# Your Writing Nook



## Kyle R (Apr 26, 2014)

Do you write on a heap of unread newspapers? In an open field? At the farthest, darkest corner of your local library?

This week, _Parade_ magazine posted an article advising writers on how to set up their own writing area.

How about you? Do you have a specific spot you're most creative and/or most productive in? Or are you a wandering amphibian of an author, scribbling your prose equally well on dry land and underwater?

What have you learned about what works and what doesn't when it comes to your writing area? What's something about your own area that's lacking?


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## N J Xkey (Apr 26, 2014)

A shut door, ear plugs and close enough to a socket to plug my laptop in... That's about as good as it gets in my chaotic house! One day I'd like to have my own nook - or preferably a converted outhouse down the bottom of the garden, away from the noise!


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## bookmasta (Apr 26, 2014)

Most of my writing is done at my computer, which I'm completely used to. However, I also have a routine that I stick to everyday. I recently went on vacation and spent the time while we were driving to do my writing on my laptop. In comparison to quality, its all the same to me. However, the one thing I can't do while on the road is editing. I don't have a defined place I like to write. Its mostly by how accommodatable it is to the rest of my life, hence why I do most of my writing at home. But no, I don't have any discomfort or preference to where I write. I'm more focused on what I'm writing than where I am while doing it.


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## stormageddon (Apr 26, 2014)

My ideal writing spot is halfway up a tree in Richmond Park with my dearest friend at my side (cosmictide), overlooking two large ponds with the sun shimmering off the water, barely visible through the leaves.

Though really, if I have cosmictide at my side, everywhere is my ideal writing spot~


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## Nickleby (Apr 26, 2014)

Sorry, the ideas are already in my head when I get them. There's no place in particular where I can put them down more easily than any other. In fact, the noisier a place is, the better I seem to work. One place I don't write well is at a computer, because there are too many distractions. When it's pen and paper, you're pretty much stuck with writing.


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## garza (Apr 27, 2014)

The passing of years has diminished my desire to scribble on subways and make notes on airplanes. Today the radius of my rambling has shrunk to nothing more than the distance from Consejo to Baranco. A shelf hung between two of the bookshelves in my bedroom serves as my writing desk, and while an all-brand-new-latest desktop running 8.1 sits idle on the big desk in the front room, I've regressed to an old favourite IBM Think Pad running Vista. It's a good writing machine that works for me. And my 'nook' is a step away from my bed so those two a-m flashes of inspiration can be converted to zeros and ones and stored safely away on both an internal and external hard drive. 

I sometimes envy the 21-year-old crouched in a jungle armed with notebook, pencil, and Leica III-f. Sometimes, but not for long. Age has its limitations, but also its rewards. 

And I haven't scribbled on a subway in over 30 years, not since that last warning from the Transit Authority.


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## Ixarku (Apr 27, 2014)

In my bedroom, I have a huge pre-fabricated beat up old particle board desk that I spend way too much time at.  My primary PC, a full tower rig built for gaming, also happens to be the machine I use for everything else, including writing.  My TV sits about five feet to my right.

My house follows a split floor plan, with the master bedroom on one side, then the living room, kitchen, and dining room in the middle, and two smaller bedrooms on the other side.  My roommate lives in one bedroom and has spilled over into the other, and the master bedroom is mine.  So, for psychological reasons, while I would love to have a dedicated office bare of everything except a PC designated solely for writing, I don't have the space, so it's not going to happen.  Fortunately, I have few distractions at home, so all I really need to do to write is turn off the TV, close my door, then exercise some self-discipline.

Aside from typing things on my PC, I also scribble down random thoughts in a spiral notebook.  I like to write down my questions & answers there in a more freeform, stream of consciousness fashion, then later I type up anything worth keeping.  When ideas occur to me when I'm at my day job, I scribble those down on whatever scrap paper I have handy.  I bring those notes home and throw them into my stack of notebooks.

