C. Aubrey Hall's Blog, page 39

The Great Swampy Middle

Writing the middle section of a novel has to be one of the most challenging areas a writer faces in a book-length project. Guess where I am right now?

Yep.

My writing teacher, Jack Bickham, called it the Swampy Middle for a very good reason. This is where the story's going to sink. All the initial momentum of the opening has faded. The principle characters have been introduced. There have been skirmishes between the characters, and now the conflict seems a little old, a little tired. You may know where you intend to go with the story, but you still have to get there. Even worse, this is probably where a little writer fatigue sets in.

All tough things to deal with.

Most of the hazards of the Swamp can be met through plotting:

Have you a big scene planned for the mid-point of the story?

Is there going to be a major plot twist in the center?

Can you tie off an early subplot here with a mini-climax of its own?

Can you launch a subplot here that spikes reader interest?

If you can do any, or all, of these things you'll have renewed energy to keep going. The story will pick up. There will be no sag, no loss of momentum.

As for the problem of writer fatigue, if you solve the plotting issues your fatigue will probably melt away. Nothing generates enthusiasm faster than knowing exactly what you're going to write next and being excited about it.

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Where Am I?

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." –Sherlock Holmes in "The Copper Beeches" by Arthur Conan Doyle

The creator of Sherlock Holmes understood the value of setting and how it can contribute to a story's success. Just as Holmes explains to Watson about how an isolated setting can contribute to crime, so does a writer need to remember how any setting can be utilized to enhance plot and characters if necessary.

So where are you locating your story? Why are you putting your plot and characters in that place? Have you made conscious decisions to do so, or does the setting seem unimportant to you?

When dealing with your story's location, you should determine a couple of things from the outset:

1) is setting dominant or in the background?

2) what genre are you writing?

Dominant or Background?

Some stories feature settings so vivid and vital to the plot that the locale becomes a character itself. Such settings require a rich, vivid depiction. This is accomplished less through static long paragraphs of description and more through quick insertions of specific details into the action. The props the characters handle, the afternoon rain showers they walk through, the silent forest of dead trees snagging the heroine's clothing as she tries to run … these can all generate the kind of imagery that sticks in your reader's imagination.

However, some stories don't require a prominent location. In this kind of fiction, the setting is simply diminished to a minor role. For example, the Battle of Waterloo was historically significant, but if it has little bearing on your story, then a few brief sentences are enough. Perhaps the viewpoint character hears the distant boom of canon fire and wonders when the battle will end, but she's more concerned with convincing her spinster sister to let her attend the ball that night so she can dance with Major Honeycutt.

Which Genre?

Each fiction genre carries certain arcane elements that are expected by readers. For example, a traditional mystery story is supposed to offer a murder or serious crime, a number of suspects with strong motivations but flimsy alibis, and a sleuth.

That being said, each genre also tends to affect how dominant a setting may be. The mystery story is less concerned with the external environment than it is with the location and placement of the body and the discovery of clues. Is it really going to matter if the murder occurs in Jamaica? Could it have happened just as easily in Dorset, England? If the answer's yes, the setting will fade into the background.

Recently I reread AND THEN THERE WERE NONE by Agatha Christie. This clever variation on the locked-room puzzle is set on a small island. The island itself doesn't matter. All that's important is that the characters be cut off from outside assistance. They could have been dropped in the middle of a desert, or on a small asteroid. The effect would be the same.

Some of you may be saying, But what about Sherlock Holmes? His rooms at 221B Baker Street? His slipper of tobacco? His chemistry set?

Holmes's apartment is a character in the stories. It's as beloved as Holmes and Watson. But the crimes occur elsewhere. Think of the settings in Robert B. Parker's novels. Spenser solves crimes in Boston. The city is depicted, but not in a dominant way. It's a backdrop, and the emphasis is placed on the victims and suspects. On the other hand, in Dick Francis's mystery novel SMOKESCREEN, the South African setting is important to the plot. There's a harrowing chapter where the protagonist is trapped in a car in the African bush and left to die.

