“Never start writing in a bad mood—makes it too easy to quit before you get going. A former writing instructor told me, ‘No fun for the writer, no fun for the reader.’ What she meant was if you aren’t enjoying yourself while you’re writing, your readers won’t enjoy the finished work. But I take this one step further: To ensure your head's in the best place possible, do something for five minutes that puts you in a good mood. It can be listening to a song, watching a silly YouTube clip, reading a passage from a book that makes you smile in admiration (or bite your lip in envy, if that works better for you). When the five minutes are up, sit down and start writing. Of course, writing itself may put you in a good mood, but I find that feeling often comes at the end of a session, not the start of it.”
—Brando Skyhorse, author of The Madonnas of Echo Park (Free Press, 2010)
Photo credit: Eric vandenBrulle