| A REAL POST OMG. Writing spaces. |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|10:10 am] |
Over on last week's WIP Wednesday post, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) annpendragon talked about and posted a photo of her writing space. She asks, "Where is your 'Under the Steps'? Where do you pound away at your WIP, drink your coffee and dream?"
I'm lucky enough to have three designated spots in our home alone, plus the various cafes where I find some time with my muse. We have a rather big house (two stories, furnished attic, plus coal room & Boy's wood shop in basement) and only one kid, so we have a lot of leg room. We have a basic rule about not being more than a floor away from where V is playing for more than ten minutes, so it was important for me to have some place to work on both of the main floors. So on the first floor, in the sun room, we have the exercise equipment and the bulk of her toys, including her massive, coffin-like toybox of awesome doom (if it had a lid on it, it would KILL EVERYONE EVER; I am grateful for no top!).
Last year, Boy refinished an old drafting table he'd kept around for years. It's gorgeous and inspirational all by itself. The only place large enough to put it was in the sun room. We paired it with an organ bench (we have two organs and a piano; my husband is a musician, that's why!). About four seconds of the table being in its new home, I claimed it good and hard.
I wrote most of DARKNESSES at this table (I'm sitting here now). I love this table. Love it love it love it love it.
Took this photo last summer, when the desk faced the road. But Verity got a swingset this week, and is old enough to play in the backyard by herself, as long as the gate is closed. So yesterday we turned the sunroom on end, and now the desk faces the backyard, where I have a clear view of the swingset and the sandbox. With the windows open, we can holler to one another if we need anything. Like if she needs to go potty.
 What's pictured? MacBook, reference materials (like the NFT NYC book, which has amazing maps of awe), the Moleskine NYC Citybook, which makes it easy to customize maps for fictional purposes. There is a notebook for non-writing things -- any thoughts about life-things that pop into my head, so I can just jot them down without getting distracted. My glasses, because, um, totally necessary as my eyesight is terrible. My phone, so I can glance at the screen if I get a text or a call; usually I don't answer things during my writing time. Manuscript. I've gotten into the habit of making a new file every 10k into a manuscript, and then printing the new part out as it's finished. Keeping it handy helps so that I don't have to open six files to find something I need for reference's sake. My day planner. I use 30boxes.com religiously, but I also keep everything on paper, too, and sync them every few days. If I don't, I'm screwed because I'm so scatterbrained. My Moleskine Ruled Journal is a staple. I can't write without it arm's reach. And fiction. Pictured was James Dashner's The Thirteenth Reality, which sboman sent me (autographed to me by Mr. Dashner! I heart her so much!) I always keep a book close. Helps so much when I'm blocked -- nothing's better than reading a good book to remind you what yours is supposed to resemble, if only slightly! Right now I'm reading The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. YUM. And the ARC is all sorts of gorgeous.
Not pictured: my iPod! Srsly, I've never been able to listen to music and write at the same time until last year when I was working on DARKNESSES. Now I'm a total addict. We'll do a playlist post one of these days, how 'bout that? Currently, my BACKGROUND playlist consists of both Angels & Airwaves CDs and Jars of Clay's THE LONG FALL BACK TO EARTH -- "Lesson One" has become the theme song for UPSTAIRS. Maybe this revision was waiting for that CD to happen.
Right now, this table has my devotional stuff on it, my revision (in a cute, already beat-up porfolio I found at the dollar store), my non-writing notebook, my iPod, and a really sweet box Boy gave me. I stick all my extra stuff in there -- my FireWire, Kleenexes, scrap paper -- anything that would clutter up the desk.
I do try to keep the things in my immediate and peripheral vision neat, organized, and with a little touch of inspiration. Now, Verity's desk is right next to my sun room desk -- so she and I working together to keep that space clean so it doesn't distract me. It's always worth three or four minutes of picking up and putting away things before I get to work. If I don't, my Procrastinator button is as good as pushed. The only things of hers that are on the desk right now: her neatly-organized markers and Disney Princesses box of crayons.
The rest of my stuff is in my AWESOME BAG OF AWE that manderley23 gave me before last year's NYC trip, because I took it out with me last night. The bag deserves a post all its own.
