Where We Write
This morning Laura RT’d an article titled Where We Write: The Merits of Making Do. It’s a pretty awesome piece talking about how some folks try so hard to make the perfect writing environment instead of actually writing. I think I’ve been doing that too.
This summer I got rid of my cable so I’d watch less TV. Now I have to see what Netflix has to offer or watch something online. So I’m not wasting my time watching garbage marathons any more.
Then I got a laptop so I could move around freely to write. No longer tied to the desk! But then I couldn’t write. I sat in the living room with all this great light and no TV channel surfing distraction and just stared at a blank screen. I ended up trying to write at the desk in the corner of my bedroom again but man, that felt confining. And then I started to pace. Thus has been my summer. Bleh.
So while I wasn’t busy trying to make aesthetic changes (pretty bobbles and the right pencil cup) to my writing environment per se, I was locking myself into where to write. At home.
Some of that changed with the start of a writing group. I have to write away from home then. But a real change came when my upstairs neighbor sounded like he was stomping on my head with combat boots. Oy! I had to get away. I took the laptop outside to a park/playground. I sat at a rickety picnic table (pictured). Behind me a basket ball game went on. At another table kids talked and one kid bounced another basket ball. It was noisy but expected noise, thus white noise really. And I was finally able to write.
The dumb thing is that I ignored that and have been trying to write in my living room again. Yep, I’m an idiot.
The beauty of the laptop is the travel it allows us and really, I need to embrace that more. I mean, duh, wasn’t that why I got said laptop anyway? I will have to write more in parks and playgrounds. I may even start checking out some libraries since that sounds fabulous too. I think the variety of scenery will do me some good. It’ll also help with being less isolated since that makes me stir crazy at times too.
What about you? Where do you write?
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