The Writer’s Cave
A Special space
your environment matters
When people talk about writer’s tools, they usually are referring to the tools we use for the physical act of writing: pen, paper, typewriter, ink, computer, software. But one of the most important—and often most overlooked—tools in a writer’s toolbox is the environment we write in. There is no single perfect environment, in the same way there is no single perfect writing implement. Each of us has a brain that is unique, that functions differently. What may work great for one person may be hell for another. You need to experiment and find the space that works for you.
For example, I live and work on my boat. A sailboat. She is a sailing catamaran fifty feet long and twenty-eight feet wide, with showers, air conditioning, refrigeration and a coffeemaker (very important for most writers). She has all the comforts of home. She even has an actual office. The office is the main reason I bought the boat. I wasn’t planning on buying a catamaran this big, but when I looked at the boat for the first time with the broker and saw the office with a desk, bookshelves, room for a printer and a door I could close for privacy, I knew I had found my new home and office. I will admit, I sometimes miss my old house with my bookshelf lined study and much bigger corner desk where I could spread out my papers. But I am a lifelong sailor, and the solitude of being anchored in some secluded cove where I can write without the phone ringing, take a break and swim, then write some more, helps my writing immensely. I get distracted easily, so writing in, say, the local coffee shop would not be conducive to good writing (or any writing at all, for that matter).
I also like fish and chips and a cold beer, so I like being anchored near a great waterfront bar/restaurant where I can take a lunch break after sitting at my desk writing for five hours. After that much solitude, not only do I like a good meal, but I like chatting with the bartender or other patrons. Writing can be a lonely occupation, much different from working in a busy office, as I did for years in Manhattan.
The point is, whatever works for you is what is important. You need to experiment, try different rooms, different layouts, different desks, different chairs, different art (or books) on the walls. Some people write in basements, others need windows and sunlight and pleasing vistas. Some people need whole walls to tape or pin up index cards or sheets of writing or inspirational phrases. Some people need to be surrounded by the energy of other people writing, as in a coffee shop or a library.
You need to find what energizes you, makes you feel more comfortable, more creative. Or maybe not more comfortable. Maybe you work best when you're anxious, stressed, on deadline. Its all about the writing. There are times when I write best when I'm relaxed, quiet, calm with no distractions. That's usually when I'm working on a deep thoughtful piece, fiction perhaps, or a philosophical essay. I finished my first book, Passage to Nirvana, by taking a winter sabbatical and sailing to the Bahamas, where I anchored in empty coves and wrote uninterrupted for days on end. Other times I have done my best work when under the gun. When I was a magazine editor/writer, I functioned best with a managing editor sticking her nose in my office every 15 minutes reminding me that we go to press in three hours and I better have my article finished in the next hour. The copy editor needed time to fact check and edit my piece.
The key is to make the writing space your space. Even in a public space like a coffee shop, pull the same laptop or pen and notebook out of the same bag, arrange your coat over the chair the same way every time, order the same coffee and muffin—whatever it takes to make the space familiar, to make it yours. Your writing will thank you for it.
Charles's books
