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Where do you write
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Greg
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Apr 21, 2015 10:39AM
This question isn't mostly about help but just sharing. Where do you like to write? I turned an unused guest room upstairs to my Man Cave (Cliche, I know) where I have my favorite books, family mementos, a table where I dabble in painting watercolors, and, of course, my desk. I do most of my writing there but I appreciate the portability of my laptop. I sometimes think it would be neat to be one of those authors who writes at a table on the patio of a coffee shop or bistro while sipping wine or lattes but that really doesn't happen. Mostly, if I feel that urge and if it isn't to cold or hot I sit out in the screened-in porch at home drinking home-brewed iced tea or coffee. What works best for you - relocating from time to time or doing your writing all in one place?
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Darkness. I write in absolute darkness whenever I can. I like the isolation, and shutting out the outside world, so I can be alone inside of my world with my characters. I use music to keep me in the mood I want to cover the world in. Often I used different music for the various personalities I'm writing.
Mod
That's pretty much my favorite place to go to write - the coffee shop. But, no. No lattes. I like my coffee bold and black, nothing added.
I do write at home sometimes, but I'm not very productive here. I get too distracted with little chores and teasing the dogs and whatnot.
I also like writing at the library.
Mod
Cool. Back in the late eighties when I was first getting serious about writing, I was still writing by hand. For a while I was living alone. So, I would shut all the lights off in the house, except one or two candles, and write all night long.
Primarily my sofa, with my poor old blanket over my knees. Unsurprisingly it's covered with biro stains.That said, I do like writing in a garden (we don't have one, sadly) or on the beach on holiday. Writing on the train's good fun, though your writing ends up illegible.
Dwayne wrote: "Charles wrote: "Darkness."Cool. Back in the late eighties when I was first getting serious about writing, I was still writing by hand. For a while I was living alone. So, I would shut all the lig..."
I've thought about using candles. Wish I still had my blacklight setup running.
On the sofa or out back on the patio. I have an office with a desk, squishy executive style chair, and shelves galore, but I found I can't be creative in such an environment, so that's become more of a stuff storage area.
Me and my loyal laptop typically walk a whole block to a neighborhood cafe called The Common Cup, where we fight hipsters for the privilege of a table by a wall socket.My laptop hungers for power and tells me I suck for failing to feed it because me in my hubris likes listening to Pandora while writing.
In my favorite recliner with my laptop on my knees.
Mod
So just where ever the moment strikes me.
An untidy desk with a steaming cup of coffee, overlooking my animals lolling in the sun.
Coffee shops mostly. When the weather's good enough I bicycle around town and deposit myself one place or another. Baltimore Coffee & Tea in Frederick's my usual spot, though.I hate the music there (some damned acoustic channel on Sirius XM...ukuleles reign supreme...doesn't matter, I hate the music everywhere), but can usually find a space there and they've got the best Americanos in town. Nice people working there, too.
I bounce between my desk in our living room where my desktop is located, to my bedroom on my laptop. I also cart my laptop everywhere. Kids playing at the park=laptop pulled out. Waiting room at the doctors office=laptop pulled out. Kids fell asleep in the car and I want to revel in the silence=laptop pulled out. You get the point. We have a local cafe that I would love to go to because I love the ambiance but it never happens with 4 under 4. LOL.
Anywhere in the house. Mostly at the kitchen table or on the couch where my girls will sit by me. It becomes quite difficult being sandwiched between two little girls and my elbows need space so I can type properly, but I make it work. Surprisingly I can still get it done and concentrate. Maybe they are my inspiration!
Mod
Always at the computer where I have a word processor and and internet connection for quick research. And...it goes without saying, where I don't get interrupted.Morris
@Dwayne:It seems like we're on the same page, mostly. I love to write at coffee shops and occasionally the library. I have a really hard time writing at home because I get all squirrel-like there (Oh, look! SHINY!!).
The big difference is I enjoy a caramel macchiato (or however you spell that)...plenty of caffeine, sugar and yum.
I write exclusively on my laptop unless I'm suffering from writer's block--which is a fairly rare thing (knock on wood) and need a sudden change in behavior to snap me out of it.
Everywhere. At home, at work, in the car, in the parking lot, wherever I can get a few minutes and open up my computer.
