Writing is an art form like any other: drawing, painting, scrap-booking; and just like these other arts, you need your own space to successfully concentrate on the work at hand. Tailor your writing niche to your own personal style. Don’t be afraid to get creative! The first step, choose a location.
Location can be everything! You want to make sure that you’re comfortable – but not too comfortable or you might fall asleep in a late night/early morning writing session. Yeah, the reclining armchair is your favorite place to read in the whole world, but I can almost guarantee that you won’t get much writing done there. Desks, tables, and even the kitchen bar are common places to find a hard core writers. Make sure you’ve plenty of support and room to accommodate a proper typing style. Remember, it’s a long way to 50k and you don’t want to have to stop writing just because your wrists are in pain or you’ve got a cramp in your back.
Two, you need to have enough space to spread out if you need it. Think about this carefully. What do you need to write? If you’ve got handwritten notes, your writing muses, your coffee, your snacks, pens, pencils, highlighters, post-its, and not to mention your computer or notebook; the things you may need will start to pile up around you quickly. Make sure you’ve got room for everything, and keep it organized! After you’ve finished writing for the day, take a few minutes to clean up your space. Take the dishes to the kitchen, put away the pens, and throw away any trash. This way, when you’re ready to sit down and write again, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up; which could discourage you from writing. Nothing kills a muse like have to do chores.
The third thing to consider is traffic. Is the spot you picked out in a high traffic area of your home? Are your roommates or family members going to be walking by constantly getting laundry, making noise, or turning up the volume on the tv? My own writing niche is in the middle of a through way between the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom, but because of who I live with: my husband, and when I usually write: first thing in the the morning when he’s still asleep, it’s really not a problem and I’m also close to the coffee pot, so I don’t mind. But if I were to write during another time of the day, my little peaceful spot quickly becomes a little niche in hell. So stake out a spot in your home, and watch it carefully over the course of a week. That should give you an idea of how busy it could be.
Take some time to think about your writing space carefully. Ideal places like a home office or a bedroom in which a door can be shut and a Do Not Disturb sign can be hung, could be hard to come by but make the most of what you have. The three steps above also apply if you like to go out and write as well. Think about the location – quiet library or coffee shop; Space – is there room enough to set up shop for a couple of hours? And traffic- try to find a low traffic area, a corner perhaps? Make sure you’re not next to the help desk or printer, or the coffee shop counter. These can be very distracting.
Good luck on creating your own writing niche!
