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A Question for Writers

Do you have a writing space?

A home office? A desk? A particular chair?

Do you share it? If you do, does that cause any problems for you?

What do you consider necessary to have around you when you're writing? Bare minimum, and then, what do you actually have?

I'm asking for several reasons. But for starters, I'm putting together a handout for a class I teach, a handout that tells them that if they want to write, they need to carve out a space (time and/or place) for writing and make it happen, not just think about it. When I first started writing we didn't have any place for me to put a desk, much less an office, so I had to physically find a place to put a very small table, put a dictionary, etc. on it.

It could also be the opposite problem. Maybe you have a home office and it's filled with everything you need for all sorts of projects, jobs, etc. Do you have some specific items there because you're a writer, or do your writing tools just blend in with everything else?

Do you think it's important to claim a space, or am I making too big a deal out of it? (I'm assuming a lot of people just keep pushing their dreams aside to some vague future when they Have More Time For Such Nonsense, and I try to snap them out of that. If they've signed up to take a class, you'd assume they're making it a priority, but many are still too embarrassed or hesitant to really think of themselves as writers or make any claims on time or space, because they feel rather silly.) (I know I sure did.)

Thanks!

TOPICS: Hacer
pooks's picture

By the way, I was...

By the way, I was also thinking of this in GTD terms. If you gathered all of your writing things into one inbasket -- even your equipment -- what would be there? That includes stuff for inspiration, books, printer, etc.

If you had to eliminate everything but the bare essentials, what would you consider those to be?

I'm really not intending this to be hard, or a test of some sort. I'm mulling all this over for myself because I may give up my office and am trying to figure out what things I'd feel absolutely necessary to move into a new location. One small file cabinet with my 43 folders and A-Z folder with a printer on top, for sure. But would I absolutely have to have a desk, or would I just use the easy chair and my laptop? How many of those books that line the walls of the room are necessary for my writing, and which ones are just there because I don't want to give them up?

So for myself, I'm thinking about scaling back, and what that would mean.

For my classes, I'm thinking about staking a claim, and what that means to them.

For everybody it's a different dynamic, but I still thought it would be interesting to know what we all consider "necessary."

 
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