Genres such as fantasy or science fiction often prominently feature settings. Tolkien's Middle Earth is depicted in a way that has captured readers' imaginations for generation after generation. Think also of Brian Jacques's REDWALL series, with mouse monks defending the little abbey from villainous rats, weasels, and stoats. And of course there's Frank Herbert's DUNE, a novel featuring a planet so vivid it almost steals the story away from the characters. Could Paul Atreides have met the sandworms on just any old planet? No. Dune is a brilliantly designed setting–with every specific detail fitting plausibly and consistently into a cohesive whole, right down to environmental suits that recycle your perspiration and tears into drinking water.

When writing setting, remember to first determine how much prominence it will have and then always use the most precise, specific details you can to illustrate it. Employ the five physical senses as well, where appropriate, to help bring the place alive.

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Quicksand and Black Holes

Among the pitfalls awaiting writers of long fiction, two are particularly pernicious. I call them quicksand and black holes. The quicksand problem is where the trap closes on you so gradually you don't really notice it until you're up past your kneecaps. The black hole problem is where you're sucked into major trouble abruptly. Let's deal with them one at a time.

QUICKSAND:

You have your story outlined. Your characters are introduced. Your plot situation is set up, and the events are rolling forward. Everything seems good, except …

You find yourself bogged down. You're writing, but no actual pages are being produced. For days, you've been stuck in the same section of your manuscript. Although your characters are talking to each other, the scene doesn't advance. You thought you had everything worked out for this event ahead of time, but what's happened? Why are you trapped here? Why won't the scene end?

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

*Am I out-thinking my plot and characters? 

Sometimes we grow so anxious to check off the story events on our outline that we forget we must take our protagonist fully through the moment. Our protagonist can't think ahead. He or she is caught up in the current problem in the present of story time. That problem shouldn't be rushed or shortchanged. Curb your impatience and let the event unfold as it should. If you brush past it in your anxiety to race to the next thing, you'll end up with implausible, contrived copy.

*Am I being too predictable?

Have you already written six similar scenes to the one where you're stuck now? Same kind of conflict, same kind of pacing, same kind of villain, same kind of intensity, same kind of transitions, same length of paragraphs, same old hook as you used the last time, and the time before that ….

Remember that variety keeps the story fresh. Move slightly away from your outline and ask yourself, "what if my character jumped out the window instead of standing here talking?" Or, "what if my character lied about where the child is being hidden?" Or, "what if my character grabs the paper containing the chemical formula and runs?"

The what if game is very useful in keeping your imagination free-flowing. And as soon as you notice a pattern in what you're doing, stop it. Shift to a different technique of introducing characters. Try a new kind of time-pointer transition. Keep yourself interested. Don't worry if your scenes are of different lengths or your chapters don't all come out to an equal number of pages.

BLACK HOLES:

Unseen disaster looms on your horizon. You're busy writing. You have no inkling of what's about to befall you. You may or may not be working to an outline. At best, it's loose and elastic. You play the what if game every day. Your writing is going fair. Your characters are behaving as they should, more or less. And then–without warning–a comet of inspiration strikes some lobe of your brain and you think, Why not send my characters to Paris? despite the fact that you've never intended for your plot to shift to that setting. Or you may abruptly encounter a secondary character that steps in and completely takes over the plot.

Suddenly you don't know where you are. You don't know why you let this character into the story, except that she's more vivid than anyone else and you like her. But where is she taking you?

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

*Is this non-planned character going to help the story become more dynamic and exciting?

If the answer's yes, then take some time to figure out how to best incorporate the character and move forward.

*Is this non-planned character going to force me to re-plot my first 350 pages?

If the answer's yes, then put on the brakes. Make sure you fully understand what you're about to do. You could be throwing aside a perfectly good draft to pursue a will-o'-the-wisp. Always stick with your original concept, at least to the end of a completed draft. If you decide to then change the plot drastically, you can do so in an organized and systematic approach. Revisions should be focused and thoughtful, not based on random impulses.

*Does this burst of "inspiration" confuse me because I can't make it fit anywhere?

