Writing Tips: Where Do You Write?

This is a question I’m asked often. Where do you write? The question used to puzzle me to end. It’s something I never gave much thought to when I was planning to write my first novel, Sisters and Lovers. I just sat down at a table and started writing in longhand (after thinking and plotting on paper for many weeks). And yes, it was that long ago. I would write a chapter or two by hand and then type it into the computer. I didn’t start creating straight from the computer until my second novel, Big Girls Don’t Cry.

This is one of those questions that have no right or wrong answer. Some authors work in an office in their homes. Some even lease office space outside the home. They say it forces them to be more disciplined about their writing schedules if they have to get up and go to an office everyday. And if you’re having trouble with discipline–not all that unusual when you have no boss standing over your head–by all means try something like this. I’ve heard of writers renting hotel rooms to get away from noisy houses, an idea that’s come to me on occasion. Others authors write in bed, on the floor, or at the kitchen table with their laptops.

As for me, I usually write at my desk in my home office. But I’ve written in a lot of other places, especially if a deadline is fast approaching, including on the train, on road trips in the car and in-flight. This writing on the fly usually works better when I’m revising or rewriting rather than for the original.

The really fun part of writing fiction is thinking–some call it daydreaming– and I can do that all over the place. A favorite spot–if I can’t get to a beautiful beach or other faraway place–is a really comfy armchair in my office. It’s upholstered in a blue and white pattern that I picked out because I find it soothing to my senses. The only problem with that chair is that it’s so darn comfortable I sometimes doze off.

I also do some great thinking in my car when driving alone. There’s something about the rhythm of the road that relaxes me and stirs my creative juices. Sometimes if I’m stuck in my writing–some call this writer’s block–I’ll hop in my car and hit the road.

So try a few different spots and see where you’re most comfortable and creative. Once you zero in on the right place, you’ll find yourself returning there again and again without giving it much thought.

There really are no rules or standards here. You’re the best judge of where you should write.