I ALWAYS ALWAYS have Pilot G2 pens near me. SOMEBODY TOOK MY AWESOME PURPLE G2 PEN AT THE RETREAT LAST WEEKEND AND IF I FIND OUT WHO I WILL BE DETACHING THEIR FINGERNAILS VERRRRRY SLOWLY.
aside: We were making bracelets last weekend, and one of the girls (likely Laura!) threatened to do something sillyweird. So I said, "If you do that, I'll threaten you with something...awkward!" And I think it was Carly who was like, "DID YOU JUST THREATEN TO THREATEN SOMEONE?!?" And I was like, "Um. Yeah?" And everyone laughed at me. Even me.
Back.
This year I added a cooking timer to my desk, by the way.
Why? Because I was working on an article entitled "Taming Pesky Interruptions" for the parenting mag I worked for, and had to come up with ways to get kids to let parents do their grown-up work at home. I can't go into details right now because the rights date hasn't passed on it (30 days after publication), but I WROTE SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HELPED ME OMG. Yep. That's a third post I should write.
 The problem with the sunroom is that it gets c-c-cold in the winter. I mean, it's June 3 and it's still flippin' cold. #ohiosucks. And in the winter mornings, before we get the fire going, the whole downstairs is pretty freezy. So we spend a lot of time up on the second floor, which is where the library is.
Since the table Boy made for me last year isn't supersized (it fits my Moleskine and MacBook just fine, though), I have a shelf that holds all my extra notes, journals, and things. The couch is THE MOST COMFORTABLE THING EVER OMG. I spend a little time up there every day, just reading and drinking Culligan and snacking on Frosted Mini Wheats. I heart Frosted Mini Wheats. And the brass lamp that's on was given to us by our pastor, and it's got a steampunk vibe that just flows with the wood and leather. Big love.
Um...the chair was given to us by our pastor, too. The caning on the seat was busted, so Boy put a leather cusion on it. Yep. Also, Boy built those library shelves. Yeahhuh. He is a good boy to have. ALL. MINE.
My very personal, nobody-comes-in-here-without-my-say-so spot is up in the attic. I know, I know. The whole "madwoman in the attic" thing. When I'm not on Mommy Duty, I LOVE hiding away in my office. All my research books are there (crime, history, crime, NYC, crime, Teddy Roosevelt, crime...), two more bookshelves full. It's easily the place that gets cluttered the most -- but with a flip of the lamp switch I can tune all the clutter out and focus on my screen.
 It's where I keep all my personal inspiration - trinkets, artifacts (for real: old locks, a steroscope with cards, NYPD Sergeant's badge replica, ca. 1900), articles--anything that has that feel to it. It's old-NYC themed. I even have a menu from a mid-1910s dairy lunchroom taped to my wall. And NYC pictures one of my grade school students drew for me (complete with titling like "Liderty" for her Statue of Liberty picture). She was a Bronx native. And the Starbucks mug ornament and Brooklyn shot glass in the photo -- stuff like that.
The desk isn't nearly as awesome as the others, just one of those old Office Depot type practically-cardboard things , and but Boy got me a good chair for it two years ago, and now I can sit there without pain for HOURS. The hardest part about having a desk with drawers is keeping it neat -- I barely use the drawers at all. Just Kleenexes, scrap paper, notebooks, index cards and pens are allowed in the thing.
More office photos can be found at this post.
I do have to get out of the house at least once a week. I'll usually go to Barnes & Noble because they have a good amount of table space, no WiFi, and I know what to expect there. I love the local cafes, too, though, and when I'm doing something that's research intensive (esp. freelance work), I'll hang out at one of those places since the WiFi is stable and I prefer to give my moneys to indie stores these days. I crave a good indie bookstore-cafe-writing space (with a hearty YA section!), but there are none local (if there's one within 20 miles of Youngstown, OH, somebody has to tell me!).
I guess my writing spaces are sacred to me. They're priorities, because when they're in good condition, I feel good. Having a toddler running around in the middle of operations was frustrating for a while, but she's learning to be considerate -- and that helps a lot.
Speaking of The V Thing, I'm off to tuck the suddenly-unhappy one into bed for naptime. And then head up to the office bc it's warmer! #ohiosucks!
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Okay, guys. This is, what, my sixth year participating in NaNoWriMo? I know, right? And in those five previous years, NaNoWriMo has taught me a valuable lesson:
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