How I Focus & What My Writing Setup Looks Like: How I Drop Into My “I’m Untouchable Right Now” Zone

I don’t drop into the writing zone so much as slide there — slowly, intentionally, like dipping into a hot bath until my thoughts stop trying to outrun me.

Step One: Mood Before Manuscript

Before I ever touch the keyboard, I tune the vibe.Not in a precious “I need my crystals charged under a full moon” way — more like: my brain writes best when the atmosphere feels like the story I’m trying to tell.

If I’m writing romance that’s soft with a knife’s edge?Low lights, warm lamp glow, maybe a little amber candle that smells like “this man is dangerous but you’ll still kiss him.”

If it’s paranormal or romantasy?I go dark: cooler lighting, shadows, a soundtrack that feels like magic humming under my skin.

It’s not aesthetic. It’s alignment.

Step Two: Limit the World

I don’t do full-on sensory deprivation (I’m dramatic, but not that dramatic).I just make sure the outside world has to knock loud if it wants my attention.

• Phone on Do Not Disturb

• Tabs closed except my doc

• Notifications slaughtered without mercy

• Headphones in, playlist on loop because my brain likes patterns when it’s being creative

It creates this dome of focus where I can actually hear my characters instead of my grocery list.

Step Three: Micro-Rituals That Trick My Brain

I’ve learned I don’t need a three-hour warmup.I just need a few consistent, tiny cues so my brain goes, “Oh, we’re doing the thing.”

Things like:

• Opening the exact same doc template

• Adjusting my chair to “Bella posture”

• Reading the last paragraph I wrote out loud

• Sighing dramatically (unintentional, but apparently part of the ritual now)

The moment I hit that third step, the writing engine starts to purr.

Step Four: I Focus by Letting Obsession Lead

Look — discipline is cute, but obsession is the one that gets the job done.I don’t force myself into scenes that aren’t talking yet.

I chase the heat. I go where the characters are loudest. I follow the friction or the tension or the secret someone’s trying to hide behind their teeth.

Letting myself bounce to the part I want to write gives me momentum I can use later to tackle the quieter bits.

Step Five: The Writing Setup Itself

My actual physical setup is simple but intentional:

• Laptop + external keyboard for maximum “clicky clack writer gremlin” energy

• A chair I can curl up into like a cat

• Water bottle (hydration = brain juice)

• Something caffeinated within reach

• Sticky notes everywhere like chaotic little prophecies

• A notebook for scribbling lines that hit me sideways

Nothing fancy — just functional and cozy enough that my creativity feels safe to come out and play.

How I Get in the Zone

Honestly? I get in the zone by making it impossible not to fall in love with the story again.

I remind myself why I want these characters to live. Why I’m rooting for them to kiss, or fight, or scream, or confess.Why the tension is delicious.Why the world is worth shaping.

Once I tap into that emotional vein… I disappear. Time gets weird. The world dissolves. The page pulls me under like gravity.

And when I’m done, I come back up for air feeling like I just survived something — in the best way.

B.A.R.