(1)When I am driving, I am in my most thoughtful and meditative state of mind. The voice in my head wants to be heard, and some of it is pure gold, some is garbage. I use a dictation app to capture my thoughts. I find that by taking out the process of typing, conjugating and editing my thoughts stay better on track.

(2)When I read books by others, I pay attention to how they develop characters, plots, etc. I remember what works well and what does not. From this practice, I hone my own skills regarding these elements.

(3)When writing, I do well in cool, quiet places. (4)When editing, I can be in a busy environment. I can hear music. (5)When I have 'writers block', I pause to sort M&Ms. I often have a bag of M&Ms on hand and I eat them by color; first all the reds, then the blues, yellows, and so on. The process of sorting often gets the words flowing before I run out of colors.