Where do you like to write?

[rescatooor]

I was a fan of cafes and cafeterias until the keyboard of my laptop suffered a healthy dose of white wine. Until it gets fixed, (which may take a while with my pay check,) i'm stuck to the boundaries of my flat: my bed, the balcony, the kitchen. I might like to have my own writing oasis someday but that may take a bit. Libraries usually won't do since I like to enjoy a hot cup of tea or listen to music as I write.

Do you need your own study/working area for your writing? What would be an ideal place for writing for you?

 

[sr71plt]

I couldn't write in a café. Too distracting for me. The best place is in my home office where I am keying in a computer in front of me and factchecking in another computer next to me. I don't even need background music. Whenever I do have music running--and it has to be instrumental only, as I'm singer, so any vocals in the background will distract me--I find that the music can finish and I won't even notice it has. When I'm focused into the writing the rest of the world has gone away.

 

[Haulover]

...The best place is in my home office where I am keying in a computer in front of me...

^^ This

 

[TxRad]

My office, the table on the screened in back porch, a picnic table at a local park on the lake. Any of those will work according to the weather.

 

[_Lynn_]

I use the desktop computer when I write. Even though I don't pay much attention to it, I prefer background music to silence. There's a window across from the desk that gives me a great view of nothing more than trees, which is relaxing and helps me think.

I don't do well in places like coffee shops or with writing groups.

 

[Hypoxia]

Writing: I recline in a couch at a visual focal point of my house. My 12.5-inch ThinkPad is in my lap. Beside me, a small table with books, lamp, devices; on the couch, a small musical instrument (currently a cheap baritone 'uke in CGBD tenor tuning) to occupy me when waiting for screen refreshes.

Note-taking: Pen-on-paper or tapping a tablet when anywhere else. Only sketches. I can't imagine *writing* in a noisy environment. I can't flow with distractions.

 

[Handley_Page]

I have my 'shack' where my radio equipment is, and my main computer.

 

[SimonDoom]

My desktop computer at home.

I prefer a desktop computer to a laptop computer.

 

[ElectricBlue]

a small musical instrument (currently a cheap baritone 'uke in CGBD tenor tuning) to occupy me when waiting for screen refreshes.

What? Where in the last century do you live? Modem?? Wow, you poor bugger. Me, fibre optic broadband, I don't even remember the last time I saw a screen crawl. Bloody hell, it never occurred to me that folk still waited for screen refreshes.

Writing space - my kindle on my lap, within range of the wireless bb modem. Upstairs, downstairs, out in the garden. I could go wider afield and write i guess, but i rarely do.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

At my desk at which I sit as I type this. I used to go to the library sometimes, but since my car doesn't like to go very far anymore, I stay at home. Which is fine as I have everything I need here anyway.

 

[oggbashan]

My desktop computer in my study. I need a full size keyboard.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Our dining room has been repurposed as a home office with two desks and one workstation and two huge bookcases. The bookcases are mine. The workstation is all mine with my laptop, a big monitor and my sound system. I almost always work there although I will drag my laptop off to my partners office and work there sometimes.

 

[litfan10]

I write in one of two places. For serious "I have a deadline that involves a contractual commitment" I write in my library at a desk by the back window with a desktop computer.

I prefer writing in my office which is next to my bedroom that way I can chat with slave_ and she can get my attention easily.

The best part is a very, very dear friend gave me a fantastic piece of artwork she made as my desktop background. Talk about wonderful inspiration.

Like Ogg I have a huge ass raised Microsoft ergonomic keyboard that I love.

Also like _Lynn_ I have music cranking when I write.

Happy writing rescatooor - good luck with the laptop.

 

[Hypoxia]

What? Where in the last century do you live? Modem?? Wow, you poor bugger. Me, fibre optic broadband, I don't even remember the last time I saw a screen crawl. Bloody hell, it never occurred to me that folk still waited for screen refreshes.

I'm out in a fairly remote mountain hamlet, fiefdom of a local telecom monopoly. Yeah, they laid optical fibre under our dirt road and I sometimes see 1.5 mbps -- when DNS works and VolCom's servers deign to transmit data. Right now I'm getting 0.96 up and 0.42 down. Well, it beats carrier pigeons. Except they're edible.

Back to my writing space, a visually rich environment. I'm surrounded by arts, crafts, instruments, books, artifacts. Long sightlines carry views of the surrounding forest and its critters. I've nearly abandoned the 'office' with its desk, desktop systems, reference library, and mini-studio. The desk requires hunching-over in an upright chair. Lounging is so much better.

 

[NotWise]

I'm most productive on my desktop at work, but then they want me to do things that are within my job description and it screws things up.

Second best is my desktop in my home office, but there are a lot of distractions at home: chores need to be done, cats need attention, beer needs to be consumed.