Never be so dazzled by so-called inspiration that you don't test it. If you can use it, and it adds to your story and increases unpredictability, fine. If it gets you seriously off-track, then toss it aside or file it to be used in another story. Being unpredictable and plotting by the seat of your pants doesn't mean that your story should be random and chaotic. Keep it plausible. You don't want to be sucked into a black hole to nowhere.

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Writing Ergonomics: Comfort and Ease

Once your office is functional–meaning you have a desk that's right for you; a chair designed to hold you for hours; a good lighting system; a stout battery backup system for your computer; file, book, and supply storage; and whatever phone, printer, and computer equipment you need–the next step involves making the room attractive and pleasant to spend time in.

I have seen writer offices that looked like something from a magazine–everything organized, the desktop as clean as a banker's desk, not a stray sheet of paper or stack of books anywhere. I have seen offices that looked like a rat heap in the corner of a spare bedroom, with the computer perched precariously on top of a sagging desk made of particle board and contact paper, wedged behind discarded exercise equipment, outgrown toys, and an ironing board.

I've moved a lot, so I've set up several offices. When I began my novelist career, I worked in a poorly lit storeroom with exposed wall studs, inadequate heat during the winter, a homemade table, and a paper grocery sack for a waste can. A loaned space heater scorched my knees and let the rest of me shiver.

When I sold my first two books, I invested in a better typewriter–yes, these were ancient days of yore–then I got different office space with finished walls, a window, and heat. I furnished it with a big mahogany desk, a secretarial chair, a sofa, built-in cupboards and bookshelves, and some framed prints. It was beautiful, spacious, and comfortable.

It's unimportant to this post as to why I left that second office behind, but I still miss it. In the years since then, I've had big offices and tiny, cramped ones. I've had pretty ones and rooms that I didn't bother with. And I've even tried arranging my space according to the ancient Chinese principles of feng shui. Here are a few of the things I've learned along the way:

Beyond function and efficiency, a workspace should

1. Inspire you

2. Showcase your success

3. Be a pleasant, attractive room

4. Validate what you're doing

5. Avoid excessive clutter

What inspires you to write? What keeps you charged and ready to work at the keyboard? What fuels your dreams and imagination? To the best of your ability, surround yourself with those things in your work space. Make your writing environment a creatively supportive one.

I was given that advice very early in my career by my then-agent in London. He sat me down in his big office and told me that as soon as I began to make money as a writer to buy myself the view that would most inspire me to write. I've yet to buy that view, but I understand the principle behind his suggestion. How can I make my surroundings appealing?

I've chosen a beautiful shade of red that I want for my office walls. Right now they're a dreary brownish faux treatment that doesn't do a thing for me. However, although paint's relatively inexpensive, I keep putting off the chore because I don't want to spend an entire weekend moving furniture and doing the necessary prep while I'm under a book deadline. So I continue to procrastinate, despite the fact that a more attractive color would probably do wonders for my morale.

A brag wall or shelf isn't to feed your conceit. It's to help you sustain your confidence. We writers can be a little delicate. It doesn't take much beyond a sharp remark from an editor or a barbed reader review on amazon.com to knock our feet out from under us. Our sensitivity is necessary for the kind of work we do, but if we aren't careful we can start to brood too much over weak sales or a project that's not going smoothly. Several years ago, I started framing covers of my books and hanging them up. It gave me a boost every time I saw what I'd accomplished. You don't have to paper your walls with your achievements, but by all means display the ones that mean the most to you. And spend the money to have your diploma or book cover framed professionally. In a former home, I hung all those bookcovers on my staircase wall. Now, I have a couple that I think are really special. They're blown up to poster size and mounted in brushed-metallic frames so they're quite eye-catching.

As for the furniture arrangement, what do you have? What do you face when you sit down to work? Your window? Your brag wall? Is your back to the door so you always feel a little uneasy? Can you switch your desk around to fix that? My present arrangement gives me no view, which I dislike very much. My back's to the door, and I don't like that either. Worst of all, when I sit down I feel like towering stacks of furniture might fall on me. I have very tall bookcases in the room, plus an antique paper cabinet that sits on my desk behind my computer monitor and looms over me. None of this makes me comfortable or relaxed. I need to change it.

