Writing Hardware............

Hi all,

First, let me start out by asking you all an important question. Where do you do the dirty deed? No, not that one, LOL. Of course, I’m talking about writing. Where then, do you write? Or actually, what do you write on?

I think it was Stephen King (want to step back and highly rec his book “On Writing”, best book about writing mechanics I’ve ever read), who said that he not only has kept a special desk to write on but it’s also where he writes that’s important. Again, if I can recall his musings on this, King said that he writes near a window, under an overhang (eave).

I’m sort of like King in a way since everything I’ve written has been accomplished in either one of two places. At my kitchen table. Or at my desk in my bedroom. Both pieces of furniture have been with me a long, long time. The kitchen set was bought when I was about 7 and about 20% of the time, I write on that with my laptop. Yeah, laptops are great. If you’re a writer and do not yet have one, I do very much rec them. Why? Well, because it’s nice not to have that ‘tied down’ feeling that one can have at their PC. Sometimes when I have writer’s block, a change of surroundings can often work for me. This is usually accomplished by me writing at my kitchen table with my laptop. And carrying my writing ‘junk’ around with me (yes, I still have a paper dictionary and a thesaurus). The change of scenery usually helps stimulate my creativity and allows me to be able to better focus and write.

So where do I do about 80% of my writing? Well, that occurs in my bedroom, on my PC. Some people like to live in large rooms and get claustrophobia in small ones. I’m sort of the opposite. I enjoy tiny spaces. Feels comfortable and cozy to write in. For many, many years, I had the smallest room in my house, writing under two medium-sized windows that looked out onto my (and the neighbor’s) backyard. It was a quiet neighborhood so there were few distractions (except in the summer with the neighbor’s kids and pool) and the surrounding trees provided a nice writing environment.

Last year, my father passed away and I had to sell my home. I now reside in a small condo. When I was buying the condo, I remember walking into each of the two bedrooms and thinking, which one would be good for writing. The first one of the two, the smaller one, reminded me of the bedroom that I had left. It had large windows, looking out onto trees (screening the parking lot beyond) and ‘felt’ sort of like my old room. Now, I didn’t buy the condo because I liked the ‘feel’ of the room but the fact that my new writing room looks and ‘feels’ like my old one has helped me with the transition. Immediately, after setting up my desk and my very numerous bookshelves, I sat down to write and went “Yeah, this feels nice.” I’ve been writing there (here) now for a year and the fact that it still reminds me of my other room helps my creativity to flow.

What do write on? Well, I write on the same desk that I’ve had since I was about 12 or so. When I was going to school back then called ‘junior high school’, I told my mother I needed something to fit my word processor, not computer (remember those?LOL) on. We went out to Sears (where we used to buy all our stuff in the old days) and she bought me a small, white desk. It’s the same desk I’m writing this on now. Yeah, lots of years and writing contained on (in) it. But you know, though I can afford to go out and ‘update’ my desk, I’m keeping it for sentimental reasons. I really enjoy the fact that I can remember writing all my college papers on there as well as my novel/short stories. So, in my life, the computers have changed but my white desk has remained a constant. Lately, it’s getting a little less sturdy but I’m keeping it til the very end. I hope it lasts for a good while longer:)

Take care all,
Chris