Do you have a special place where you write?  Do you go there because it provides quiet in which you can hear what’s going on in your mind?  Or does it provide background noise that allows you to ignore everything around you and fall into the Zen space of your imagination?

Maybe you curl up in a certain chair that’s perfectly shaped to your body from years of use.  Or you walk to the park and sit beneath your favorite shade tree.

No matter where you write, there’s something sacred about the place you choose that frees you to be your most creative self.  Or not.

Maybe, like me, you’ve been writing in the only space available.  And it’s okay; you’ve been making do with what you have.  But there are distractions.  Or it’s not as comfortable as you’d wish for sitting hours on end hunched over your keyboard.

Currently I write at a beautiful, reproduction roll-top desk situated in the great room between the living space and the dining space.  (Mainly, because the desk was too massive for any other room in the house.)  I like that it’s close to the front door, and I can tell when someone’s coming up my drive.  And I can open the door and get a glorious breeze in warm weather.  The ceiling fan in the living space gently stirs the air across the back of my neck.

But because the roll-top and cubby-holes crowd most of the desktop, and the surface itself is a couple inches too high to be comfortable for keyboard entry, I’ve had to adapt my work space.  By pulling out the three drawers just under the desktop, I’ve created a surface where I can carefully balance a purchased shelf.  With my laptop sitting on that shelf, the keyboard is almost at a comfortable height.

Then there’s the issue of space to spread out my notes and research.  There is none.  Oh, I balance a pile of paper on the left edge of the shelf, allowing it to droop into the corner of the left-hand drawer.  And I stuff a lot of things into and under the little cubby-holes that make up the back space of the desk.  But I spend precious writing time searching for notes I’ve made, for pages I want to compare, for the latest revisions I’m ready to type.  Inevitably, the dining table gets covered with my latest project, leaving no room to eat a peaceful meal.

 

But no more!  It’s time to turn my workspace into something functional, clutter-free, and comfortable.

By the end of next month I hope to have moved my writing space to a room of its own.  There will be a long L-shaped table top with plenty of room to sort and organize notes, research, and print-outs.  All my office supplies will be corralled in designated places.  I’ll have a whole wall on which to hang my project calendar.

A friend of mine, who’s an avid organizer, is coming this afternoon to sort all the things I have stored in that room.  She’ll be able to make quick decisions about which pile everything belongs in.  Once I see all those piles, I hope to be able to make quick decisions about what stays and what goes.

I can’t wait to see if I can write longer hours, be more creative, and finish more projects in my new space.  I do know it will be like a breath of fresh energy infusing my writing.  And I can’t wait to get into my new office and get started.

Where do you write?  How well does it serve your purpose?  If money were no object, where, how, and with what would you create a new writing space?