The end result is that my desk is cluttered with pens and mechanical pencils, notebooks of various sizes, loose sheets of paper, notecards, cups and glasses, cables for various electronic devices, and other odds and ends.  My notes and smaller possessions also have a tendency to spill over onto other nearby surfaces -- no tops of any bookshelves are safe in my presence.  About once a month on average, I clean it up and reorganize what's around me.


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## Cran (Apr 27, 2014)

KyleColorado said:


> Do you have a specific spot you're most creative and/or most productive in?


Most creative? Probably not; I am equally (and debatably) creative almost anywhere. Most productive; yes, in my home office/study as described in Catfish Soup:


Tiamat said:


> *Describe where you are and what’s around you right now. *
> 
> I am in my home office/study, the working half of which is laid out in  an E shape. The printer, phone, and a double tray of unsorted paperwork  occupy the centre arm of the E, to my right. The top section of the E is  my standard desk (pens and paper), and the bottom section is the  computer desk (bells and whistles).
> 
> ...





KyleColorado said:


> Or are you a wandering amphibian of an author, scribbling your prose equally well on dry land and underwater?


Not since retiring from all forms of journalism and field research; and in those days it was pocket notepads (the paper kind) and a couple of cameras. _Travels with My Laptop_ were much more recent and mostly about keeping an eye on things here (in case I needed to cry help to our tech guru or the host server).  



KyleColorado said:


> What have you learned about what works and what doesn't when it comes to your writing area? What's something about your own area that's lacking?


What works is keeping the door closed so that I'm not having to fight off affectionate, lap-napping or keyboard-crossing cats, and having my basic reference books right on hand. What has been lacking since I moved into this current house, which is in a reception black spot, is having the radio on in the background - a hangover from journalism and publishing house days when there was a constant level of conversation going on around me while I worked.


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## Grizzly (Apr 27, 2014)

My favorite place to write is over at southside up on the sand cliffs. It's a bit of a climb to get up there, but the view is stunning and there's nothing but the sound of the waves and the wind and the seagulls. When I have enough gas, I like to drive down there and write until the lifeguards tell me to get down.
If I don't have enough gas, I like to go to a smoke spot and write in my car. I don't smoke any more, so I just park under a streetlamp (if there is one) and play some music and write. It's nice until someone I know pulls up and asks me to join them, and I have to explain the whole nug-free thing that I've been doing.

My ideal writing atmosphere would probably be in a room with internet access (for music) and books everywhere, just in case I feel the need to look up a quote or read some poetry or what not. A composition notebook and blue pen and I'm ready to go. Also a hookah would be nice, but there comes a point where it's more of a distraction than anything.


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## Bishop (Apr 28, 2014)

View attachment 5541

Muwahahaha!

This is Bishop's workstation. Right next to it to the left is a whiteboard with his daily writing totals, which books are in which stage of the writing process, etc. It's not in the picture because I'm embarrassed by my handwriting. 

And yes, that is 7.1 full surround sound hooked into my computer with a 300 watt stereo receiver. My wife HATES it.

And kudos to anyone who can name what the rifle is from...


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## dale (Apr 29, 2014)

i write best in cheap motels. surrounded by prostitutes and drug addicts.


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## Lyra Laurant (May 2, 2014)

KyleColorado said:


> Or are you a wandering amphibian of an author, scribbling your prose equally well on dry land and underwater?



Actually, I'm more creative swimming on the sea X\'D or taking a walk under the stars, but as it is not usually possible, I just take a walk around my dinner table at midnight and then go to write the new ideas on my room. My desk is also a bookcase, and I have a vacant spot on a shelf where I'm going to put my own book someday.


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## mblank (May 2, 2014)

Wherever the laptop takes me.  Usually camped out on my big, comfy couch with my cat trying to sleep on my arms.


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## Plasticweld (May 2, 2014)

Bishop is that rifle made of legos? never seen anything quite like it


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## Jon M (May 3, 2014)

garza said:


> View attachment 5539


Christ, garza, my ass hurts just looking at that chair.


