Thursday, July 1, 2010

Writers: Snack-crazed or what??

Okay, so last week I revealed the formula for writing. Remember that? Well, a whole bunch of you writerly types started throwing things at me, even though I asked you very nicely not to. And I noticed some themes...

Here's what writers (apparently) need to write:



Piedmont Writer said...
You forget the list of handy dandy chocolate snack thingy's right by the edge of the desk.

Jen said...
I think you definitely nailed it, however it doesn't always seem that easy... when the words don't flow I find adding a glass of wine (at a decent hour of course!) helps loosen the words!

Jonathon Arntson said...
I am just so offended Elana. After years and years of working on my writing, surviving because of one product and you insult my Diet Dr Pepper by calling it Coke?! I go with the real professionals' supplement. Hmph.

Meredith said...
That's basically it, for the first draft, at least. Butt in chair. That's the only way I get anything done. But chocolate-covered pretzels help.

Kristi Helvig said...
The only thing you're missing is the chocolate. I can't write without it. :)

JEM said...
I think you're forgetting the copious amounts of coffee and chocolate. Or Diet Coke and Twizzlers, if that's your thing.

Dammit, I just remembered the pretzel M&M's. Why am I not at a grocery store right now?!?

SWK said...
Yeah. Haven't heard of a better way :) In my case, kinda have to have coffee and chocolate in close proximity!

Lindsay (a.k.a Isabella) said...
Lol. I'm going to include chocolate and snacks in that list somewhere. :)

Karen Lange said...
Think you have it down except you forgot pretzel M&M's.

Jemi Fraser said...
I'd like to include a cup of Chai tea, but other than that, it's perfect!

Kimber said...
All that list needs is a big bag of Twizzlers:)

Sharon K. Mayhew said...
I thought you had to eat Twizzlers to get published???


Notice a trend yet? Foodstuffs? Drinks? (For the record, I've always wanted to use the word "foodstuffs" for something. My life is almost complete.) And I totally blame the Roecker sisters for this falsehood about Twizzlers. Red Vines are clearly the superior licorice. Everyone knows that.

Another vice for writers: the Interwebz. Twitter. Facebook. Email. Cable TV. But remember how we're quitting stuff? Yeah, you can do it. Write.

Me? You want progress? (Or maybe I want to brag? Ha!) I wrote almost 20 K in a new project = 78 pages. Then I got my edits, so I basically haven't moved from in front of the computer for like, three days.

Just goes to show that if you have enough Red Vines and ginger ale, you can write for a long time. Just sayin'.

What do you think? Are you snack-crazed? Do you think this curse just applies to writers, or do painters have to have a bowl of pork rinds nearby?

45 comments:

Matthew MacNish said...

@Jonathan hah! Down here in Atlanta EVERYTHING is coke. As in:

"What kind of Coke would you like?"

"Pepsi."

My own vice while writing is a small glass of Jameson Irish Whiskey, poured neat, with a Yeungling Lager chaser. MMM.

JE said...

Ha! Pork Rinds! You know, I actually doubt it. I'll be painters have less time to sit and mull over what color they are going to splash on the canvas yet, where we writers must stop and bang our heads on the desk and munch something in between a hard scene. ;-)

~J

For me...jolly ranchers. And tea.

Jennifer Walkup said...

LOL. Funny and yep, I snack a bit when writing too, but esp if revising. Ha!

Anne Gallagher said...

I don't know about pork rinds but isn't that why there's always a bowl of fruit somewhere.

Anonymous said...

I'm not snack crazy. I assume most of these writers/bloggers don't really snack on candy all day. I assume it's a trend and kind of like brand mark. I guess to be a real blogger you have to have your companion candy all picked out.

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Coffee for me but I now have a great list of things to try and have gained 5lbs reading this post!

Mary
Giggles and Guns

Scott said...

No snacks for me while writing. If it's early morning - coffee. Afternoon - diet coke w/lime. Evening - wine! Yes, I need liquids while writing. Snacks I can do without.

S

Anonymous said...

I've always been snack-crazed. Yep, even in undergrad and graduate school. Always had to have something nearby while studying -- strange.

So I'm not surprised when I need snackies during writing. LOL.

Happy Thursday!

Summer Frey said...

I'm not much of a snacker, but I always have my water bottle. And when I was a scenic artist major in college, definitely no snacking. Got way too much into the zone for food!

Christine Danek said...

I'm totally a snacker. Trying to cut down. My fav--peanut butter M & M's and Milka Chocolate.
Sometimes a beverage is needed. Water or cherry coke.
This is so vital for writing. :)

Theresa Milstein said...

I am not a snacker. I'm a coffee-drinker (and plenty of it). And if I'm writing at night, as glass of red wine may be involved.

I used to love Twizzlers but now I feel like I'm eating candles. And my childhood love of cotton candy? It feels like I'm eating cotton balls with a sugar crunch after-feel. Maybe I'm biased because I used to make cotton candy at a carnival.

Anonymous said...

FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD

Disadvantage of being a teen writer: my parents make me cut down on the snacks. Seriously, my writing has turned into mush since I've been forced to start consuming almonds rather than chocolate and twizzlers and gum and gummies and Coke and Sprite and Dr. Pepper and cheeze doodles and chips and popcorn and - I'm so hungry now. I blame you.

Kelly Polark said...

I loves me food, but when I write I might have a glass of water or Coke nearby. But after I write, I do reward myself with a treat!

Tabitha said...

Oh yeah, I'm snack crazed, and it varies from day to day. Sometimes it's chocolate, then it turns to Cheetos, or pretzels, or various nuts, etc. And it's always accompanied by root beer or cream soda.

Today, though, I'm going to try something different: gum. We'll see how it goes...

