Where Will You Write?

Issue #19

Apr 01, 2024

It’s time to pick a creation location—or not. But let me explain.

There are two major choices here. Choice one, for most of us, will be to find a definite location. To be sure, it can be comforting to know exactly where all your novel-writing will regularly take place. Often this will be some part of the space we call home, say in an especially soft chair, or maybe in a corner at your workplace, or a secluded spot at the public library.

Your ideal writing place could even be somewhere outside, say in a yard or park, where the lure of nature might stimulate your muse.

Once you’ve found a candidate, it’s well-chosen-question time.

· Can this spot be dedicated exclusively to writing, or will this space have other purposes?

· If others also need this space, will you be able to plan your writing time according to a rota (a rotating schedule)?

· Will it be quiet enough for you during the times you’ll need to write?

· Do you have a connection with this spot, and will that connection inspire you to write?

Maybe you’re even one of the lucky ones who has more than one choice. In this case, you could consider auditioning those spots.

In issue #17, we touched on mental preparations for setting the stage for your writing. Let’s revisit these in context with creation location.

Prepare

· To make changes in your lifestyle

Envision and reimagine a place as your writing space

· To come up with reasonable goals

Ask: is it reasonable to appropriate this space for the purpose of your writing? (Might you need to bargain with family or roommates in order to use it?)

· To activate self-discipline

Can you see pushing yourself cheerfully and happily to come to this one place on a regular basis to create fiction?

Under these terms, having one dedicated place can work. But there is another way—the second choice to which I alluded.

This X-post contains a pic of my true-life preferred writing space. I’ve got books to look at for inspiration and interesting art in a light, cheerful setting. But I do not accomplish all my writing there, nor do I expect to, because being normally busy and active means that I am often away from this space. Thus, I always bring my laptop with me. Long ago, I decided that I will simply write where I am.

Think about this for a second. What if you broke away from the concept that a specific GPS coordinate is the only place where you can create fiction? To elaborate, here’s an X-post that’s personal:

I have had occasional minor hospital stays in my life—as many of us will—and each time I was able to continue writing every day. In fact, I credit my fast recuperations partially to the fact that I stuck to my routine. And for many years, I did my writing each day in a parked vehicle during my lunch break (more on this in another issue).

So you know all those potential writing places mentioned earlier? With this system, you could use any of them. Let’s go over the points of preparation again using this new notion of flexibility as a filter:

Prepare

· To make changes in your lifestyle

No change necessary, at least location-wise. Write where you are

· To come up with reasonable goals

Simple: bring your laptop (or writing implements if you write old-school) with you if you are not home

· To activate self-discipline

Here’s the rub. Having a dedicated place makes it easier to have a pattern. Agreeing with yourself that you can write anywhere doesn’t take away the truth that you still gotta make it happen.

What is a rota?

Action Plan

My Scary Stories for Sleepovers books for middle readers are out of print, but you can find the odd used copy out there. Or, I have books in new condition which I can sign personally and mail to you, here.