How I Write: Having the Right Mindset to Pen a Masterpiece

I have noticed that I have to be in a certain mindset to write, but when I am in that mindset, there is no stopping me. I can't have other people in the room with me. I have to have music. I can't have other things I need to be doing at all. Finally, I need to be somewhat tired. I am trying to figure out why I need those things and if they will hinder me in my career as a writer. After all, if I can't write, how can I publish and earn an income?

I Need Solitude
I thought this one was straight forward. Then I really looked at it. I don't have to be alone. I just have to feel alone. I can write with my wife asleep no problem. I can write in a library without problem. So after really looking at things I actually only need the illusion of solitude. That being said, I do NEED that illusion. It feels like I am being watched if the other people in the room have interacted with me at all.

I Need Music
It often doesn't matter what type of music I listen to. I think the type of music is more directed at how quickly I want to write. The more that I need to write, the closer my music gets to speed metal. This is a good thing. Some musicians I am listening to today while I write are:

• DragonForce
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra
• Kamelot

Who do you listen to while you write?

I Need a Cleared Schedule

I write for a couple of content sites as well as my fiction writing. Sometimes, when I am writing for one or the other place, it feels like I am neglecting the others. I know that isn't exactly true, but here's what happens. I get started writing which makes me guilty about the other sites. I check on that site and start something. That makes me Google something else. By the end of it all, I have two half written posts and 14 or 15 browser tabs open. Does that make me a bad professional writer? I don't know, maybe.

I Need to be Tired

This one is probably the oddest of all. I have found over time that I need to be relaxed to the point of being sleepy to write well. I have a ton more errors, but the writing seems to flow better. I think it's the uninhibited nature of half-sleep writing that forces this. I bet this is where authors become addicts and alcoholics.Stephen King who admits that he wrote most of his stuff from the 70's and 80's completely smashed. That lack of inhibition is key to good writing.

Do you have any writing rituals or needs to be able to write?