What does it take to bring comfort and keep the creative vibes flowing for a writer? Some of us like complete silence and others prefer the background sound of music pounding out a beat to fit the mood of our story.
What about our physical surroundings? For me, warmth is the top priority and after that is something to put my feet up on. My day job, the bill-paying one, expects me to be on my feet all day. When I write in the evenings and on weekends, I like to rest my poor tired legs on a soft stool.
Then there are the tools of the trade. I used to think that meant my computer and the journal I kept all my characters and world building straight in. Now I know better. Convenient to hand must be my Flip Dictionary which I love over any Thesaurus and my massive Websters Universal College Dictionary with the incredibly small print. On the other hand is my 2010 weekly schedule book. One or two reference books helping me with my current WIP. This book they happened to be my mineral and crystal reference, Herbal Medicines and a lore book about all kinds of legends.
Spinning my desk around I can grab one of my three ring binders I use to keep my different series and all their paperwork organized in. Since I'm published with three different publishers I often refer back to their guidelines for formatting issues. Each one has a few different things in the style they prefer. Here I have lists of contact information, copies of contracts, hard copies of any interview or review for those books and of course, color copies of the covers. There is one for my newest fantasy series but since I haven't sold it yet the binder is a bit empty.
As you can see from the pictures, I actually work at two desks. One is a simple writing desk ($99 at Office Max) where I work on my laptop. Often the surface is covered with sticky notes reminding me of tasks I must complete or simply the time of an appointment. The other desk holds promotional items, files of things I'm getting to someday and usually one or two magazines I'm going to read someday. Here is my the folder I toss my tax receipts in until I take the time to organize them. There I put my alpha smart until I'm ready to use it again. So many untended but not unloved folders languish there with half started or outlined novels. Someday.
My chair is a simple one I paid less than $50 for at another office store. And a little bookshelf with my most used reference books on sits by my left hand. I have a bunch more of those but I have to get up to get them.
The room itself is a small sitting room at the front of the house I made into my office. It even has a fireplace and gets the morning sun. Completing the entire comfy set up is a folded paper towel I use as my coaster for cups of coffee or hot tea, iced seltzer water or perhaps a goblet of chilled wine. I'm finishing up my ice coffee right now and will probably had one glass of wine later tonight.
How do you arrange your writing area for comfort? Is it private or does the family interrupt you constantly? Do you do anything special to keep different WIPs organized and separate in your mind?
reat links to useful information for writers.
reat links to useful information for writers.