Do your furnishings look like worn-out hand-me-downs? Do you have a new flat-screen TV in the living room, but you write at a chipped desk with a short leg propped on some old encyclopedias? What might that say about your priorities?

Where you write, whether it's an actual office or simply a corner of a room, should reflect the value of your creative work. It should be furnished with the best you can afford. It should be worthy of the stories you write. If you like flea-market style, it can be funky and second-hand, but it should never be second-rate.

As for clutter … it takes over my office the way Tribbles overtook the USS Starship Enterprise. Because I'm more of a "piler" than a "filer," I tend to lose documents pretty easily, and I waste a great deal of time hunting for that folder or chapter or contract that I can't locate. Believe me, I've read several books on clutter management, and it remains a problem. I think the solution has to do with simple discipline. Once the room is cleaned and organized, it's about keeping it that way through sheer willpower.

In the past, I've justified my messiness with the excuse that cleaning up clutter takes too much time. That's nonsense, and I should know better.

Now, I don't intend to shift myself to a sterile environment. I like books around me. I want that falcon statue from the Ramses II exhibit that I bought years ago. I keep that rock from New Mexico on my desk for a good reason. And I will continue to stick Post-Its on my computer monitor as needed. I still wince from watching an episode on HGTV where the designer told her clients that all the books on their shelves were clutter and to clear them away. But I don't have to save every scrap of paper and it doesn't all have to be stacked in precarious piles to the point where my desktop isn't visible.

I'm resolved to do better.

Are you?

Writing Ergonomics: Lighting

My very first personal computer was an IBM. It did only text. No graphics. No Internet. I had a choice of green or amber for text display. I liked the amber better, but I chose green because the salesman assured me this was "air-traffic-controller" green, designed to mitigate eyestrain.

As a myopic novelist, I needed to dodge eyestrain as much as possible. (And still do!)

Today, of course, that kind of equipment seems prehistoric. But although my computer now does graphics, streams television episodes, and stores my personal photographs, eyestrain avoidance remains my objective.

I try to remember to take short breaks so that my eyes don't get blurry and fatigued. I wear computer glasses. And I always seek optimum lighting for my office.

Presently, my home office offers dismal illumination. Four blazing bulbs hang suspended from a ceiling fan, casting glare behind me as I work. Not good!

Terrific ceiling fan in my office, but the lights are all wrong.

During the day, my lone office window captures only indirect sunlight until the late afternoon when the sun stabs into the periphery of my right eyeball, creating more glare.

As people get older, their retinas thicken, which means less light reaches their vision. In other words, a 60-year-old needs ten times more light to see as well as a 20-year-old.

Other factors that affect aging eyes include sensitivity to glare, less ability to detect contrasts, and a dimming of color perception.

I didn't know this until recently. Yet during the past several months, I've been accruing a lot of lamps. My home looks like a lamp store.

Granted, I'm a collector. I'm also still arranging the house since moving in. So all the lamps that belong in the library happen to still be stacked around the living room.

This copper-finished bridge lamp is destined for my library, but currently it's been orphaned in an undecorated corner of the house.

Nevertheless, I've also realized that my middle-aged eyes are demanding more light. In my 20s, I utilized two table lamps and a floor lamp in my living room. Today, my living room sports four powerful torchieres, five table lamps, two lamps on the fireplace mantel, a light on the ceiling fan, and recessed spots in the ceiling. Let's blame part of that on the new house's architecture. Ten-foot ceilings are hard to illumine well. I keep switching on lamps, and the general effect remains soft and dim.

Still, we're here to discuss writing and how to make it comfortable. To counter the dreadful lighting in my office, I always make sure that I have at least one light source on besides my computer monitor. And I'm working on arranging fixtures around the room to provide my workspace with better quality of light.

According to an article on lighting from Stan Pomeranz (www.lighttechdesign.com/agingeyes.htm), higher illumination may be desirable, but that doesn't mean a fixture should be excessively or uncomfortably bright. (In other words, don't aim for an operating theater!) Instead, there should be more fixtures of lower wattage. Also, task lighting should be adjustable for location, direction, and intensity to accommodate individual needs.

