I'm just curious to learn where fellow writers situate themselves when working. I have a bedroom in the attic of my house where I have a small desk and my laptop and this is my workplace. Initially it was my oasis in a house of bedlam, as anyone with children will be able to relate. However, more recently - the school summer holidays may have influenced my thinking in this regard - I've found it of late, near impossible to get much work, if any, done. I'm considering constructing a purpose built shed or 'literary workshop' as I prefer to call it in the back garden where refuge and solace will be sought therein. Happy to hear all suggestions.
Anywhere and everywhere. If I feel inspired, I will take out my pocket notebook and lovely pen and start writing.
Same as above. I have a desk set up in my spare room, but I rarely ever sit at it. If I get inspired, I have my laptop near my bed with all of my information on it. Or I have three small notebooks in my purse. Or five full-sized notebooks scattered around my house. lol I'll write in bed, at my desk, or outside. Wherever makes me feel more comfortable at the moment.
Lea, I think you have a notebook problem. Please remmember to neuter them or they breed to the point of infestation. I write mostly at home, where my everyday PC is or at work between customers on my tablet. I actually write most of my stuff and my WF.org browsing at work, love my job :3
I prefer to write by hand. But if I have just one notebook, I get all my stuff mixed up. So I have a separate notebook for every story I'm writing to keep myself organized. lol
Really? What about creating folders and subfolders for stories and the like? I'd have a hard time keeping track of so many different platforms.
I almost always write in my room or the living room, but I do all my editing and out-loud read throughs somewhere else, like a park (but not in the winter- this is Montana, I don't want to freeze to death!)
I do that on my computer. But when I'm freewriting ideas or building my plots, it's easier for me to do it by hand. So most of the notebooks are just ideas. All my "official" stuff is on my computer.
Ah yes, the shed at the bottom of the garden, with a veranda Or a conservatory. Poolside house, etc. I'm still in my office, with a stunning view of the countryside, nice and cool, and a door that can be shut. The only thing I dislike is sitting down so much. I dare not suggest it, because I just bought a new ergonomic chair for almost 300 quid, but having one of those standing desks fitted near the window would be a nice alternative.
My desk is in what used to be the rec room of our house. I placed it against the wall and I have a map of the world above the desk. The kitchen is behind me as I write. I have a printer/scanner/copier on the upper right corner of the desk. Some Hewlett-Packard calculators usually reside on the left side of my laptop. Piles of unanswered mail are there, too. I've got a credenza behind me and it's piled high with mail and magazines. Lots of blah.
I used to stand up and write near the window in my old apartment or write lying down on the floor. However, now that I've moved, I'm without a definite workspace. I write sitting in the living room recliner or sitting at the kitchen counter. Neither spot is ideal, although I don't know what ideal would be. I guess a desk? But that seems so played out.
Well, yeah. That's every writer's dream, isn't it? (Mind you it would need to be comfy and heated and lighted so you could work in bad weather, in the dark of midwinter, etc.) I don't have a laptop, so I work at a desk. In a back bedroom. In a house. With a door on the room that opens and shuts depressingly often. And I don't even have kids; I have a husband with hobbies that he's incredibly enthusiastic about. He wants to talk about them. A lot. I would LOVE to have a room to write in that's out of earshot of ice cream vans, telephones and unreachable by anyone who doesn't have a set of crampons, pitons, ropes and a blowtorch, but that's not going to happen. Unfortunately you have to write a string of best-sellers before you get one of these retreats—which is an act of Cosmic cruelty. Meanwhile, a fierce face and threats of murder and mayhem if disturbed will have to do.
I have a writer's duvet, or what we used to call a continental quilt. It is well-known, on the circuit, that sitting on this quilt - long enough and applying the appropriate force of a creative's rear, induces latent duck fat - the tiny molecules attached to the feathers, apparently - to seep through the cotton fabric. These attach themselves to the scribe's backside. Described as the "writer's arse," it is much prized, recognised universally at CW conventions, fountain pen, even spoken word events.
I mostly write in my mind. That is, I spend most of my mental energy revising and grinding the story, down to the paragraph and sinle lines, before I even start writing, and that is where most of the work is done. But when I need to let the words free, I am usually in my room, on the bed, or at my desk. with a laptop that I bought just for that. It can happen I write at the local library, and a few times I even treated myself to a few thousand words written at a bar or café with a muffin and a steaming cup. I love the aestethic - and I'd probably start using a typewriter - but what they say is true: it quickly leads to bad teeth and empty wallets.
All summer I've been sitting in the shade in the backyard with the noises of the forest coming over the fence. I'm going to so miss that when the weather changes.
Anywhere really, I've wrote in pubs, while walking, laying on someone's bed, and I like to work in my conservatory with a pile of books thrown onto the nearby sofa that I can use as reference.
I think the shed idea is fantastic. If I am in the house, my kids *will* find me. I have tried to write at the desk in the house, but that's usually a no-go, as it is located in the family room. I rarely have the opportunity, but I also like to write in a coffee shop. I find much inspiration in the people that come in or in the conversations I hear around me. Plus, my fuel of choice - coffee - is immediately available.
In my room, with the door closed, music, and my iPod's text editor. The computer's keyboard is much better, but I find its larger screen and multiple windows too distracting. I listen to this album a lot, because it doesn't distract me in the way that more energetic music does.
Usually at the dining room table. It's big and empty for all my notes to be spread and it's centrally located so I can keep an ear on my kids whether they're playing or sleeping. I have a desk but use it mostly for storing away my materials when I'm done only, ha. I'll write in bed on occasion on my laptop when my hubby's working nights but only if I don't need any or few resources. I have a tablet and notebook in my purse for on-the-go inspiration.
I forgot to mention earlier that I move to my bedroom when football season starts. I have a TV in there so I can keep up with the games as I work. When I'm at my desk I can't see the living room TV - not a problem most of the year, but football season is a different thing altogether.
at my desk, in the computer room. boring answer? I can't write (or do much of anything else) if there's a TV on in my area, it completely derails my attention. I sometimes listen to music, but it's pretty rare. if it's music I like and know the words to, I get distracted by that and can't write. I can write to music without words, or that has lyrics in a language I don't understand. when I really want music, I tend to put on a Pandora station of either classical music (chamber or orchestral) or glitch-hop. usually I have the window open, and just listen to birds, rain, and distant traffic.