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## Nicholas McConnaughay (May 3, 2014)

Basically, it's wherever I am, I do a lot of writing by hand in the notebook, but I prefer when I have my laptop. Normally, I need a quiet place, and I listen to instrumental or psychedelic music. I can't listen to songs with words because it distracts me.


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## Greimour (May 3, 2014)

I don't know if it's a 'place' that gets me going. More like a series of circumstances.

Example:

Working 8+ hour lone shifts as a Hotel Receptionist (Graveyard shift) almost nothing to do when not checking guests in between 11pm-4am at which point I did a nightly audit. Nothing to do then until 7am except dress up the maid trolleys and a couple of times a week clean the reception area, front of house (cig dimps outside) and maybe the windows. Not including the times taken to check guests in and out, I basically manned the desk for 7 hours and my job roles were otherwise complete within a 60 minute given time frame.

I spent many hours bored. I could be spinning in my chair looking at the roof, sat on the step outside having a smoke, watching the sunrise, sneaking to the shop next door or texting and phoning either friends, girlfriend/s or staff at other hotels of the same company who were equally bored.

This is when I decided I should grab a pen and paper and start writing. 

I wrote math sums in various forms and worked out ways/rules/patterns to simplify the sums... such as 1+2+3+4+5+6.. to any number. I learned several years later that the sum had already been worked out by a mathematical genius named Freiderich Grauss < or something like that. I didn't know that at the time though, so I was quite proud to have worked out the same thing as he did all by myself.

Eventually I decided to write out a single scene of a dwarf falling out of bed. 6,ooo words later and 3 shifts in total using pen and paper - I had a pirate story in full flow "Dwarves Were Pirates Too" 

***

Second Example:

I had been dating on and off, often the same girl repeatedly but other in between also... when finally at last I met someone who made my world seem magical. 

It was literally like those cheesy romance movies where grass wet with dew is suddenly glistening and glowing like pearls on emeralds.. where roses seem attracted to your aura instead of the sun, where the cushion of air between your foot, your shoe and the floor seems to be miles apart. I was walking on cloud nine and I didn't want to get down - nor did I want to.

That was when I started writing poems. Primarily poems that, if read, the first letter of each sentence would spell her name. 
Some of them were actually very good, if I do say so myself... others were romantic drivel but she liked them so I didn't care.

***

So for me, my most creative moments are usually of circumstance and feeling - the place, time or method has as yet to be proven differential.


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## Poet of Gore (May 4, 2014)

um, aren't we all supposed to write at Starbucks? i mean how else can we let other people know that we write? i mean, maybe get published or something. but that is like really hard work.


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## ToriJ (May 4, 2014)

I write at my computer late at night when everyone else has gone to bed. I enjoy the peace and quiet, and the occasional addition of the crickets outside while I write. I don't care much for background noise beyond that. So how I manage to get any work done during the day when my dad has the TV blaring is beyond me.


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## Plasticweld (May 4, 2014)

I have a nice office in my house over looking the waterfalls in my back yard, it is something that should be on a post card. I am not allowed to use it anymore, between work and my past time of writing I would be in my office all evening long. My wife got me a lap top so that I can sit with her in evenings in the living room instead. She works on her crossword puzzles or plays scrabble while I do quotes for business or type away on some story. Often times I just read posts here on the forum getting inspired or educated.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c304/plasticweld/IMG_2509.jpg

this was taken after a heavy rain


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## Pidgeon84 (May 29, 2014)

I'm gonna do a little necroposting here.

We just moved and the last owners of the place left an awesome desk. Put up my video game maps to give it war roomy feel.  Plus my freaky stuffed animals lol

View attachment 5734


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## garza (May 30, 2014)

Dale - Was that you I saw at the Riverside Bar in Belize City last Saturday night?

Jon M - That chair and the bookcases are solid Belizean mahogany and were made by Mennonite craftsmen in Spanish Lookout.  The chair is a stock item and the only kind I like to sit in while writing. The bookcases were made to order. When I had the bookcases made, good mahogany was cheap. The tall narrow bookcase on the left cost 100 Belize dollars - that's 50 U.S. The bookcase on the right cost 200 Belize dollars. That's for prime quality mahogany and expert craftsmanship. That was almost 20 years ago. Today the prices are much higher, but still a bargain. Prime mahogany is hard to get now. I recently bought a large bookcase made of Santa Maria - not as attractive, perhaps, as mahogany, but just as durable.