In my office, I want to shield my eyes from glare. That means better window treatments to counter the late-afternoon sun. I'd also like a substitute for those ceiling-fan light bulbs blasting down from above.

Adding ambient light will make the room more psychologically appealing. To that end, I've added a couple of low-wattage, attractive lamps in opposite corners.

My general lighting should be brighter. (But without glare.) If I can fit a torchiere into the room to cast light upward and bounce it down from the ceiling, perhaps that will solve the problem.

And I need good task lighting. Ott lamps offer full-spectrum light that replicates natural sunlight pretty well. I should have one next to my computer monitor. The style of Ott's products doesn't fit my decor, but then neither does old Steel-and-Formica (my computer desk). Meanwhile, I plan to ask my lamp restorer if Ott lightbulbs can be used in antique lamps. I don't see why not.

This Ott light is very chic, sleek, and modern. It casts a narrow beam of clear, soft light straight down, making it good for desktop work.

Sweet Victory

Lonely writer … lucky enough to be under a deadline … but stressed because the book has stalled. It should be a simple scene to write. No dialogue subtext to agonize through. No complicated dance of too many characters in the scene. Yet there sits the writer … stuck, stuck, frustrated, and stymied.

WHY?

Deadline pressure can be an insidious force. You can tell yourself that you're lucky enough to have a contract. You can chant the mantra of "Be glad you're working" over and over, but when the story stalls, panic can set in. If you aren't careful, you may find yourself struggling against the plot problem, or against the lead-footed characters who won't move or take action, darn it! or against the antagonist who won't say what you intended for him to say.

The more you struggle, the more stuck you seem to become, like car wheels spinning deeper into the sand. And the deadline clock tick, tick, tocks in the back of your mind, making you sweat.

Solution? Back off a little. Stop gnawing at your daily page quota for a few hours and take the pressure off your imagination. Ask yourself, what's wrong here? Why have things stalled? What have I overlooked? What have I missed? What have I left out? What else should my characters do? Why am I bored here? If I were reading this, what would I want to happen?

Don't force the answers. Let them come to you.

The majority of the time, we get stuck simply because we've made a mistake of technique or our plot has reached a soft spot in our synopsis. Our story sense has put on the brakes to help us. We should listen to it, regardless of our looming deadline.

So listen. Think. Put the writing on "pause." Figure out the problem. The solution always is there. We just have to find it.

Often, I need to cook up a plot twist or something unpredictable to throw in, something that will fit my plot and where I want the scene to go but is unexpected and fun. It brings life back to the story. It revives my enthusiasm.

The solution arrives. You may have to rewrite a scene or two, or maybe only a couple of pages. But now you're energized and ready to flex the writing muscle. The pages fly. The story gains speed. Your characters are on the move.

It feels sweet indeed.

Writing Ergonomics: Your Chair

What do chairs, writers, and a former king of England have in common?

In one of my college history courses, years ago, I learned that while Henry II of England might have been an astute political leader, he had an awful time sitting still for any length of time. Apparently he possessed a ten-minute attention span and commanded his archbishop to limit sermons to that length. Otherwise, he was out the chapel door.

My father used to say that people stop listening or paying attention once they develop "tired bottom."

So besides your computer, the chair you write in is probably the most important piece of equipment you should own. Do you have a worthy chair? Or do you sit in whatever's at hand?

When you write, how long can you stay focused and productive? (Presuming that the writing itself is going well, of course!)

How comfortable is your chair? Can you sit in it for several hours? Is it supportive to your low back? Are the arms–if any–at a height that keeps your forearms parallel to the floor? Is there correct thigh support so your ankles don't swell or your legs don't go tingly and numb? Are your feet flat on the floor when you're working at the proper keyboard height? Do you have a chair that can adjust to your needs? Can your chair compensate for poor ergonomics in the rest of your equipment?

For example, at my day job, I have an office outfitted with a beautiful wooden desk. The desk lacks a keyboard drawer, so my computer keyboard is on top of the desk surface, far too high. Fortunately, my office is also equipped with an Aeron office chair. After my request to have a keyboard drawer installed was denied, I found that if I raise my chair on its pneumatic lift to maximum height, I can keep my wrists and forearms parallel to the floor when I'm typing. I lose proper thigh support, have no lumbar support, and perch on the very edge of the seat so my feet can touch the floor, but I'm not risking carpal tunnel in doing so. When I'm not at the computer, I lower the chair to a more normal position.

