Writing Right Where We Are

With laptops at our hands, it’s easy to write almost anywhere. I’m writing this post on my living room couch.  It’s not my favorite spot, but it’s where I am this evening.

Do you have a favorite spot to write?  I’ve had several.  In my first house, I wrote in the back bedroom.  I had a view of the forsythia bush planted against the fence, and loved watching its changes through the year.  My second house had a view of a suburban street, beige walls and very ugly blinds left behind by the prior owner.

I’ve also written in a nice, private study with a view of the front yard and the court where we live now.  I earned my Master’s Degree in that downstairs study.  It was quiet and private, a professional space I shared with my husband without problems. Then my son entered a private high school and that was the end of the study!  Five years later, I’m still wondering what happened.

Since re-entering the ranks of fiction writers, I’ve been camping out in the dining room.   Our property is wooded, so I have a view across our deck of squirrels, birds and the flowers I keep on the deck during the summer.  Also deer who love to eat my daylilies (grrr).  I’m close to the coffeepot, the telephone, and (oddly enough) the TV.  There’s plenty of room to spread out my work.  I hope I don’t have guests for Thanksgiving.  Or Christmas.

I’m at the point, though, where I might like to have my own quiet, private place for writing.   Just like I’ve insisted on a sewing room, where the cats couldn’t bother my projects, I could have a writing room.  A writing room, all my own.  One that is close to coffee, phone and TV.  Like my dining room!

Where do you write?  What type of space feeds your creative soul?  Do you need a window?  A view?  Photographs?  A special chair?  Does writing in one particular spot, or with a special talisman nearby, make us feel more like a writer?

Share your thoughts, please.  Perhaps we can gain inspiration on what makes a perfect writing space, just for ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Susan Jeffery

I am loving the challenge (sometimes) of re-entering the contemporary romance market after a lifetime of raising two fantastic children (it never ends, btw). Just when I thought I was done with kids, I accepted a position as librarian to 900 boys in a Bronx private school. I'm a vintage published author, Harlequin American #206 Fair Game (1987). Winner of the Golden Heart, 1986. Currently exploring the possibility of indie publishing under my new pseudonym (see fresh name, above).

16 thoughts on “Writing Right Where We Are

  1. Good morning Susan Mermaid! I sense a little gypsy writer in you too. I tend to move around as well and have made use of several rooms in the house. Someday I aspire to have a room with a view of nature, I’d love to be able to see critters and beautiful landscape. For now, I usually migrate between my dining room and bedroom. I’ve occassionally thought about creeping down to the basement…

    I’d love to be one day be riding passenger on a long roadtrip with laptop on lap and create somethng that way, capturing all those details firsthand.

    1. What a wonderful idea, a road trip creative splurge. That’s what Danielle Steele did all those years ago, RV’ing across the nation with her husband. Lucky girl…

      I kind of like moving from spot to spot. But I especially like the office chair I planted at the dining room table. If I could get it tidied up, I’d be even happier (the photo lies, I did unclutter that spot before taking the pic).

  2. I’ve got a writing station in the basement. No windows but plenty of inspiration- magazine articles, reference books, posters, candles). But I always carry two notebooks with me- a small journal for writing thoughts/ideas and a five-subject college ruled notebook for writing free hand. My latest WIP began on a trip to visit family halfway across county while my husband was driving. Spending thirteen hours in a car while he was listening to a BoCD (book on CD- another acronym) would put me to sleep but I was able to jot down my thoughts by freehand on paper and stay awake. And I always have it with me when I am away from my computer.

    It’s a little tedious when I go to enter the material into the computer at a later date but it also allows me to start on some self-edits, especially if I notice that I’ve diverged from a time-line or description. I’m a nit-picker for details, even in the books I read, so consistency is a big deal for me.

    I’d never be able to completely write on a computer. I’d spend too many moments jumping back and forth between pages and documents trying to get my references, even with the CTRL-F function. It’s much easier for me to look it up on a hand-written page.

    1. Krys, welcome and thanks for your comment! I should have put down how much I love my Moleskine notebook, I can pop it in my purse and start writing anywhere!

  3. Susan Mermaid,
    For me it all depends on the season and day. During the winter time I have my office space in the finished basement (my blog site has pictures) in which I have my writing desk for my laptop, chair, coffee table with tea/coffee fixings. On my walls are pictures of my latest character inspirations. In the summer I go from the basement to the dining room table (at 430-5am) until the sun hits me in the face and makes it impossible to view my laptop.
    There are other moments when my oldest daughter will come home from work and tell me to get out of my own house–don’t fret–she’s doing me a favor–she loves to clean when I am out of the house. I take my laptop and go to a local bagel/coffee shop that is quiet and unassuming where I can spend an good couple of hours working on my book.

    Great article my friend!
    Hugs!

    1. Isn’t it great when you can get out of the house and still write? These are some of my favorite times, a real chance to re-charge the batteries and still be in writing mode. Thanks, Loni, love that several of I’m not the only roving writer in the group!

  4. Ha! My sewing room was in the laundry room, just at the bottom the stairs from the main living area, for years. The kids couldn’t see me and I couldn’t see them, but I heard *everything*! You’ll be happy for this “problem” one day… 🙂

  5. Right now, a recliner chair in my bedroom. I will probably keep this chair forever, as it has thick, fluffy cushioning that perfectly supports my head and shoulders. My laptop is on my lap and I dictate into my headset. Once we renovate the house, however, I will have my own office, and I am so excited to surround myself by my bookshelves and my favorite artwork.

    1. Pin, I’ve bee thinking about you as I learn to use MacSpeech more consistently and effectively. Peter loves his recliner and does most of his writing in it. And yes, books and art are important!

  6. Oh, and I should have said that I’m never without my camera either. You never know when that person, place or thing might strike an inspiration! Could be a leaf falling from the tree or a cute couple walking down the street. We don’t have to be freelance professional photographers to get want we want from a photo. Sometimes, a photo really will say a 1,000 words! (or inspire them!!)

  7. I write everywhere… the waiting room at a doctor’s office, the local coffee shop, on a road trip when my husband is driving. But I write the most often in my morning room off of my kitchen. It has a beautiful nature view that includes a river in the winter. Being surrounded by nature makes me feel peaceful and gets my creative juices flowing.

  8. I can’t wait to have an actual office. Perhaps with a huge dry-erase board. Hmmmm. But for now, I typically write at my desk at day job during my lunch hour. Or a desk in my apartment, where I have a framed copy of my first published newspaper article to remind me that I CAN DO IT! 😉

  9. Dana, I love having nature to look at while I’m writing. And Keri, I’ve been thinking about dry-erase boards, too! My notebook is my sort-off whiteboard for the moment. Also, I got a storyboard notebook for Father’s Day (why should he be the only one?) and will figure out that this summer.

  10. I love writing in a room with windows but I change up my writing spot all the time. Sometimes I write in bed or the couch in my office or at my desk or at the dining room table. My favorite is when I can escape to the coffee shop and leave all the distractions behind.

  11. I was a vagabond writer for a while. I’ve written in the study my husband and I share but hogging the computer was getting to be a problem. I’ve written on his old laptop at the kitchen table (which has a lovely view of my birdfeeders, but not much privacy). I’ve even resorted to taking ye ol laptop to the local library, but all the people there distracted me.

    In my search to find “a space of one’s own” if not a room, my husband and I remembered that an armoire in our bedroom was actually a secretary. After removing the beds linens and other miscellany from the armoire, I moved in my reference books, my notebooks, and . . . my brand new shiny laptop. Viola! A space of my own with a lovely view of the backyard, and some privacy. It’s perfect.

Comments are closed.