I used to write sitting at a gorgeous 60-year-old mahogany desk, carefully and expertly handcrafted by my late grandfather-in-law. It was nestled in the corner of our spare room. I would type away into the night. A big cozy chair beside the desk gave me a place to write when I wanted to sit back and go old-school with pen and paper.
Then we had children.
The spare room was no longer spare. The old beautiful desk had to be relocated to the corner of the living room. The comfy chair is in my bedroom. I still went to that desk and that chair to write, but it was different. Not bad different or good different. Just different.
These days, I think the only constants in my writing space are coffee and music. And me. As long as I can get into my own head… and heart… and other organs, as needed, I am good. Sometimes, distractions arise, but I’m usually able to work through them. Except when someone’s actually talking directly to me and I have to actually listen and respond. Ha! Most of my writing, though, happens after the kids are asleep or while they’re in school. Not as many derailments at those times.
Many writers work in silence (other than the noise in their heads). I have the head-noise, yes, but I also need music. It’s not always the same, but for weeks at a time, it might be. (I have obsessive tendencies when it comes to music.)
I have my red sofa. I have my lovely bed. I have the shower. Words find me in these places. My laptop is on my lap probably a bit too often when I’m on the sofa. I keep a small stack of notebooks and a glass of pens by the bed. And always a pad of post-it notes for the times I wake in the middle of the night and have to jot down ideas I find in my dreams immediately before my defective short-term memory loses them forever. The shower is a tad more challenging. I think of things under the water all the time. I haven’t worked out a way to write those ideas down while in progress. I usually repeat the thought in my head until I’m out and dry enough to run to paper and pen. And yes, my husband has caught me running from shower to bedside completely naked and slightly drippy.
The big suck, though, is being in my headspace to write, coffee in hand, perfect music playing, and… and… nothing. It’s the writers’ equivalent of blue balls. Not that I have any idea how that actually feels since I am a woman.
And so, dear readers and friends and followers… I have created a contact page just for you. What would you like to see me write about? Is there a sentence or phrase or even a single word that you want to share to see where I go with it? Do you want to ask me about my childhood? My overactive fantasy life? Anything. Tell me anything. As me anything. You don’t even have to use your full name… or even your real name. Contact page is here. Or, of course, comment below to your heart’s content.
~Writing 101: day 6
what sandra thinks 
Oh the shower ideas , that must be one of the most prolific times of our days … whoever finds a way that enables us to record our thoughts without having to stop to dry and jot them down will become rich 😉
Turtle Hugs
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Hmm… I’m unemployed and in need of a paycheck. Maybe I should look into that! 🙂
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🙂
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The sixty year old mahogany desk sounds lovely! How I wish I had one too 👍
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But let me tell you, it was a bitch to move it around the house. I think it’s the heaviest piece of furniture we own! And I would post a photo, but, unfortunately, it’s currently covered with the old desktop pc the kids use and way too much other stuff. It wouldn’t be pretty!
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The writers equivalent to blue balls, haha. Hilarious
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Maybe you could invent waterproof paper! :p
I play music too sometimes, and surprisinly that doesn’t distract me. But when someone speaks to me, I completely lose it – my mind and the chain of thought. And, my head-noise .. ufff!! you wouldn’t believe the racket that goes on there!
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I have to admit, I practically cried (more than once) when I had a great thought or a great phrasing for something… and one of my kids started talking to me and I totally lost my idea/words. And I desperately tried to get them back, but no! Plus my short-term memory really sucks anyway. I have to write shit down the instant I think of it! Hmm.. waterproof paper… Oh, I know… thick plastic freezer bags and a sharpie. Ha!
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I love this. I feel ya on the kids thing.
and this
“The big suck, though, is being in my headspace to write, coffee in hand, perfect music playing, and… and… nothing. It’s the writers’ equivalent of blue balls.”
HA oh yes so true. I never considered myself to “be a writer” but I sure love writing and I relate to this.
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Here’s the solution for the shower. I have these and they really work! http://www.myaquanotes.com/aquanotes/tabid/55/default.aspx
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Oh! That’s exactly what I need! And I suppose my idea of inventing such a product is not going to work out…..!
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Loved this post.
I am lucky enough to have my own beautiful writing space: beautiful view, door that closes, roll top desk, ergonomic leather chair, comfy leather couch. But as long as I have pen and paper, total notebook + pen (particularly my daily fountain pen rotation and my beloved black Mitsubishi UniPin 0.3 (everything-proof) Fineline pens), I can really write anywhere and usually in the strangest of spaces. I’m a big story-dreamer and most of my ideas come from my dreams so I always have a notebook or 3 on my bedside table.
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Your writing space sounds lovely. I’m jealous! But I can (and do) write almost anywhere… wherever anything comes to mind. Recently I pulled aside in the grocery store to note a few thoughts in my phone — didn’t want to lose them!
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