The Write Environment

Creating a good writing environment is hard.
Thank you everyone for your support of my last unproductive week in the comments of my last post on ADD. Unfortunately, errands just keep popping up, the more you do, the more there seems to be done!

This week I managed to spend one of my free mornings editing my brother's book. The next morning I had a very frustrating time changing over my license and registration (yes, I'm officially a Queenslander now... still not sure how I feel about that, as I know I'm a Victorian at heart), which also involved me being accused of illegal dealings while unsuccessfully trying to take off my VIC number plates, and having to ask a homeless man to help me as I couldn't completely unscrew them. Luckily I look pretty innocent. I did a bit more editing the next day before going out to lunch with a work colleague, and then the day after my mother and little sister flew up to Brisbane to visit for the weekend.

So here I am on Sunday with only a bit more editing done (and a few ideas of my boarding house book, Artemis Fowl meets St. Trinians).

It's time to do some thinking (and for me, praying) because something isn't right.

I'm not achieving as much as I feel I should. Which means one of two things:

1) something is holding me back from working as hard as I could.
2) I have unrealistic expectations of how much I should be doing.
(Or possibly a mix of both).

I know I've only been in Brisbane just over a month, and there is a lot of stress involved in moving, starting a new job, setting up. Also, I'm now working a full time job, even if it does start late it is 8.5 hours a day, which just doesn't leave that much extra time when you need to fit in the rest of life as well.

Having said that, even when I do have time, I'm not dedicating as much to writing as I could.

The question for me is why?

I was sitting behind one of the girls in chapel, and was reading the writing she had on her T-Shirt. It was a collection of positive sayings, one of which really jumped out at me:

Create a life you love.

It struck me because I love my new job, and I have so much going for me, but currently when I think of the little life I'm creating for myself here, it's not something I love.

As silly as it sounds, I haven't yet furnished my apartment in a way that makes me feel at home there. This means I don't enjoy sitting in there writing and thinking. There is not enough beauty in my life at the moment.

So I'm going to spend time thinking and acting this week to fix this. I want to make my apartment an oasis that I feel completely at home in and inspires me creatively. I'm going to make it beautiful and relaxing. I just haven't decided how yet, because Brisbane is completely different in atmosphere to Melbourne. While making a snuggly, warm place with lanterns and cosy furniture worked there, it won't work in Queensland. I need to make a more tropical atmosphere. It's just so unusual to me that I don't know where to start. Well, okay, I do know where to start: PINTEREST!

So, I'm off to do some pinteresting as my goal for this week.

What sort of environment inspires you to write?