Feb 24, 2016 / Beginner

Creating the (Physical and Mental) Space to Write

Where do you write? What devices or tools do you need at your desk? Here, four writers describe their ideal spaces to write.

Over at Discover, editor Mike Dang asked five bloggers to describe and take photographs of their writing spaces. Read their responses.

When you write, are you typing at your desktop computer in your home office? Drafting a blog post on your phone, right in the WordPress app? Or are you like Deborah, below, creating your desk for the day at your favorite coffee shop?

To write in, I like a cafe with wooden floors, high ceilings, and tables with ample space. Once committed, I make the place my own. I give myself over to a familiar wafting aroma. I order an Americano, no milk, no sugar please. I arrange my piping hot coffee and writing accoutrements on my “desk,” and then I take in the sounds around me. An espresso maker sputters and whirs to an undercurrent of percussion-driven electronic beats and the indiscernible vocalizations of a female singer. Voices murmur, mostly in French, some in English and a spattering of other languages, about travel plans, relationships in crisis, business.

Distractions, yes, but I am not compelled to do anything about them. They become a backdrop, an entryway into an ongoing narrative. I listen to the tap-tapping sounds around me of others engaged in their own interior monologues and I, finally, begin mine.

— “A Café of One’s Own,” Deborah Murray

Online tools to help set the mood:

Distraction-free environments:
OmmWriter
CreaWriter
Freedom

Notetaking tools:
Simplenote
Google Keep

Ambient sounds:
Coffitivity
Noisli

When we work on our blog posts, some of us prefer to type in silence and solitude, while others may need background noise or interactions with people. And then there are the necessities. A notebook and a pen to jot down ideas? Different-colored Post-its? A pot of coffee?

In one of our Blogging U. Writing 101 courses, we ask participants to describe their current writing space — or to imagine an ideal one. In the past, bloggers have written about their preferred physical environments, devices, tools, and even belongings. But one’s “space to write” goes beyond the tangible: we also need the mental space to tell our stories.

Here, four bloggers reflect on what they need to write.

In “Headspace,” Sandra at What Sandra Thinks describes her former writing space, complete with the perfect desk and chair:

I used to write sitting at a gorgeous 60-year-old mahogany desk, carefully and expertly handcrafted by my late grandfather-in-law. It was nestled in the corner of our spare room. I would type away into the night. A big cozy chair beside the desk gave me a place to write when I wanted to sit back and go old-school with pen and paper.

Then we had children.

The spare room was no longer spare. The old beautiful desk had to be relocated to the corner of the living room. The comfy chair is in my bedroom. I still went to that desk and that chair to write, but it was different. Not bad different or good different. Just different.

apple-iphone-smartphone-desk

At Retro Girl and the Chemo Kid, Kiri honors the memory of her daughter Zoe, who died at the age of six. In one post, she beautifully reflects on finding the space to write:

The physical space I write in is nothing special — usually I just take my laptop into bed or park myself on the sofa, sometimes following the sunny spots around the house like a cat. But the mental space to write in is something else. . . .

I still need plenty of alone time to process my thoughts and feelings, but it’s less through thinking than it is through purposely not thinking. When I can empty my mind by dancing, by gardening, by focusing on physically creating something like prayer flags or button angels.

It’s in those moments, when my mind is empty of conscious thought, that an insight from those connections might percolate to the surface, that my little angel muse will pop up unexpectedly, in a fleeting thought or sudden jolt of memory and I find myself in the space to write. About her, for her, for my own healing, for however my hard won life lessons (or hers) might touch someone else.

In D.B. Hall‘s response, he describes a framed page from a medieval prayer book, the Book of Hours, on his office wall, and how it reminds him that writing takes time and effort:

This single page on the wall serves as a reminder of how precious and intentional writing once was, and the extreme amount of labor and care required to produce just one book (which was likely years). While the tools we have available today allow us to crank out lots of text in a short time, I need a reminder that my writing should demonstrate a thoughtful investment of time, self-discipline, respect for the reader, and reverence for the craft.  This wall-hanging is material evidence of a deep abiding respect for what went on the page.

