Where Writers Write

Sometimes, it takes some time to find the perfect place for you to create the perfect writing piece. 

Whether you're working on a novel or a short story, you need a place to call your own, where the words will flow like cream soda into the glass... easy and fast. The problem is, today you created the best poem or story, while seated in the quiet library, but tomorrow, when you arrive at the same place, you may experience a totally, different feeling. Your writing has become blah! The words are not going together like peanut butter and jam, it's now going together, more like peanut butter and green olives. Basically, it just doesn't work at all. Therefore, you need backup plans.

I'm lucky, I happen to have three offices in my house, all complete with a desk, a chair and a light, surrounded by bookshelves. I also have a desk in my bedroom, just in case the mood strikes, while I'm supposed to be sleeping. With that said, I find the words flow better in weird places, like if I'm curled up in a comfy chair in front of a roaring fireplace in the basement, or sitting in a lawn chair in the backyard under a big tree, or at a picnic table in a local park, all while writing by hand with a blue ballpoint pen (yes, it has to be blue). For me, I'm more creative when using cursive writing, with my hand trying to keep up with all the awesome thoughts going on in my head. It's rough to keep up sometimes, but I think I'm happier when I'm writing that way. Almost a creative genius. Okay, I'm stretching it a little, never a genius, but always creative.

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Don't get me wrong, I still write on a computer/laptop, just like the rest of the authors in this current decade, but it's more about the editing process then. The only time I break this rule is when I'm attending the Muskoka Novel Marathon in Huntsville. I write for 72 hours straight on the computer (minus snack/meal time and the odd nap). I write as fast as I can, freewriting like a hurricane. It is a fantastic experience.

In my dream world, I'm rich and famous, (still an introvert and a hermit) and writing full-time for millions of dollars... where? In my backyard studio, that is full of large windows, with the warm sunshine flowing in, and I'm writing anytime, day or night, without interruptions by anyone or anything. Ahhhh, deep sigh. Some day. You know, after I sell the movie rights to my first ten novels. I guess that means, I should finish writing one of my fourteen novels in progress, right now. :)

If you find yourself with writer's block, or having difficulty finding the words, change the location of your writing area. Here are some options of where writers write, you may not have thought of:

• Any other room in your house besides your office (even the bathroom will work well)
• Outside on your deck/patio
• The Library
• The Cafe
• The local bar
• In the park
• Beside the pool
• On the railroad tracks (possibly dangerous; don't wear headphones)
• The arena parking lot
• At the beach
• At the harbour/marina
• A baseball diamond
• A soccer field
• The football stadium (an empty one works better)
• Your best friend's basement/attic
• A hotel room
• In a car/truck/van
• In bed, propped up with seven pillows
• A yurt in the middle of Algonquin Park
• In a canoe in the middle of the lake
• In a hammock wherever you can find two trees to tie it to
• In the barn, with the animals talking to you
• On a plane during a flight
• On a train going nowhere; or a train station
• On the subway or Go-Train heading during commute time
• At work during your lunchtime
• A greenhouse
• A treehouse (it would be my favourite place, if I had one)
• A studio
• A bookstore
• A cafeteria/restaurant
• The Laundromat
• The cottage/cabin
• A writing retreat in another city/country

Basically, writers write ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE! All you need is paper and a pen, or your laptop/iPad etc. and change your location from your usual place of writing and you will be surprised how fast the words start to flow. The ideas will be coming so quickly, you won't have time to write them all down.