Kenda Turner said...

Any tea drinkers in the ranks besides me? Tea isn't all that boring--Jasmine, oolong, loose-leaf raspberry, Yorkshire, and--yes--chocolate chai! There's always one cup or another of some kind of tea on my desk :-)

Crystal Cook said...

As a painter AND a writer I feel I must contribute to this conversation. Painters must snack too, just not with the hand they have paint on, it's just not healthy to eat peanut M & M's while your hand is covered in cadmium and other heavy metal imbibed paints :)

My fave is, yes you've guessed it peanut M & M's :)

Snack on sista!

Loretta Nyhan said...

Green tea and Dove dark chocolate squares. Every day, no fail.

Heather Kelly said...

I am loving these chocolate covered edamame. However, most of my snacks are whatever happens to be leftover on my kids' plates. Sad, I know.

Christine Fonseca said...

HA! I am a skinny vanilla latte girl myself. And yeah - I decided to quit procrastinating and catch up on my writing...guess that means I better get off the interwebz.

Tere Kirkland said...

Painting+Drinking=drinking paint

Without fail.

Best to take a break and step back while you're snacking. You need to step back while painting every now and again, anyway.

I need hot tea or chai when I'm in drafting mode, but I prefer juice when I'm editing. Or an Odwalla. *drool*

Unknown said...

@Kenda - I drink tea too while I write in the evening. Usually herbal or chai--it goes great with the chocolate!

Elana - congrats on 78 pages! Amazing!

Melody said...

I don't need anything to write (water's nice, though). However, sipping on lemonade is kinda bliss. Or tea. Yerba Mate tea. :) But usually I go without.

Alleged Author said...

I'm snack crazed so I have to write upstairs away from the fridge. ;P

Larissa said...

Copious amounts of coffee, here. In the later hours, water and cereal (when I have no willpower left, anyway). Also, STRAWBERRY NEWTONS. (which I am going to stop buying, because, OMG, there's like 100 calories in TWO of them).

Lily Cate said...

COFFEE.
Absolutely.
Wine in the evenings.
Absolutely.
No snacking while writing. Too many cheezy/salty/greasy/chocolate fingerprints on the keyboard have taught me my lesson.
And if I drink while painting, I end up with a brush in my coffee.

Steena Holmes said...

They don't call it writer's weight for nothing! Coffee, wine, pop, chocolate, popcorn, chocolate ... seriously, don't tell me we're shocked by it!

20K - way to go. I'm on a writing challenge for the month. My goal 30k words - I have 9 chapters left and need 30k to meet my word goal. One month. One month with no kids (heading across country to grandparents in 2 days) so I should get it done. Wish me luck.

PJ Hoover said...

I don't know. I find myself distracted by food when I write. Drinks is a whole other animal!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Believe it or not, I don't snack when I write. And I'm usually consuming water instead of soda. Yeah, I'm odd.

Jemi Fraser said...

We're all addicted to something! I definitely snack more when I'm editing than when I'm writing. I don't need the fuel during that first draft! :)

Krispy said...

I'm sure EVERYONE snacks because snacks are fun and awesome and come in cute little travel-sized packages. I snack the most when I'm studying though, probably because it involves more brain power. That and writing sort of requires both hands (typing with one is way too slow).

RED VINES FTW!!!

Kerri Cuev said...

Yup we are snack crazed crazies lol! Now it's summer ice cream works. I put it right next to the laptop to melt and get all soft. Yummy!

Talli Roland said...

Twizzlers! How can you not like Twizzlers?! They don't have them in the UK and I feel SO deprived.

My snack of choice is salted cashews. They are SO good. You just can't have one - you need several thousand to be satisfied.

Jill Kemerer said...

When I'm feeling insecure, I get out my king size bag of M&M's and suddenly, the world feels much better. :)

Rahma Krambo said...

My days of serious snacking are over *sigh*. Now I limit myself to a few pieces of really good dark chocolate and strong coffee. They both fuel the brain and I think of them as writer's tools.

Anonymous said...

High five on the Red Vines, and congrats on the writing you've been doing. I'm cruising right along on the outline for my latest book. Oh, how I love it when everything ties together so nicely.

Kay said...

So that explains why I'm gaining weight this summer--in spite of sporadic training for a sprint triathlon!

Hannah said...

I'm with you!! Red vines are the best. I also enjoy reeses pieces...to the point of all of my teeth rotting, not really but the possibility does exist.

gawd I love ginger ale!! That's why there's none in the house.

Jonathon Arntson said...

Let's just say I am well on my way to obesity. I'll diet before I have to make appearances.

WritingNut said...

I'm such a snacker! I wonder if it DOES only apply to writers?

I've never really sat down and thought about, but I almost always have something edible around me while writing.

Karen Lange said...

Yeah, I forgot about the red vines, they are the best. Besides pretzel M&M's of course. Congrats on the progress!
Happy weekend,
Karen :)

Riv Re said...

What in the world is wrong with you? Red Vines? Ha! I've never even heard of Red Vines and you know why? Cuz TWIZZLERS TRUMP ALL!

Terri Tiffany said...

Marshmallows and crackers:)) Lots of them.

Carolyn V. said...

It's sad, but I am totally snack crazed. That's why I own the treadmill. =)

Lisa Gail Green said...

Mmmm, what? Mmme eating chocolate? What gave you that idea??

erica m. chapman said...

Congrats on the progress ;o) Woot! I've always thought Red Vines were better than Twizzlers!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one ;o)

Hmm, well seeing as I'm on the South beach diet. I usually have water, and maybe peanuts for a snack. If I'm feeling saucy, it's peanut m&m's ;o)

Of course, I think all artists have their vices. Although I don't always think they are food...

Great post!

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