Third best is using Google Docs off my tablet. That's only useful while traveling.

I never run music while I write. I don't think it's because of the distraction. I don't need it, so I don't do it.

 

[_Lynn_]

The best part is a very, very dear friend gave me a fantastic piece of artwork she made as my desktop background. Talk about wonderful inspiration.

I have clear Plexiglas on my desk (which is approx. 3' x 6') to protect the cherry top. There's an assortment of photos and inspirational quotes/sayings under it all the time.

 

[litfan10]

I have clear Plexiglas on my desk (which is approx. 3' x 6') to protect the cherry top. There's an assortment of photos and inspirational quotes/sayings under it all the time.

That is wonderful!

When I was strictly writing as my job, my desk had all sorts of cartoons and quotes. Helped keep my sanity (maybe, sort of?) Still have many.

Two of my favorite cartoons was a guy and girl on a date where she asks him what he does for a living and he answers "A writer" to which she responded, "No, really, for money."
and
an old Shoe cartoon where the barkeep asks the professor where he got his inspiration for writing so much, his answer "My mortgage is my muse."

 

[_Lynn_]

That is wonderful!

When I was strictly writing as my job, my desk had all sorts of cartoons and quotes. Helped keep my sanity (maybe, sort of?) Still have many.

Two of my favorite cartoons was a guy and girl on a date where she asks him what he does for a living and he answers "A writer" to which she responded, "No, really, for money."
and
an old Shoe cartoon where the barkeep asks the professor where he got his inspiration for writing so much, his answer "My mortgage is my muse."

Depending on what I'm writing, I use photographs from when I was young. They remind me of the path my life followed and of the challenges I faced to get where I am today, allowing me to add an extra dose of emotion to the stories.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Lounging on a couch, shoes off, keyboard balanced on the cushions or my leg. Artificial light, dimmish, Silence, or instrumental music (ambient for storytelling, jazz or art rock for sex). I lose track of the music routinely. Multiple screens a must, Google and wikipedia tabs in heavy use. Something to drink, but no food.

Same approach for anything else I do involving my mind. Sitting upright at a desk just doesn't do it. Voices are distracting - I can't "hear" my characters talk or "hear" what the code is doing or whatever. Don't talk to me if I'm composing - I either won't hear you or will get annoyed.

 

[PuckIt]

In the middle of the damn night when the wife, the dog, and all three cats are finally fucking ASLEEP so I can get through more than one paragraph without someone needing something that just can't fucking wait!

I'm thinking about trading my old tower in for a lap top and moving to the North Pole (without them) and I'll swing back down in Wi-Fi range to send what I've gotten finished about once a week.

Seriously, dog?! I literally just sat back down and checked the forums after taking you outside and typed this one response. You can not possibly need to go outside again already.

 

[HectorBidon]

Best thread ever! Whoever could have imagined such an intriguing, well-drawn cast of characters?

If I were to imagine an author of erotic literature, I might think that the real work would be done in bed, under the covers, without paper or electronics, just as the sandman is packing up his gear. The rest would be mere elaboration, amplification, embellification, reorganization, spell checking, and whiskey. Necessary finish work, but rarely up to the task.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm so old school that I still use a mouse even with a laptop, so I have to have a desk surface to write on. There's actually a medical reason for this. I have essential tremors. Keyboarding and mouse use are (still) fine, but touch screening just doesn't work.

 

[_Lynn_]

I'm so old school that I still use a mouse even with a laptop, so I have to have a desk surface to write on. There's actually a medical reason for this. I have essential tremors. Keyboarding and mouse use are (still) fine, but touch screening just doesn't work.

Ditto on the mouse, although I can use surfaces other than a desk when I am on the laptop.

 

[SamScribble]

I'm so old school that I still use a mouse even with a laptop, so I have to have a desk surface to write on. There's actually a medical reason for this. I have essential tremors. Keyboarding and mouse use are (still) fine, but touch screening just doesn't work.

Yes, I use a mouse too. My finger tips only get a blood delivery every few hours, and so touch screen is a bit hit and miss.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I'm so old school that I still use a mouse even with a laptop, so I have to have a desk surface to write on. There's actually a medical reason for this. I have essential tremors. Keyboarding and mouse use are (still) fine, but touch screening just doesn't work.

A mouse is essential, I hate it when I don't have a mouse. My laptop is ooooold. Seven years old, I got it when I was at college and it works fine for me. All I have is an old version of MS Office and Chrome and it works for me. Email, writing and web is all it gets used for. I have a big corkboard on the wall and I stick pictures and notes for whatever I'm writing there. The overhead shelf has all the books I'm using or referring to for whatever I'm writing on plus all my "how to write" books. The coffee maker sits at the far end so i don't have to get up for a refill.