The Agoraphobic Writer

Sometimes you find that you're less motivated to write than usual. For me, the problem usually isn't the material, though I have been known to abandon projects. But before you abandon your own project due to lack of motivation, hear me out.

I'm writing this from my kitchen table. Actually, it's my girlfriend's kitchen table and I think it's the most expensive thing we own. (I have a feeling that it's the most expensive thing I will ever own.) Her parents gave it to us when we moved in together. It has a beautiful cherry finish, intricate engravings, and it has managed to teach me the true value of Pledge. But we don't eat on it much; no, I have found a much better use for it than something as silly as a sit-down meal with friends and family. This table is a really awesome workspace.

I can spread out my book stacks, my paper piles, my snack foods and, best of all, I'm that much closer to the refrigerator. Plus, the light's better in here than it is in the spare bedroom that I converted to an office. I find it kind of inspiring, too; I mean, it really is a piece of art. It's kind of like table-topping a priceless Picasso and using it as a workspace. You get infected by the beauty of it. Somehow the inspiration soaks up into your writing device and transfers to your fingers.

Okay, it's not that magical, but I trust that my fellow writers understand what I'm saying.

I always dreamed of having an office dedicated to nothing but reading and writing, but now that I have one, I find myself making any excuse to get out of it. I hate being tied down. I don't have one little spot where I do my reading -- I literally read anywhere and everywhere I go -- so why do writers often find themselves writing in that same little corner of the world, all the time?

Maybe you hate being tied down, too. Try changing up where you write every once and a while. If you have a laptop or a portable typewriter, hit Staples and get one of those tiny computer tables with the casters on it. On nice days, I like to take mine outside to the backyard driveway and pound my stories out while I get a tan. I'm thinking about buying a netbook so I can really take writing with me wherever I go.

Now, this doesn't work for everyone, but a few of you are probably going to tell me you've been doing this for years. So, go on, tell me the "unusual" places where you have been known to write and why you think it works.