A Writing Place

I recently created a "writing room" in my apartment. I set up a six-foot cheap foldable table and put a spare chair in the spare room that is mostly used for storage. It's not much, the walls bare, most of the space taken by beer-brewing equipment, cardboard boxes and christmas ornaments, but it's something. I've only used it a few times but it's useful. Having a space devoted to writing makes me write more. I think it's important for a writer to have a space devoted to writing. You have your job space, your sleeping space, your living space, dining, etc. You should have a space for writing if it's truly important to you.

Now, this could be anything. It could be an office or study, or it could be simply sitting up in your bed with your laptop in your lap. It's simply a space where, for a time, all you do is write in that space. It could be at your dining table, in your living room with the television off. It could be outside under a tree at the park, or in a lovely cafe while sipping an iced latte. It could be multiple spaces. The point is, it's a place where you go to do one thing and one thing only for a certain amount of time. A place to focus on writing, troubles left behind, distractions gone.

Having a specific place helps you write more. It will aid you in sustaining a good writing habit, especially if you get into a routine with it. Maybe an hour before work every day, you go into your writing space and write for an hour. It's just a place where you can go and get work done, leaving other things, ideas, distractions, problems, at the proverbial door. I like my little storage room because when I go in, with a fresh glass of water or coffee or beer(depending on the time of day...usually), I know what I'm getting into. I'm not going to waste time on games of tv. I'm going in there to write goddamnit.

Roald Dahl had a tiny hut. Neil Gaiman has a freaking writing gazebo! What do you have? It could be anything.