Finding a place to write

[Ray McCarthy]

Not a good choice
A lonely story: the perils of writing in solitude

You need to be warm and comfortable, with no interruptions created by others.
My eldest ones have left home, so one bedroom is now a library with two desks. That's where I write. I discovered 30+ years ago that kitchen / dining room / lounge etc or a chilly damp shed doesn't work.

If the SMS/ phone/Social media / skype / email / internet is distracting then close those apps or even disconnect the network!

 

[mosaix]

Warm and comfortable - correct, Ray. I also like some instrumental music - the MJQ are just ideal for me.

 

[Inca_UK]

I have to have music playing and rarely listen to music with lyrics. As I'm working on a sci fi story atm, I listen to neuro dnb, because the energy keeps me charged and the sounds in it are pretty sci fiy. If I'm trying to capture a certain emotion, I usually move to some epic music, happy, emotional, action or whatever.

I usually work sat on a chair in the lounge, but theres always people coming in and out so its not ideal really.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've learned to write while the TV is blaring from the next room, the kids are shouting, and the dogs barking.

 

[mosaix]

I've learned to write while the TV is blaring from the next room, the kids are shouting, and the dogs barking.

Sorry, just can't do it, Brian. I'm most impressed.

 

[Shyrka]

The only option available to me at the moment is on the bus during my daily commute. It's not the most conducive environment for writing but at least I feel I'm doing something constructive with my time!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I've learned to write while the TV is blaring from the next room, the kids are shouting, and the dogs barking.

Earplugs?

 

[Lex E. Darion]

The only option available to me at the moment is on the bus during my daily commute. It's not the most conducive environment for writing but at least I feel I'm doing something constructive with my time!

I'm so envious - I can't read or write on buses as I get really travel sick I used to have a half-hour bus ride to work and back daily and it did feel like a waste of time sometimes. More often than not though, as I was a captive audience, I spent the time staring out the window thinking about the plot/characters etc so it worked out ok in the end.

I need music too, can't work in silence!

 

[Jeremy M. Gottwig]

I can write pretty much anywhere (provided someone is watching the tyke), but I need coffee and headphones.

Ideally, I am working in my office though.

 

[J Riff]

Yes, can't usually put much together in a coffeeshop, though it can happen. Depends whether the TV is blaring, people are yelling, or talking so loud they can't be ignored, which seems to happen all the time now... or the connection resets, or there's a car accident outside, or people mopping the floor ask you to move yer feet, or maybe the radio station is pounding one with KT Parry for the thousandth time... but we bravely soldier on.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I also like some instrumental music

sometimes I like BBC R4 LW (not cricket) even if not listening to it (helps tinnitus), or 60s & 70s, or Trad Jazz (sometimes TSF Jazz or Swiss Jazz on Satellite), Country, Western, some Classical, Irish / Celtic /Scottish on R. Scotland, R. na Gaelteacht or Local Clare FM "westwind"

 

[Droflet]

Would like an office but at the moment by bedroom does the trick. Air conditioner on. Check. Everyone out of the house. Check. Beer cooling in fridge (for much later.) Check. No music. No distractions. Except this place.

 

[Shyrka]

I'm so envious - I can't read or write on buses as I get really travel sick I used to have a half-hour bus ride to work and back daily and it did feel like a waste of time sometimes. More often than not though, as I was a captive audience, I spent the time staring out the window thinking about the plot/characters etc so it worked out ok in the end.

I need music too, can't work in silence!

I got lucky - I can't read in cars at all but I'm usually okay on buses and trains. Not always, but often enough that I can get things done. Music is a must in a noisy environment like that. If I'm trying to concentrate on something I tend to favour instrumental stuff - usually soundtracks and the like. Today I was listening to some Rachmaninov: far more cultured than my usual but appropriate to what I was trying to write.

 

[aThenian]

What I like best are libraries. Has to be the right kind of library though - academic type libraries where people are buried in research are best. I think seeing other people work - or just knowing they are working around me - helps me get down to it. (That's why is has to be the right kind of library.) Sadly I don't have access to such a library at the moment. (Oh, and a view is good too.)

Coffee shops are better than the house for me when I'm procrastinating - especially at the start of something new.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I write best in coffee shops. I think it's partially because I'm too embarrassed to go on social media sites when people are watching, but I find the background hum of voices good too.

Not only that, but if I'm looking for characteristics or mannerisms for my characters, I only have to look around me. There's an old lady over there -- look how she walks, stiffly and staying near the wall for support; there's a child, picking its nose and examining the product. Perfect for a snotty brat I'm writing into the story.

 

[aThenian]

I think it's partially because I'm too embarrassed to go on social media sites when people are watching.

Yes, that's a good point! Social media is the worst distraction!

 

[Shyrka]

Yes, that's a good point! Social media is the worst distraction!

Oddly, it was the amount of time I was wasting on social media that compelled me to do something more constructive with my time (i.e. write) in the first place.

 

[ratsy]

I have an office at home, but I find that I do a lot of my writing in my main living room (where there is no TV, just a big coffee table filled with books) or sitting at my kitchen island. For some reason I seem to do my best work in those spots. I do my Course module work in the office, so maybe that's why...I associate it up there with non-fun related writing.

 

[Nick B]

Kitchen for me, the dining table is my office. Writing is accompanied by the washing machine and/or tumble dryer. The kids are loud, the dogs stare at me and the wife is constantly being a good wife and trying to talk to me about (insert female subject of choice).
Somehow a novel has been written.

 

[ratsy]

Q, I hope the book isn't like this

Spence ducked under the swinging girder, twisting sharply as the loose wires coffee cupped around him. 'Down boy,' he called to Leah, who was drawing with crayons on the wall. The Bachelor would be coming for them any time, and he didn't want to be there when he arrived.