February 2010 in my very second post I showed my study – an old wooden door turned desktop and shelves filled with boxes for my projects. Now at a different apartment, my study has become more of a storeroom where I go to print or get a book. Instead of at my desk, I sit at the table where I can look out at a working harbor.
Last year on a cliff at the edge of town I liked watching the bald eagles soar every morning, kite surfers levitate, and the train pass hourly. I couldn't imagine a better place to write.
Now when I look up from work I see boats: the Alaska ferry once a week, the scuttering patrol boats, the schooners. I like the traffic beneath the window, the people waiting for the bus. I like being surrounded by lives I know nothing about. And I can walk to cafes. I can't imagine a better place to write.
What's the perfect atmosphere in which to write? I'm realizing that, for some of us, there is none. We just write. And it feels right.
What about you? Is location important to help you write?
My room is too trashed for writing, although that's what I am going to work on today... So I have set up shop in the living room. The office is too quiet and the breakfast room is too busy.
ReplyDeleteI am envious of your water views, but I love the view I have of trees and country quietness.
I'm a fan of coffee shops, but I will not write in Starbucks. For one, I hate there coffee, and it is way too hectic for me to concentrate. I'm partial to my local Borders, and because I'm a regular, it gives me accountability. The staff knows when I'm not writing, haha.
ReplyDeleteI also believe in changing it up. Although I do most of my writing in a bookstore cafe, I will go elsewhere to do my edits. And then I'll go somewhere else to do my read through. I like to keep it interesting.
I like your workspace. Glad it works well for you. Always a good thing.
ReplyDeleteOnce I get into a writing groove, tunnel vision sets in so it doesn't matter where I am. But your views sound awfully nice.
ReplyDeleteGot to admit, I envy you that view but if I were there I'd probably spend too much time staring out the window and not enough writing. Way too easily distracted.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I read this post. I've been feeling very restless lately, and I now realize that it's because I haven't written in a few weeks. It's more than therapy isn't it? It's closer to eating or breathing in necessity.
ReplyDeleteI need absolute silence and solitude to write. I close the door, the blinds, and put in earplugs. Or I put on Ummagumma by Pink Floyd...
Is that the Fairhaven ferry?
Looks like a bright workplace with inspiration just out the window. I either work with my laptop at my desk in the family room or couch. I need quiet so mostly in the evenings after kids are in bed or afternoons when all in school!
ReplyDeleteI do need a little quiet in order to concentrate, but a cafe, park, etc. makes for some great inspiration. I like to take notes in places like that. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteTalking about a writing place assumes that writing is happening. LOL. I have been reading crits at the Y (definitely not my own preference) overlooking the pool. And in the car, waiting for swim team practice to get out. :) I can't wait until my world is boats and cliffs and cafes.
ReplyDeleteWriting happens anytime, any place for me. Usually I write an idea in my head and hope I can get to a pen and paper or to a computer relatively soon before the idea is lost.
ReplyDeleteI think I remember the pic of your old place :)
ReplyDeleteThis one is lovely too, lots of light and seems like a great view, which is also important to me - lots of light and warm feeling in my work place!
That looks like a cool place to write!!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty adaptable but when I take my laptop out into the world I usually have ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones because I find conversations distracting.
Wow, writing while viewing the harbor? That's amazing. Before I got my laptop, I wrote in our office. That was fine, but it made it feel like a real job. Now that I have my laptop, I write from our front room couch, with a pretty view of the mountains through the front window. Much better.
ReplyDeleteFun to hear about your work space. My ideal spot is at home at my desk, though I love to be around people when I'm not working. I totally get what you said about being surrounded by lives. The past couple months, I've started going to a coffeehouse just to mix things up. I've only done it a few times, though. I usually like to be alone when I write, and I like having all my research, books, etc around me.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great work space. You know I used to think that location didn't matter to me.. and sometimes it doesn't, as long as I have peace and quiet (or I'm in the right frame of mind)... but I really do love to write at my desk in the corner of my room.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of all the different places I've written, all over the world, it's pretty cool. All over Britain. all over the United States, all over India, on planes flying over the Atlantic, on trains, in cars.
ReplyDeleteI don't need much to write except a clear head. As long as I have enough space around me to have a clear head I'm good to go.
Jai