WHERE I WRITE: SUCH AS ANYWHERE BUT MY DESK

Many writers are asked about where they write and their answers are about as vast as there are books. Some prefer coffee shops, some have built sheds to write in and some have desks. Probably very nice ones with inspirational quotes and a plethora of highlighters for every editing need. I’m well aware of a nice desk, when I do my day job, aka not writing, I have an extraordinarily organized and stocked desk. But when it comes to writing, well that’s another story.

I write everywhere. My living room or patio. In pubs waiting for friends. And generally anywhere but my nice desk. Inspiration can happen anywhere and for me it’s generally when I can’t write anything down. I’m especially productive while on ten hour car trips by myself, having to repeat points over and over until I can justify pulling over. Like when there aren’t bears in the nearby proximity. Showers are also amazing for ideas. Which is probably why so much of my writing has bathroom scenes.

I have gotten better over the years, I no longer have tiny scraps of paper littered with ideas that I inevitably lose, only to be found years later, lacking any context. Having a day job working in accounts, excel has become my best friend and exceptionally increased my book organization. But without my notebook (paper notebook btw), which I take everywhere, I would be lost. And without that notebook, which happened for exactly a week last month, I’m totally lost not just as a writer but pretty much as a human being.

I think it’s important to write in weird places, not only do you get a new perspective (strangers at bars make great characters), it gets you out of whatever psychological wall you are pressing against. You simply can’t sit down at 9:00 am every morning and be creative (to be fair, I can barely sit down at 9:00am and do bank reconciliations…). I think it screams too much of a ‘normal’ job, which as all us writers proudly pat ourselves on the back for, we are not doing a normal job.

But in my experience, it’s the schedule, rather than the location. I do need to sit down at the same time and write but it doesn’t matter where. Just that I managed to write the day before, so I should be able to write again today. That’s most of the battle.

I do wonder if I could do accounting on my patio. I feel like that would be slightly sacrilegious, like my day job and my night job converging. Which should never happen. Clark Kent and Superman.

And Superman would never sit at a desk.

Originally posted - October 29, 2014