In my previous home, the rooms were so tiny that I had to commandeer two of them for writing purposes: one to hold files, copier, and business matters; the other to hold reference books, my own published work, and my writing computer. I used my old leather chair for the business office. It isn't very adjustable and there's not a lot of low-back support, but the seat is cushy and comfortable. For my writing office, I invested in an Aeron chair as soon as I could afford one. Every aspect of the chair adjusts. It's designed for long-term sitting and high productivity. As a result, I'm not frequently squirming with discomfort or leaving my keyboard in mid-scene to go get a snack.

The chair is well worth its purchase price. It's even worth the time and effort necessary to assemble it. (Everything on this chair is easy to put together except one tiny little cable that affects the lumbar control.) I've had the chair for about five years now. I'm sure that designers have come up with some other chair that's even better, but as long as my chair is working for me, I'll keep it.

I also collect vintage office chairs, the kind made from wood, with seats that were carved to fit human contours. Yeah, they're hard. But they're not as uncomfortable as you might expect. In fact, I used one of them for years at my day job before a remodel gave us Aerons. However, I wouldn't want to do a long writing session in an old wooden number.

Now, what are you using when you write?

An old wobbly kitchen chair? The kind that numbs your backside within twenty minutes, so that you're distracted away from the story you should be writing and wandering away to look in the refrigerator?

You may think it's outrageous to spend as much money on a desk chair as you would on a computer. But consider which pieces of office equipment your body directly interfaces with: your keyboard and your chair.

Where is the position of the keyboard? Is it going to hurt your body?

What kind of chair are you sitting in? One that supports you and keeps you comfortable? Or one that lets physical misery creep into the edges of your awareness while you create?

Go to high-end office furniture suppliers and sit in everything they have. Don't bother with discount stores that stock cheaply made, one-size-fits-all furniture. Figure out what make and model of chair suits you best. Then save up for it, or when that book advance comes in, spend a portion of it on a decent chair.

Your body will thank you.

Writing Ergonomics: Standing to Write

Something else to consider in the search for the proper desk height is whether you might like writing while standing up. If it worked for Ernest Hemingway, why not try it? You might find it easier to adjust your arm position, and your posture should improve as well. You'll burn a few calories, which could help offset some of the sedentary spread many of us writers are prone to. It requires a good, supportive pair of shoes and you'll have to adjust to being on your feet for long periods of time, but each of us has to find what works best for our body, budget, temperament, and level of stamina.

Ikea used to make a computer desk that was adjustable to standing height. A quick search on the Internet turns up any number of futuristic-looking slabs of work surface affixed to towering rods. Perhaps there are more aesthetically pleasing options as well.

However, I like the Hemingway version of a short bookcase just tall enough to support a typewriter (or laptop). I think drafting tables might be usable. The old wooden ones–battlescarred from decades of use–sound appealing to me. It depends on whether they can be leveled off or whether they have to remain at a slant.

Another option for the DIYer: buy a base cabinet for a kitchen, top it with a sanded piece of plywood or a scrap of countertop or stone and position it for use. Unfinished cabinets can be purchased from retailers like Home Depot or Lowe's, or you can search for one at your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

For further information: http: smarterware.org/7102/how-and-why-i-sw....

Ernest Hemingway standing at a desk on his friend's balcony. Image from Life Magazine.

Writing Ergonomics: Laptops

In my previous post, I sneered at the current litter of computer desks available out there as being largely unsuitable for sustained writing. Writers need to work without interruption for two to four hours minimum. Many write in eight-hour shifts. Of course, when a deadline's looming or the story has you by the throat, you may go even longer.

Trouble is, the human body wasn't designed for computer work. The screen's hard on our eyes. Long periods of sitting affects our body. We get stiff and sore. Our circulation grows sluggish. If we slump, our organs suffer. Poor posture takes its toll on our shoulders and lungs.

