The Natural Habitat of the Wild Writer

Meanwhile, While Dennis is out Dragonfly Hunting…

Hi all. It’s Kristine Cherry again, coming to you from the Dragonfly Temple.

What is that, you may ask? It’s a reference not only to my work-in-progress trilogy entitled, “The Dragonfly Temple Chronicles”, but also what I call my writing space in our home. (See what I did there – got your attention, didn’t I lol!)

While my husband Dennis types away on his steampunk trilogy in our bedroom five days + each week, I create my world of dragonflies and the Goddess of Death at my desk in the living room.

Our writing environments are as different as our story’s subject matter, and those differences in both our settings are the subject of my guest blog today.

Why Environment is Important

Have you ever tried writing in a place that wasn’t conducive to creativity? It’s almost impossible! The noise, people around you and distractions that are out of our control prevent anything usable from being written. Carving out that special place where we write is just as important as when we do it during the day. Just ask any writer.

Some people are just happy and grateful for the ability to find a small section of the universe to sit down and write, no matter where it is. It may not be the ideal environment, but that should never stop us from starting our writing journey. It should also never stop us from creating that perfect place that will inspire us to write at our very best.

So How and Where Do You Find Your Writing Environment?

chair swingThe “where“ should be a place available whenever the writing bug hits you, or you set in your schedule to sit down and work. An easier task for a single person than one with family or a roommate, be sure to clearly communicate with those around you where that place is and that you are not to be disturbed when you are there. In our home, Dennis writes every weeknight after 8:00 pm, except the day he goes grocery shopping. He supplements this with weekend writing sessions whenever time allows – which is easy to find when we communicate and coordinate our busy schedules with each other.

My writing time is much more sporadic – mornings before work and after he leaves for his job, evenings when he is writing and/or asleep. I even find time during care giving jobs where my senior clients are sleeping and all the chores are done. In hospice cases, this can translate to the majority of my eight-hour shifts, so I am never hard-pressed to have opportunities to write during the week.

The “how” of finding an environment is as varied as each person’s circumstances. For us in the Cherry household, it was natural for both of us to be drawn to writing at our desks in separate rooms for practical reasons, but when there is a choice of more than one place, going with your gut feeling is always the best, first choice. Back before I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and began my physical therapy, I was allowed to sit in a recliner and banged out many, many MLP fan fiction stories and DTC chapters there. It is my deepest hope to one day return to that comfortable arrangement when my therapy is done, but I will always keep writing at the living room desk – my first, best option then and now.

How you find your own special place to pursue your craft might be easier than you think. Take the time to visit each and every room in your home, taking a tablet, laptop or pen and paper with you and see what happens. Go with an idea or chapter in mind to write down, or see if an idea comes to you easier in one room than another. If no rooms seem conducive, go out and visit your garage, your man-cave or she-shed. Even an RV or special spot in the forest on a hillside or by a creek could do it for you. Don’t give up until you find it. Trust me, you will if you want it bad enough, but also remember to not to force it.

If it’s meant to be, it will find you.

Fini

Next Week – Where You Write Becomes Your World

 

71st blog completed.

First Steampunk novel:  72,000 words.  Actually added some words this week, nice round number.  Working on chapter ten.

First Steampunk screenplay:  Need to update with notes from the novelization.

Second Steampunk screenplay:  114 pages

Second Steampunk novel: 0 words.

Third Steampunk screenplay:  38 pages

Taking a break from blogging this week, Dennis went to our local Dragonfly Temple (CSUN) and made a friend.

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