Mod
I would say "occasionally" for the library for me, too. I would go there more, but the library in my town isn't always good at keeping people quiet. One time I could not concentrate due to two gentlemen on either side of me having a LOUD political debate. Sad when the coffee shops are quieter than the library.
I write in my basement office on my computer. It's cold, so I'm always wrapping a blanket around me. It's not like a real dungeon. It's a finished basement. But it feels like a dungeon. Especially when I'm up after everyone's already gone to bed.
I like writing in the dark. Makes me somehow more connected to the characters and the story. Oh, and I need music. Certain songs are able to bring out the emotions from within...
I love music as well. Whenever I write anything fantasy I love to play this song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ryJDV...
Kay wrote: "I love music as well. Whenever I write anything fantasy I love to play this song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ryJDV..."OMG! I love celtic... there's just something it that makes writing flow easy...
My favorite place to write is outside on the balcony with my laptop balanced on my thigh so it doesn't overheat. Best time sometime after the sun's gone down and the evening noise in Houston turns from cars and the clatter of neighbor's dishes to the chirping of insects, and occasionally, the meaty flapping of bat wings. Bliss. Barring that, anywhere new. I find a change in setting is energizing, and getting lost on a walk or drive can be the perfect time and place to bang out a few thousand words. There's something to new surroundings that lends itself to knocking the cobwebs out of my head.
Uma wrote: "Kay wrote: "I love music as well. Whenever I write anything fantasy I love to play this song https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ryJDV..."OMG! I love celtic... there's just something it that makes w..."
I know, the soundtrack has inspired many stories. I think its the beautiful, calming effect about it that spurs on the inspiration.
I wish I lived in a town for this reason :( I secretly yearn to be that writer that sits in a booth in the local coffee shop that is purely focused on their laptop screen. There's so many distractions at home.
I have a desk tucked away in a spare bedroom. It's the only room in the house where I can get internet access (really, I live in the middle of nowhere). And because I get internet access at my desk, I don't get much work done there - i get distracted by the lure of the internet.So for actual writing, I have to take it to the kitchen table. But yeah, if I didn't live in the middle of nowhere I can picture myself writing in a coffee shop, trying to look cool despite my caffeine jitters!
Fiona wrote: "I have a desk tucked away in a spare bedroom. It's the only room in the house where I can get internet access (really, I live in the middle of nowhere). And because I get internet access at my de..."Hehe I know the feeling.
I have a nice breakfast nook with windows on 4 sides. I'm home alone most of the day so I get in as much writing as possible until hub gets home or I have to go out and interact in the real world-bummer. I have the same type of nook upstairs in my bedroom that I'll move to once in a while. I'd like to write out on my deck on a nice day but the sun makes seeing the screen difficult. I really like to write on planes too. I seem to get a lot accomplished when I'm flying.
I seem to write better outdoors. Something about the air, the birds, the trees. It makes my brain feel less confined. But I also still write initial drafts longhand, with my favorite bold ink gel pen and a legal pad. For my last book, (which was, I suppose, fittingly titled The Grave Tender) I would drop my kids off at school, then spend a few hours on a pretty bench at the old local cemetery. No distractions, save the ghosts ;)
I write soon as my oldest is at school and my youngest is sleeping, that is only time I really have, and then at night once the kids are in bed and I can't stop thinking about what to write. I have to get a pen and paper and start writing it all down xxx
I can write pretty much anywhere--and HAVE written pretty much everywhere! If the words are flowing I can be on a battlefield and still get the words down. As for favorite places...well, late-night/all-night diners and coffee places are nice. I also live in a very large, fairly secluded house on 13 acres of land, so finding a quite spot to work (both inside and out) is never a problem. But it seems I do most of my work at the ol' kitchen table. I can be found there at all hours of the day and night. Oddly, I never use my office. Maybe cuz it's on the second floor and I hate to keep going up and down the stairs! When it's cold and rainy (yes, that DOES happen here in Southern California) I like to sit in the living room by the fire. But again, I can work virtually anywhere at any time. If the ideas are flowing, as long as I have a pad and pen, I'm fine.
I used to spend two hours a day travelling to work on a train and wrote my first novel by hand amid the cramped carriage and consent announcements. I learned to focus so can now write anywhere. My favorite time to write in on Sundays, no music, no noise, except for the birds outside and the purring of my two cats who like to snooze on the desk. Although I use the laptop now I still enjoy writing by hand when I'm in bed or away from home.
