"Ideal" Writing Conditions

Fellow Maven, Donica, and I have been lamenting recently. We seem to have lost our muse. I don't know why this happens, but it sucks when it does. I've been able to eek out a few hundred words here and there, sometimes I get lucky and do a few thousand. But it's not like it used to be, when I could get away with writing hundreds, if not thousands, of words a day.

Part of this is due to "real life". As I'm sure you know by now (because all you Mavens readers are *obviously* avid readers of my blog, Becka's Babble, lol), I've had some pretty gnarly stuff happen in my personal life. I won't rehash it all, but suffice it to say that plays a pretty big factor.

I've learned that I need to be left alone in order to write, and in a family with four kids aged 8,7,6, & 5, not to mention my DH, that can be hard to do. I can't stand people reading over my shoulder, and since my older children can read, that can be kind of awkward while writing a love scene. When kids go to bed, DH wants to unwind in front of the TV--with me. He's also recently moved his desk into my office. It's hard to concentrate when someone's yakking or listening to music all the time. LOL

So amidst the other bajillion things I have going on (homeschooling, karate, errands, dr. visits) it seems few and far between when I can get an hour or two of quiet time in order to write. My life seems to have gotten MORE hectic since the "old days" when I could sit and write to my heart's content. My kids are older, there are more responsibilities due to that fact, and now that I've "gotten somewhere" with regards to my writing, I can't write like I wanna.

Where's the justice? **sobs**

What about you? What are your "ideal" writing conditions? Can you write amidst chaos? Or must you have perfect silence?

~~Becka (who asks that you pass the muselax)
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com