Topic: do you write anywhere in particular?

[violet]

My place is tiny and it's difficult to think of where I could create one, but I'd love to have a writing space where I can keep around me all the books and things that inspire me and not be too distracted by everything else.

Do others have special writing spaces? What are they like?

[ghostgirl]

I have my own little desk (a corner desk) tucked away at the bottom of the basement stairs.  The kids toys strewn over the floor behind me.  Yes, sometimes I have to share my space with a giddy 7-year-old or an 11-year-old enthralled with Guitar Hero.  But that's okay.  I get the place to myself when they're at school all day.   

But I have often packed up my laptop and headed over to my favorite cafe.  Headphones help tune out the noise if it gets too loud.

You can see it here:  http://thebrokentree.blogspot.com/2007/03/room-of-ones-own.html

Happy Writing!   

[BoniA]

Violet- Your question made me laugh! I do have a dedicated writing desk in the corner of the family room... but it's gotten so overflowing with piles of writing ideas and revision notes and editorial letters and my TBR pile and all my writing-related STUFF that I'm finding I get distracted AT my writing desk and I can't think enough to write here- ha! So I've started moving my laptop to my nice big empty dining room table in my mostly-empty dining room with the better light. Would you like to have my writing space? Cause it's not currently being used  :D

Boni

[Bracken]

I can't write in my room and I can't write when other people are around me.  I usually head to the library and claim a table for myself!

[Carol Anne]

Well, I've got a corner of  my bedroom, where I am far from the noise of teenagers and barking beagles (although they like to sleep at my feet on their pillows...the beagles that is, NOT the teenagers!)  I have my books, my Ipod and earbuds, and good coffee.  No window in front of me, but I have a big tackboard filled with all sorts of inspirational pics, photos, quotes, etc.  In the summer, I take my laptop and hide out in the treefort on our property. It's long since been abandoned by the kids, and I have a piece of plywood for a "desk" up there, and the best part is...NO one can see me from below.  So...if someone "pops" by for a visit, and I'm home alone and don't feel like entertaining...I just keep quiet and spy.  It's kind of fun!

[Jill C.]

I often hide in my closet (it is a walk-in, thank goodness). To get to my closet my kids have to go into my room, thru my bathroom (2 more doors) and then finally, there I am

[brainbliss]

The best place I write is laying on the floor, same spot - right in front of my television (turned off...)


Sometimes I write at my desk, but i seem to enjoy laying down and typing on my laptop - listening to music and having my stuff spread out around me.  I generally keep everything in my backpack until I am ready to write.  All I have around me is headphones, WIP (or notes), usb flash drive, thesauraus and a bottle of water.

the thing is, I can write anywhere.  like, in the middle of a train, starbucks, wherever - quiet or loud it doesn't matter.


B

 

[ghost]

Any serious writing I do is at my one writing desk surrounded by all the basics I need. But we are all different creatures, and the most important thing is for you to find any area where you are comfortable doing any and all you have to do. It could be anywhere, and it could consist of almost anything, as long as it's the right place for you -- your very own writing world. The only thing I suggest is that you organize things in a fashion to limit the time you must jump away to get something you need. Stay in the zone.

[Michelle DP]

I have a small rolltop desk (I think they call it a housekeeping desk) and a filing cabinet situated between the living and dining rooms so that I can monitor both rooms at a glance when I need to. It's not big. My whole work space is about three feet square. The desk is just big enough to fit my laptop. Everything is covered with books, school books, and the mountains of paper they generate at the elementary school. I have finally trained my husband not to put the mail on my desk, but everything else ends up there.

[ello]

I'm weird. I have one corner of the couch that is mine. I sit there and always have my laptop. The kids are always trying to sit in my spot, but I kick everyone out. I'm so territorial about my spot that when I have guests over, I don't like when they sit in it. I like the way I've grooved in the cushion just right! So yeah, I like sitting on the couch and typing. But otherwise, my other favorite place to type is in the library or local bookstore.

[Julia]

I write in a particular chair with my laptop. When I am not there - I can be found in the quiet "reading" room at the library.

Usually I'm in the chair at night or early morning - I like to go to the library in the late afternoon (after work.) If I try staying at home in when I get off work, I tend to find a million things that need doing, instead of writing - hence, the library!

[Ree]

I have a desk in my kitchen against the wall. I like being surrounded by all my other stuff from my life. I'm not sure why, but the idea of holing myself up somewhere feels suffocating. I do get way into the zone though and am able to tune everything out.

Susan

[chasing my tail]

The kitchen table is my space. I keep my WIP in a backpack and stuff it on the counter when we need to use the table for other things (ya know, like eating . . .), and then spreak myself back over the whole surface once that "other stuff" is done.

The problem is that I'm VERY close to the fridge. And the cupboards. And the cookies. 

I like the space, though. 

[msw]

I write my first drafts in my recliner. I then move the Kitchen table while I convert it to my computer.

My mother-in-law looked at a house a couple of years ago that had a wonderful writing room.   It was a second story nook, off the master bedroom, that over looked a beautiful backyard with a somewhat neglected flower garden - that with a little help would have been amazing - we're talking Southern Living caliber.  All I could think was how perfect that little room would be for writing.  Not only did it have a writer's nook it included a library.  This was the perfect home for a writer.