Cathy wrote: "I used to spend two hours a day travelling to work on a train and wrote my first novel by hand amid the cramped carriage and consent announcements. I learned to focus so can now write anywhere. My ..."It's nice that your cats snooze on your desk, Cathy. Mine tries to prance all over my keyboard!
Fiona wrote: "It's nice that your cats snooze on your desk, Cathy. Mine tries to prance all over my keyboard!"You need Pawsense: http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/
;D
Micah wrote: "Fiona wrote: "It's nice that your cats snooze on your desk, Cathy. Mine tries to prance all over my keyboard!"You need Pawsense: http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/
;D"
I feel like I've entered some alternate universe. Pawsense is actually real. Wow. Worst thing is I'm seriously considering it.
I write in my room, where I'm surrounded by posters of dragons and with a bookcase of my favorite books next to my desk to motivate me. There's also a rocking chair nearby where I can go for a little story thinking time while I listen to music. My cats sleep on my bed, so they're close by for me to bug them when I need a quick break.
I write at my desk most of the time, but my favorite place is really any coffee shop/cafe as long as there's internet. Something about buying a drink and then settling in to write really gets me in the zone.
I write in bed, my office or my living room. I change scenery depending on what I'm writing, my mood, etc.
Since my son was born, I now write at the kitchen table, in a terrible, TERRIBLE chair. Headphones on, music blaring. But this friday, my writing partner and I are taking possession of our office, where we will be writing for the summer. I am beyond excited to have a dedicated writing space again.
I write in bed using my iPad. Being retired, I have the luxury.I used to write at work. I would hustle to get everything done ahead of schedule so I would have time to write.
Some dear friends had a secluded cottage on a lake that I could use for free. No TV. No Internet (other than on my phone). No distractions. I loved to go there for a 6 day stretch, writing all morning, stopping for a run at midday, writing again until dinner out at the nearby resort town. What a heavenly and productive vacation in isolation, even for a natural extravert like me. Wish I could do it one week of every month. Alas, they sold the cottage and I have a real job...
Mod
nice 'man cave', i like the idea. i write on my laptop or in a pad if i'm doing a poem or two. but if i'm out, i do a txt msg to myself and save it to type up later. right now, i'm listening to berlin and doing my new poem book.
Usually, with my laptop on the living room couch. Sometimes on the kitchen table. Sometimes on the desktop. Sometimes, when they declare a Flexalert here in California (i.e., time to conserver power) I take the laptop and go to the local bagel shop.
Amy wrote: "...my favorite place is really any coffee shop/cafe as long as there's internet. Something about buying a drink and then settling in to write really gets me in the zone."Exactly. When I started writing I holed up in my man cave: the basement where all my music equipment is. But it's a low-ceilinged room with poor lighting and almost no windows. Day or night, it always seemed gloomy. After writing in there for 8 months straight...and then a year or more before I gave up on editing that novel...I just couldn't take it anymore.
I bought a Netbook many years later and have done nearly all my writing in coffee shops since then.
I like it because I'm away from the house (distractions, temptations, frustrations). I'm out in public, but simultaneously alone. There's a constantly shifting layer of noise and activity around you which somehow blurs into an impersonal white-noise: enough activity to keep you from drifting off into la-la land, yet not distracting enough to draw your attention away.
It's like the activity around you shields you from making connections with other people...like a cone of silence or a transparent shell that separates you from the world, while immersing you in the world at the same time.
Alone in the crowd.
I, too, can zone out and really focus on writing in that situation.
I could probably edit anywhere. When I'm writing I'm insane and it's probably best to leave me alone, so I write alone.Rawr.
I love this thread.I write mostly at the dining room table in the evening. The only distractions are four little dogs running around and asking to be let outside occasionally. Sometimes, on the weekends I go write at my favorite Noodle restaurant. If I'm going to be away from home, I bring my laptop and write on that. I always write on a computer, never by hand (that is so 1980s) :) I listen to Adele sing "Set Fire to the Rain." :)
April
April wrote: "I love this thread.I write mostly at the dining room table in the evening. The only distractions are four little dogs running around and asking to be let outside occasionally. Sometimes, on the w..."
oooo I like Rolling in the Deep