Image by D.B. Hall

Image by D.B. Hall

In “Building Castles in the Sky,” Elizabeth Zertuche says that writing by hand, carrying a notebook, and being surrounded by books and other writers all encourage her creative process:

I feel the most comfortable writing with just pen and paper. I find myself doing more self-editing when I write on my laptop because the medium makes the words look more like a finished product. Writing with pen and paper makes my writing feel like a work in progress and more like a draft. Writing by hand I am less concerned with formatting and word count.

How about you? Where do you go to write? What do you need?

For more inspiration, read about other bloggers’ writing spaces on Discover.
Discover-Vertical-Gray

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  1. When I was in high school, the conventional pencil-and-paper always did the trick for me. Writing was so easy for me in high school. I could do it anywhere. In college, laptops grew to be pretty plentiful. But so did the distractions. I always worked best when surrounded by people, in a semi-quiet setting. The case is still the same today. But, what’s surprising, is I’ve had furious writing sessions on my smart phone, huddled in the bus on the way home!

    Liked by 5 people

  2. I find inspiration everywhere and tend to note ideas as draft straight away on wordpress as draft either via my ipad or phone. I will write anywhere out and about, near my kids, in the evening on my laptop….music, silence or background noise. I can’t be picky since I am a busy mum of 3 little ones but it works. Not in the most efficient way but I somehow manage so far:)

    Liked by 3 people

  3. I usually write after midnight. I find the silence of night serene and comfortable and my imaginary flight takes off to a new world where I can be what I actually wanted to be my entire life. I give my thought a picture frame with my words late at night because serenity is my key. I crave for silence and loneliness to feel like giving life to my thoughts.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. Found this really useful. I will definitely write more now.I always like to write at my desk, or on the train. check me out athttps://asimpleslothslife.wordpress.com

    Liked by 3 people

  5. i have always (well most of the time) had ideas in the most unexpected moments like when inside a metro or when meeting a friend,i guess it would be good to have a pen and a paper with me always and yes it does seems more organic. a very helpful post . An aspiring writer here 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  6. Definitely very interesting! Often times in the middle of class, I catch myself writing down ideas on scrap pieces of paper. It’s so important to keep track of them in a notebook so you don’t lose them, you never know when creativity will strike! For a sample of such scribbles, check out my site:

    zachsmith98.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I can so relate to “And then we had kids.” I used to write while sitting in the sand at the beach or while commuting via train, plane, bus…Now I write whenever and wherever I can, but I’m never really comfortable. I don’t have a “spot.” I desperately want one! I envision a room with a white, antique desk, brown leather chair and a large window looking out over a body of water. https://nycteacherabroad.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 4 people

  8. I take notes in my phone, and when I access to a pen a notebook, I would write my mind’s imagination, it might not seem perfect, or it may not make sense, but a word, or a few, or a short 4 liner. Then for all the time before I publish I try to type them out in my computer use a spell and a grammar checker ( I Use JSPELL for this) and then post it in my blog!

    Liked by 2 people

  9. At first writing was my way of releasing anger. Then, it was my little secret. That was before I learned about blogging, and before I got the love for parenting and children with special needs. Now all I need is inspiration and a little corner. With children, that little corner is now shared, but I get to write anyway.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Inspiring. I find journaling every day is a great way to continue to write. Just started blogging and find that once an idea pops into my head, I head to my kitchen table/workspace where my laptop is and start typing. Prefer to write alone with no distractions. It also depends on if I am writing for myself or for work (I am more motivated when I write just because, than have to) Anyone else get writers block when you have to write?

    Liked by 3 people

  13. I make a meeting with myself, often in a cafe, and usually straight after cleaning the house. My little ritual. I used to drink coffee but then realised I liked the idea of coffee, more than the headache the coffee gave me. And I write long hand to lost myself the quicker, and don’t get up until I’m finished. If I glower at you, that’s in case you might come and interrupt!

