Waist-deep in first drafting mode now, I pause just
long enough to share this memory here.
I recall a dear friend’s question when I first told
her I was writing. That was a few years ago, and until then I had not shared
this with anyone. But I needed my mornings free and didn't want her to think I was spending
them doing something illegal or, worse, avoiding her. So I came out and told her my mornings were for writing.
“Oh, wow,” she said. “Do you have a special retreat to
do your writing?”
In the popular imagination, writers go on retreats. I
know some real writers do. These are rich writers. Others are retired people
who have romanticized about being writers, and can finally afford to live out
this image. There are whole operations ready to offer these retreats, usually
for a good $$$ fee.
There are paintings, and now movies, that re-enforce
this^ accepted wisdom.
“Oh, I said. “ My desk in the basement.”
Because reality is a lot closer to this^.
I’m happy to report that I have since graduated to a
small desk in the corner of my bedroom, gratis of DH making my computer wireless.
But it is still not a Victorian dream.
Or is it? In my mind, the “space” I go to is, pretty
much, well,-
Yes. In reality my writing space is a table in a room over the garage. Once I sit down to write, it's more like fantasy writing retreat. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, Mirka! When I am focused on my writing, I can go *anywhere* and never even leave my house. I still dream about one of those writing retreats, though...maybe one day!
ReplyDelete= )
I write at my dining room table. LOL Before that was the couch. But you're right. We don't really need a lot of space because once we start writing, the book world becomes our space.
ReplyDeleteI am very blessed to have a small room with door in our new home. But when I began, it was at the kitchen counter, with supper simmering on the stove, and busy toddlers by my feet. I need quiet more than anything else to hear the voices in my head ...
ReplyDeleteHappy writing.
I work on a foldable wooden table in my living room, facing the windows and looking out to the beautiful crumpled, clustered tops of rain trees. Not a Victorian retreat, or near the sea (as I so wish) but still pretty good. Congrats on your new writing area!
ReplyDeleteHa, yes the reality is quite different from the fantasy. I'm lucky to have a small office, although I must admit that I spend a lot of time on the couch with my laptop.
ReplyDeleteOh, my desk is still in the basement. The trade-off is that I have a lot of space, and actually I have THREE desktops.
ReplyDeleteAnd your second picture? That was totally how I pictured myself as a writer when I was a kid.
I'm glad you have such a beautiful 'place' in which to let your creativity take wing. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteI love what Kelly Hashway says above: "... the book world becomes our space."
ReplyDeleteI have a dedicated desk in the office/guest room, but I'm more often with my laptop on the couch, or at the dining room table, or once in a while at a coffee shop... or, let's be honest, occasionally bed. :)
Yes, my writing space is a (usually) messy desk, but it feels like an oasis when I get to slip away from the duties of the day to spend time there.
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