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## TKent (May 30, 2014)

*The sofa office*

I work full time and have a 2nd business on the side.  So I am squeezing writing in during my free time.  After sitting at a desk so long doing the other two jobs, I use my laptop / lap desk while chilling on the sofa.



> I have a nice office in my house over looking the waterfalls in my back yard, it is something that should be on a post card. I am not allowed to use it anymore, between work and my past time of writing I would be in my office all evening long. My wife got me a lap top so that I can sit with her in evenings in the living room instead. She works on her crossword puzzles or plays scrabble while I do quotes for business or type away on some story. Often times I just read posts here on the forum getting inspired or educated.



And I can fully relate to this.  If I didn't write on the sofa, I'd never see my husband at all!


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## Bishop (May 30, 2014)

Plasticweld said:


> Bishop is that rifle made of legos? never seen anything quite like it




Oh, wow! Just realized I never answered this.

It's an Imperial Guardsman Lasgun from Warhammer 40K, and it's made out of foam and plastic. Here's what they look like in the games.


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## NerdyMJ (May 31, 2014)

^ That is where I do my work. I need a Digivice from each different season of Digimon on a display shelf just above the monitor to balance out all the Pokemon stuff.


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## TaraLin (Jun 1, 2014)

I write wherever my laptop or phone is. I don't have a special spot. I'm currently sitting at my sister's right now and I'm about to work on writing while we watch One Tree Hill.


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## escorial (Jun 3, 2014)




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## aliveatnight (Jun 3, 2014)

I can write just fine anywhere, although I do much better the less people that are around.


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## CosmicGhost (Jun 3, 2014)

The best I ever wrote was in an RV parked on the black rock desert in 110 degree heat with no air conditioning. I think pushing yourself to extreme conditions allows you to bring more power and variety to writing. I was an alien among 50,000 crazy people and I was lucky to find a beautiful 6ft German girl with some common interests which led to an unforgettable week. Many days she was naked on the bed crashing from a night of mdma, while I'm lying on the floor writing on my dieing laptop choking on fine particular dust, the words I wrote were strong and real.

 If writing about sex and night life, go to a stripclub and sit in the back and write. Even if it's not your scene, it's research. I'm a firm believe in pushing boundaries, I don't belong anywhere so no place is off limits. If you are writing a bar scene, or a fantasy about a tavern, translate real experiences so readers can relate to them as if they are happening. Making my ideas relatable is a conscious effort on my part and being part of a real scene is a massive help.


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## Pidgeon84 (Jun 3, 2014)

Haha I could see how scenario #1 could entail some interesting musings. But writing in a public place like a strip club or a tavern would not be a creative endeavor for me at all.


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## CosmicGhost (Jun 3, 2014)

I highly suggest you give it a try. If you want to talk about sexual attraction, write about a girl as she's stripping. When you get to a safe and comfortable place, start putting the whole thing together. The goal for immersive writing for me is not to be highly productive or even cohesive, but to get those raw feelings and subtleties you may miss sitting alone with your imagination. 

 I am shy, awkward, asocial being. Being in public pains me. But I learned that as long as I pretend like I belong somewhere, everything is fine. I've always pushed myself into scenes that I don't belong in just as a curious person, now that I am seriously considering writing many of my behaviors are starting to make sense. Try it, even if you think it won't help.


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## BabyGizmo (Jun 3, 2014)

Well, I don't have a permanent home/house. We live out of hotels and condos. My boyfriend travels for his job. And well, I don't work. So most of my writing is done poolside at what ever hotel we are in. Or if I am lucky enough to have a balcony attached to our room, I make my office out of that. Currently we are in Hawaii. Maui to be exact. We have a large balcony that I have turned into my office. Here I find myself staring at the ocean. I haven't written a single thing since I've been here.