[TrueImage]

It's so sad. In my house, I have a home office dedicated to my writing. I haven't been able to write in it yet.

I usually go to the bookstore because I love having background noise. On Sundays, I go to the library.

However, my favorite place and the one where I find I get the most work done is in my bed with my laptop. Go figure.

-True

[ecb]

I have a beautiful, dedicated office, where I wrote the entire first draft of CURSE.

I haven't worked there since 2005!  In 2006, we remodeled it, but for whatever reason, I've become totally entrenched in working in my bedroom, on my bed, with my laptop on my lap. 

According to sleep experts (and my husband), this is very bad, and I do find it hard to relax in there when I'm really busy writing or revising.  The trade-off is that it's a great space to compose--literally curling up in bed with a good book!

I do find, though, that if I'm having a tough time with finding my groove, shaking up my writing space can be a good way to shake up my brain, as well.

[Anne Marie]

I am grateful to have an office.  Well, during the day it's my office; in the evenings, it's a TV room.   But that's okay.  I write during the day for the most part.

Occasionally, when I really want to write at night, I take my laptop to my room.

[1846]

I, too, have a dedicated office, which doubles as the dedicated guest room.  However, now that I have my own laptop, I write where I please, and it's never that room.

My favorite places are the dining room, where I have an antique secretary which is a very comfortable place to use the laptop, and outside on the deck or sitting on the bench in my garden.  (Not at this point in the year, however.)

[jaws]

I have a huge desk in our upstairs livingroom with two large filing cabinets and bookshelves.  It has room for my computer, printer, scanner, etc. and all my writing stuff.  The problem is that it sits right there in the center of the busiest area of the house.  Everybody tends to be around there and either interupts me or talks so loud to each other that I can't concentrate.  At least there isn't a TV in that room, or I'd never get anything accomplished. 

Because of this, my wonderful DH bought me a laptop for my birthday.  So now if I'm being distracted I can just go to my bedroom.  He even got me one of those armchair shaped things with a massager to lean against when I'm typing.  I love that guy! 

[ghostgirl]

I haven't worked there since 2005!  In 2006, we remodeled it, but for whatever reason, I've become totally entrenched in working in my bedroom, on my bed, with my laptop on my lap. 

According to sleep experts (and my husband), this is very bad, and I do find it hard to relax in there when I'm really busy writing or revising.  The trade-off is that it's a great space to compose--literally curling up in bed with a good book!

I couldn't do it, Elizabeth.  It took me years to retrain myself after college.  After 4 years of trying to read and work on my bed in my tiny dorm room, I had managed to condition myself to fall asleep when I picked up a book!  NO reading in bed for me anymore.  Bed is for sleeping.  And playing  ...not working!   

[Kim Kasch]

I'm like ecb.  I write on my bed, late at night, with my laptop.  My desk just gathers paperwork. 

[Brookie Wookie]

bed, office, library--mostly

train, car, picnic table-sometimes

[nandini]

I write on the kitchen table, usually with one of my cats around. But we got a new puppy last week and he's there in his crate now. He's far more of a distraction than the cats (he's ripping an empty cereal box to shreds as I type) The cats though are really the perfect sounding boards.

[violet]

Oh, and there I was thinking I was the only one without a proper office with affirmations pinned to the walls, a few pot plants and a sign on the door saying 'genius at work' or something. I have a desk which is effectively a kind of sorting area for precarious piles of paper which I never sort. I write on my laptop in bed, running the occasional idea past my cat who lies there with me.

Your kitty is really beautiful nandini.

[ghostgirl]

Oh, and there I was thinking I was the only one without a proper office with affirmations pinned to the walls, a few pot plants and a sign on the door saying 'genius at work' or something.

A few "pot plants"....hmmm...good for the creativity?   

[Marissa Doyle]

The guest room is now MINE! MINE! ALL MINE!!  It's a good thing all our family are near by, because I'll be d*mned if I'd move all my piles of research books and materials off the bed next to my desk where my laptop is.     They're all organized into piles (clothes, etiquette, military history, herbals, a French dictionary) and I know immediately where any reference book that I need is.

Oh yeah--and my writing computer is different from my on-line computer, so I actually have to go into another room to check e-mail.  Very important for productivity.

And the other half of the room has my sewing machine and cutting table and ironing board and boxes of quilt fabric.

[nandini]

thank you violet, i think so too!

[DeirdreK]

I write at my computer.  Or at the kitchen table, if I can find a clear spot and am working with paper instead of typing.  My reference books are scattered among all of our bookshelves, and basically go wherever there's room.

We have 5 people living in a 2BR 1000 sq foot house.  NOONE is entitled to "their own space" at the moment! =)

[Dragonfly97]

Library for me - my local library has a lovely line of tables by a big window.  It works for me because there's no phone, no food and I can't get Internet on my laptop.  There's also concern about theft, so once I plop down my laptop, I'm committed to a chunk of time before I get up.

[StacieVE]

I do my best writing at the kitchen table as long as there is no clutter.  I am very visual and visual distractions are the worst for me.

I love to write at the University Library, but rarely get the chance.