How (Not) to Create the Perfect Writing Space.

So you have decided that you want to write. Not only do you want to write, but you want to be a Writer with a capital W.

Like with any undertaking, you have to take the first step.

And the first step, at least for me, was to find the perfect writing space.

I found my first perfect place my junior year of college in a little tea shop called Karma. It was a small dimly lit haven of loose leaf tea and fresh scones in the town of Ferndale, MI. At the time, I was living in Ohio, one and a half hours away, but I would still make the journey every weekend back home and I would hole myself in the corner table from open to close to write. I had shown up so regularly for months, that eventually they simply put me on the payroll and had me running the shop while writing in between customers. When they closed a few months later, I was heartbroken.

I tried to find solace in other cafes with both Grounds for Thought in Bowling Green, OH (The coffee here is legend. Check it out here!) and The Flying Joe in Perrysburg, OH (Awesome local business and it was close to my job at the time. Check them out here!) but it just wasn't the same.

The flurry of moving cross country and back again never gave me the opportunity to find a new coffee house home in quite the same way. With no writing home, I simply stopped writing, and the years I had spent building good writing habits were lost.

Then NaNoWrimo happened.

I was going to do it. I was going to write that Novel. Nothing was going to stop me. I was sure of it.

Spoiler: I did not write that novel. I failed after four days.

At the time I had just moved into my first one bedroom apartment with my husband, newly married. We were happy and in love and we did not own a table and the only desk we had was his and covered in gaming and work things.

I tried writing on the couch with the laptop. But there was that pesky TV and surely just one more episode of the newest KDRAMA couldn't hurt. One episode and then I would write some more. Six episodes later....

I could stretch out in the bed with the laptop. I had done many late night papers like that during college.

Surely a five min power nap wouldn't hurt? I'd wake up the next day trying to figure out what happened.

Before the pandemic hit last year, The Henlo Press had been hosted by two lovely local businesses for writing events. (Check out Cicada Books and The Inner Geek! We hope to write with them both again!) It was amazing to find the coffee shop home in conjunction to somewhat regular writing routine I had found at home.

But with closures the health and safety concerns that came with pandemic I was back to being stuck at home.

Something had to change.

So I changed it.

Writing was not going to be something I did just anywhere, it was an activity that would have its own place.

I carved out a corner of my home and put up a desk. It was far away from the TV and the bed and from any mess that might be creeping its way through the house. If I was going to write, it was going to be the only thing I did in my space.

I got rid of extra clutter. I am a horrible gatherer of random toys and knick-knacks, but I got my desk limited to a few small desk buddies and writing tools. Enough that I knew it was definitely my space, but not enough to distract me from the task at hand.

I invested in a comfortable chair.

If you are going to write for any length of time, you deserve to be comfortable. Just trust me and do it.

And I set boundaries to my loved ones in the house. They know that if I am in my writing space, that I am working and if interrupted without and offering of sweets or a caffeine, I may bite.

This little haven is the place where I like to do most of my writing. I have created a place that is mine, and still free from distraction where I can focus on getting work done.

TL;DR

*Create a Space that is just for writing

*Make sure that that space is clear of distractions

*Make sure your space is comfortable

*Set boundaries for yourself and loved ones when using your writing space

*Stay Awesome

*Do what ever helps you to JUST WRITE

I know this journey doesn't look the same for everyone. I'd love to see your spaces and hear about the writing routines you have created to build success habits!

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