Writing Rituals: Morgana Best

Bestselling Aussie author, Morgana Best, grew up leaving Tim Tams for the fairies at the bottom of her garden. Now she lives with a half-blind Chocolate Labrador who happily walks into doors, a rescue Dingo who steals zucchinis from the veggie patch, and a cat with no time for nonsense. A former college professor, Best enjoys big bowls of pasta, not working out, and visiting the local lighthouse, where she tries to spot the white Humpback whale.
 

 

1. When do you write?I write several hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t stop until I make my word count for the day. After that, I revise what I have written, and then, if I’m still awake, I do admin work. After each new book release, I have a few days off writing, and catch up on admin instead.Every day, I stretch as soon as I wake up, feed the dogs, and go for a run. I have coffee and then start writing about 8 a.m. 
   

   

   2.  How do you seclude yourself from the outside world?

   I work in my office which is in my house. I have a security gate so unwanted callers can’t get in, and I don’t have a landline. Someone could easily murder me and steal my identity. I always think of the old movie, The Net.

   3.  How do you review what you wrote the previous day?

   I usually edit the morning’s work in the afternoon.

    

   

   

   

   4.   What song is your go to when you are feeling uninspired? 

   I’m never uninspired—I have to keep myself in check as I have too many ideas. I find any noise distracting, apart from the sound of the coffee machine, of course. My cell phone ringtone is inspiring: DJ Khaled’s All I Do Is Win.
   
   5.  What do you always do when you find yourself struggling with writer’s block?

   I never get writer’s block. Another author once said that dentists don’t get dentists’ block. I think it would be scary if brain surgeons got brain surgeons’ block. I would like to get writer’s block, as then I could watch TV in the daytime.
   My voice recorder turns itself off if I don’t speak for a minute, and that forces me to think of something quickly.
   
   

    

   

   

   

   

   6.  What tools do you use when you are writing?

   Dragon software with a headset or a handheld recorder. I type badly. I don’t use Scrivener, as I was using Word in the 1990s, and I’m too used to it now to change. I do use Grammarly and ProWritingAid at the end of every day.
   
   7.  What is the one thing you can’t live without during a writing session?

   My handheld voice recorder.

    

   

   

   8.  How do you fuel yourself during your writing session?

   I write in sprints. My sprints are usually around thirty minutes each, and I do a rough draft of one chapter in that time, so it’s intense. I reward myself with food at the end of each sprint. If I am in writing frenzy near the end of a book, I fuel myself with salted caramel, almond milk ice cream. (I won’t admit to how much.)