The Write Place
One of the most important things a writer can do for herself is to create
a "write place"--a space that she can call her own; a place where she feels
comfortable, at home; a place that makes her feel like writing. If writing
your life is a priority for you, you'll want to create just such a place,
where you can regularly go to think, to write, and to store your writing.
The "write place" declares your intention to write and helps you to think
of yourself as a writer.
A Place to Call Your Own
The place where you write doesn't need to be a large one--a full room,
for instance (although if you have a spare room in your house to dedicate
to your writing that would be lovely!). But whether your place is a corner
of a small apartment or the guest room at the end of the hall, it just
needs to be your space, where you can feel sure that your privacy will
be observed. You'll need a flat surface of some kind to write on--a desk,
a shelf that serves the function of a desk, even a lap desk. Of course,
you'll also need writing equipment (notebook and pen, or computer or typewriter).
You'll need a comfortable chair, the most comfortable, most inviting chair
you can find, and a good lamp (adjustable is best). If you're using notebooks
to write in, or file folders for notes and clippings, you'll want some
sort of storage: a file cabinet, a shelf, even a wicker basket. But the
main thing about your space is that it is yours, where your privacy is
respected by those with whom you share your life.
A Place Where You Feel Comfortable
It takes more than furniture to make a house a home, and more than
just a desk and a chair to make your writing space into a place that feels
like home to you. Even if you have only a corner, you can put a piece of
art on the wall, a small rug on the floor, a plant beside your chair. If
you have a larger space, you can decorate it to your taste, giving yourself
permission to create something beautiful, something uniquely for you, something
that invites you to settle in and feel at home.
A Place that Makes You Feel Like Writing
One of the things that encourages me to write is a good book, so my
own writing place (I'm lucky enough to have a small room for my work) is
lined with shelves of my favorite books. Music also helps to create a background
for my writing, and certain kinds of music (baroque, especially) sends
my fingers flying and fills me with energy to write. What makes you feel
like writing? Be sure that your writing place contains as many of these
writing "prompters" as you can put into it.
All of this is not to say, of course, that you'll only feel like writing in this place! I like to write on the deck behind my house, one friend loves to write in her favorite coffee house, another friend often goes takes her notebook to the river and sits on a green bank, letting the sun warm her page. But we all come home again, to our favorite writing place that we have created to honor our intention to write, to give ourselves permission to write, and to declare to others that writing is important enough to set aside both time and space for it.
Want more ideas for writing your life? Go to the Story Circle website
and click on LifeStory
Briefs.
--Susan Wittig Albert