    Liked by 3 people

  14. It doesn’t matter where you are, and the time it is, essential for me it’s being ready when inspiration strikes, and finds you on the spurs, and Heya! Fourth, cocher, and you embark for the journey. Very nice! A café of one’s own

    Liked by 4 people

  16. This post was just so amazing and I have learned so much from it. The only place where your ever gonna get anything done is somewhere where you are comfortable and everything around you is just perfect for you. You can’t write somewhere where you know isn’t as comfortable, to be able to write a good blog or paper you must be in your own aroma. Thank you so much for your advice!

    Liked by 4 people

  19. Reblogged this on mariamayo and commented:
    How I wish I had a physical space for writing, I don’t. I guess writing for me is not about finding a perfect corner or a sunny spot in the house. The inspiration is not in the matter enclosing me, rather it’s in the matter within me. It has always been mental space that I look for before I begin -before I can start. I need to be in this particular land, imaginary of course, where only I, my hopes, my dreams, my memories and my regrets exist. Only after being present in this mental space can I write. Only then.

    Liked by 2 people

  20. I got so confused when this popped up in my newsfeed, because your feature image is the same one I used in my blog post titled “Why I Blog”!

    I enjoyed reading about other’s writing spaces though 🙂
    I’m usually typing on my laptop while lying down in bed!

    Liked by 5 people

  21. I feel the same way when it comes to writing.
    On paper with a pen, writing, in a way, has less restrictions. It’s not like that on the computer where there’s spell check and word count and formatting to deal with.

    Liked by 4 people

  22. Right now I write on a cluttered officer desk with clutter all around me — books, notebooks, journals, sticky notes, pictures on the wall, an inspiration bulletin board, giant sticky notes taped on the closet doors as vision boards filled with ideas written in different colored Sharpies, and bursting book shelves filled with academic and private work dating back to high school.

    Against an adjacent wall is another desk where my children login to PBS kids, play games with an old join stick, and take turns on the iPad. They parade in and out of my work space. My loyal pug dog rests at my left side on a dog bed.

    I am not sure if this is my ideal work space. In all other aspects of my life I am organized and Type A. My work space sort of contradicts all of that, but it’s what I have to work with right now.

    In the future, I’d like a work space with less noise, but until then it is part professional and part motherhood, scattered with work and memories. One day I’d like to clean it all out and purge, but for now it’s my world.

    Liked by 4 people

  25. It’s so difficult for me to find the right place to write – I still haven’t found it! My desk is cluttered with schoolwork and character ideas, my bed is my Kryptonite, which seduces me into my quasi-dormant state almost every time I try to write. And being the oldest of 3 kids, there’s never a time of day at home when I’m not pestered by the scourges of humanity that are my siblings.
    So yeah, I haven’t found that spot yet!
    http://www.
    studentlife99.wordpress.com

    Liked by 3 people

  28. I liked the framed prayer page, it’s a reminder of how personal writing is and how much contemplation — or distraction — is involved. My perfect place? The corner desk, next to my bookshelf and in front of a window.

    Liked by 4 people

  30. I most definitely will NOT handwrite. I can’t read my own writing anymore. 🙂 It’s that bad. And my handwriting pace can’t keep up with pace of my ideas and thoughts pouring out in spurts. I have to catch them like precious fresh snow or rain. 🙂 To drink.

    I like blogging best at home, sitting at a desk at a desktop. I would abhor doing it on a tablet pad or iPhone. That would drive me nuts. Again it’s capturing my thoughts fast enough and done best when I’m ergonomically seated. It’s like proper yoga position and breathing…for fullness of relaxed mind, relaxed body position without straining, awkwardness.

    I find it hard to blog while I’m travelling outside of home. Too many distractions and things going on. I need to let my travel experiences simmer like tea or longer, like wine.

    Liked by 3 people