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## Pidgeon84 (Jun 4, 2014)

BabyGizmo said:


> Well, I don't have a permanent home/house. We live out of hotels and condos. My boyfriend travels for his job. And well, I don't work. So most of my writing is done poolside at what ever hotel we are in. Or if I am lucky enough to have a balcony attached to our room, I make my office out of that. Currently we are in Hawaii. Maui to be exact. We have a large balcony that I have turned into my office. Here I find myself staring at the ocean. I haven't written a single thing since I've been here.



Ugh, jelly!


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## dale (Jun 4, 2014)

BabyGizmo said:


> Well, I don't have a permanent home/house. We live out of hotels and condos. My boyfriend travels for his job. And well, I don't work. So most of my writing is done poolside at what ever hotel we are in. Or if I am lucky enough to have a balcony attached to our room, I make my office out of that. Currently we are in Hawaii. Maui to be exact. We have a large balcony that I have turned into my office. Here I find myself staring at the ocean. I haven't written a single thing since I've been here.



ahhh...the life of a starving artist. with so many struggles, no wonder you can't find the time to write.


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## BabyGizmo (Jun 4, 2014)

dale said:


> ahhh...the life of a starving artist. with so many struggles, no wonder you can't find the time to write.



Honestly, We don't pay for anything while we are on the road. Hotel, rental car, gas, and food are all paid for by the company. I sit day in and day out just staring at my screen praying that the words will come to me like they used to. I really haven't written anything since December.


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## dale (Jun 4, 2014)

BabyGizmo said:


> Honestly, We don't pay for anything while we are on the road. Hotel, rental car, gas, and food are all paid for by the company. I sit day in and day out just staring at my screen praying that the words will come to me like they used to. I really haven't written anything since December.



honestly..you have my dream writing life environment. motels/hotels. you're in nice ones, though. my earlier post was a joke. all writers are different,
as far as the circumstances that get them rolling. but your 4 star hotel environment? lol. that would PERFECT for me. all writers are different, though.
i was just messin with ya.


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## BabyGizmo (Jun 4, 2014)

dale said:


> honestly..you have my dream writing life environment. motels/hotels. you're in nice ones, though. my earlier post was a joke. all writers are different,
> as far as the circumstances that get them rolling. but your 4 star hotel environment? lol. that would PERFECT for me. all writers are different, though.
> i was just messin with ya.



By all means come travel with us. My boyfriend knows nothing about writing or writers. Just that I've been struggling. I could use someone to bounce ideas off of and argue small points with.
Yes we are living everyone dream when they are in their 20's but in all honestly, I want to be home. I want to wake up to the same ceiling every day for more that 6 weeks. I want to have a place that I can forever call mine. Its tough to be on the road 9 months out of the year.
But hey if you want to join our little group, we will be flying into Kansas on Saturday and will be there all month.


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## dale (Jun 4, 2014)

BabyGizmo said:


> By all means come travel with us. My boyfriend knows nothing about writing or writers. Just that I've been struggling. I could use someone to bounce ideas off of and argue small points with.
> Yes we are living everyone dream when they are in their 20's but in all honestly, I want to be home. I want to wake up to the same ceiling every day for more that 6 weeks. I want to have a place that I can forever call mine. Its tough to be on the road 9 months out of the year.
> But hey if you want to join our little group, we will be flying into Kansas on Saturday and will be there all month.



oh..well...i'm only in kansas on the 5th saturday of june. i do love wichita, though.


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## BabyGizmo (Jun 4, 2014)

dale said:


> oh..well...i'm only in kansas on the 5th saturday of june. i do love wichita, though.



Flying into Wichita. Working a good 3 hours away from there.


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## deBroglie (Jun 4, 2014)

I don't have a spot. But I need to get one. I really need an an area I can be by myself and not feel self conscious, bothered, or like I'm bothering people by sitting in areas where people socialize. 

I need a place where I feel comfortable, physically and mentally so I can push myself to write. I feel odd doing it on the couch at my home or in public.


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