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A Question for Writers
pooks | Mar 2 2006
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! 27 Comments
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 Figure out what works best for youSubmitted by Tricia on March 4, 2006 - 10:36pm.
Over the last 20+ years and six published novels, I've always had an office / studio of my own. Even when my husband and I were living in married student housing a loooong time ago. I need my own space. I like quiet and so am not one of those writers who can go off to a coffee shop and scribble away. (I wish I could, but I'm a total introvert. Large numbers of people for any length of time totally drain me.) So, even though I clearly am in the Virginia Woolf camp of needing a room of my own, the best advice I would say is for each writer to figure out what works best for them. What feeds not only your creativity but your ability to reach inside to that 'writing place'. I, personally, need quiet and a sacrosanct space. I have to feel safe before I can let go, if that makes any sense. Otherwise, my work tends to stay in my intellect, which is a much more sterile place. A friend of mine who's published 12 novels wrote many of them longhand in a coffee shop during slow afternoons. That works for her (she's much more gregarious than I am). I recently redid my office / studio, toning down the dramatic color and removing three bookcases (I have two left) plus packed up all the bits-o-stuff that I'd collected over the years. The stimulation of all that visual clutter was just too much for me and I needed to pare down. It's a much calmer place now, though I still have too many things in there. If you want me to go into detail about what's in my office, I can. :) As others have said, the most important thing is to write. » POSTED IN:
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