write what you know.  But you can not and will not succeed if this is all that you do.  Experiment.  Write about things you have never done, let your imagination fly, put yourself in somebody else's shoes.  Enter competitions which give you set rules and a different subject matter every time.

6. Let it flow - read it out loud.  When you have finished whatever you are writing, read it out loud.  I believe a great poem is one that flows off the tongue and rolls around filling the air with an almost sexual tension.  Getting someone else to read it out loud also allows you to hear it.

So, to sum up:
Find something that will get you in the zone and keep you there but don't spend all day staring at the computer screen.  Get those words out of you and when they are out, don't mess about with them and drain all the emotion away.  Experiment with everything and anything and don't be afraid to try something totally new and alien and finally, it must flow from the mouth to the ear over the eyes and have that bite.

Hope this helps, now lets get to it!