The laptop computer is ideal for writers who prefer to work away from a desk. I have friends who like to write on the sofa or outdoors or in bed. However, the laptop brings its own ergonomic problems, chiefly from the size and position of the keyboard.

Maybe you enjoy writing with the laptop balanced on your knees. But if you ever try to use it on a desk or your kitchen table, you'll quickly find that the keyboard is too high. Your shoulders are pushed up, and that position can eventually bring strain, discomfort, perhaps even pain.

My best recommendation is to comb through used office-furniture stores or garage sales for an old-fashioned typing table. These inexpensive tables are generally small and low. Many of them have wheels and may feature drop-leaf extensions. They were originally designed to support a typewriter. I've found them to be ideal to hold a laptop at an optimal height.

I own about three or four of these versatile little tables. One has a wood top, but the others are all metal. Cost has ranged from free to $30. I've spray-painted them to spiff them up, and find them equally useful for occasional sewing or craft projects. Their small footprint makes it easy to tuck them into a corner when they aren't in use. Presently, I have one supporting my copier.

If you're lucky, you may find a table fitted with a small undershelf. This was designed to hold typing paper, carbon paper, or envelopes, but it can also be a terrific place to store the laptop.

Writing Ergonomics: the Desk

A few years ago, I assigned a novel from my Nether fantasy series as class reading. One comment from a student surprised me: "Why does nearly every character in this book have a hurt shoulder?"

When I wrote that novel, I happened to be undergoing physical therapy for a frozen shoulder–a truly painful condition. I hadn't made the connection until my student asked that question.

Of all the myriad distractions that can afflict writers, pain is one that affects your writing far more than you may realize.

Once upon a time, I had a very pretty new house. It featured a study at the front, with a tall window overlooking the street. I wanted very pretty office furniture to go in it.  Suddenly my old gray, steel-and-Formica computer desk looked too ugly for its new surroundings. I also needed a tax write-off at the time, so I invested in a dark cherry-veneered computer desk, file, and bookcase. It looked stunning. When I entered the study to work on my book, I felt successful. But after several weeks, I noticed sharp pains in my neck and shoulders during writing sessions. Investigation led to the discovery that the desk was too tall for comfortable computer work. It set my monitor at a height that was causing the muscle strain. Furthermore, the keyboard was at the wrong height, too.

Enduring those discomforts, I finished my manuscript in progress and started the editing/revision process. Normally I write fairly clean drafts, with few spelling and grammatical errors. But in this instance, the manuscript was littered with spelling mistakes and poor punctuation. I had been so physically miserable at my new desk that the effects had crept into my writing.

At that point, I hauled the ugly old computer desk in from the garage and put the pretty office furniture elsewhere.

Old Steel-and-Formica was constructed when personal computers were first being marketed to the public in the mid-1980s. It's made at a lower height (28 or 29″) that allows the monitor to stand where it should. Because the desk top is lower than a standard desk height (30″), the keyboard drawer is also lower (27″). This means I can sit in my chair with my feet flat on the floor; my forearms are level and parallel to the floor; and I don't have to skew my neck to a strange angle in order to work. I avoid neck strain and carpal tunnel problems in my wrists and hands.

Of course, although I'll be forever grateful that I didn't get rid of it, I still think old Steel-and-Formica is ugly. After my cherry wood furniture debacle, I set out on a mission to find a pretty computer desk at the proper height.

It doesn't exist. By the 1990s, established desk manufacturers had taken over the fledgling computer furniture makers. To save money, they left the desks they'd always made at the same height they'd always been (30″) and simply attached keyboard drawers. Trouble is, the 30″ height works best for hand writing and is too tall for computers.

No one's going to retool the factories.

Is there any correlation between incorrectly sized furniture and the rise of carpal-tunnel injuries during the last two decades?

So I cling to Steel-and-Formica. The old desk's a rarity. It's functional. It saves me a lot of grief. I pretend not to see it, and most of the time I can't because its surface is piled with manuscripts and books. I will keep it forever, and when I move–as I do fairly often–the new abode must have a writing room large enough to hold it.

Best of all, when I write at it, I don't hurt.