First of all, I love the premise behind “show us where you write,” because it’s a much larger question than, “Where do you type your words?” I have a home office, but for the first fifteen years of my life as a writer I had a day job, which meant two hours of a daily commute in my car, which was a great time for brainstorming.
I was finally able to go full-time as a writer last January, so here is a picture of the office where I do the actual typing part of writing. Note the old-style desktop computer with and full-sized keyboard and a real mouse. I’ve tried to migrate to a laptop, but have failed in spectacular fashion. So this is where my fingers generate text, but I do a ton of the legwork for a novel elsewhere.
I do a lot of the daydreaming part of creation during my morning runs. This is a picture of a pond near my house where I run most mornings…. I play turbulent music from movie soundtracks while I physically exhaust myself and somehow this unlocks my brain and lets my imagination flow. Sometimes I stop to record a quick note on my phone for how whatever inspiration struck me as I ran.
Finally, here’s a very recent picture of me in a dentist’s chair. I have spent far too many hours at the dentist this year, and like most writers, I am a shameless eavesdropper. In those interminable twenty or thirty minutes while I end up waiting with nothing to do I glean so much listening to people argue about their bills, office assistants gossip about Friday night plans, or office managers arguing with a contractor about why the x-ray machine needs to be serviced yet again. People from different walks of life or perspectives are pure gold for breaking me out of my rut and help me infuse my writing with uniquely familiar aspects to underscore a scene. All useful for a writer! Whenever I’m forced to wait, whether it is at the DMV, the airport, or a grocery store line, I tend to glance around and see what I can learn.
Inspiration is all around us if we just look for it.
Elizabeth Camden is best known for her historical novels set in gilded age America featuring clever heroines and richly layered storylines. Before she was a writer, she was an academic librarian at some of the largest and smallest libraries in America, but her favorite is the continually growing library in her own home. Her novels have won the RITA and Christy Awards, and she lives in Florida with her husband who graciously tolerates her intimidating stockpile of books. You can find her on Facebook and on her website.
I love to hear how we writers all need something different. I keep reading how people need to play music while they write, but I find music distracting, especially when I’m working on a first draft. Maybe that’s just because I’m a bit new at this. Hopefully my focus gets better as I go. 🙂 Thanks for sharing about your writing space.