It’s time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) post! Every first Wednesday of the month we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to come up with solutions.
The IWSG question of the month is “If you could pick one place in the world to sit and write your next story, where would it be and why?” The one place in the world that I would pick to write my next story is my house. That’s because this is where I write all my fiction, at least at the first draft level. When I’m at home and not in front of or around other people I can do my best fiction writing and my imagination can expand far more than in a public place or at a friend or relative’s home. It is there that I come in touch best with, what I think are, my most awesome fantasies.
Most writers have what can be considered the equivalent to a sacred space. Like Zen monks have their sacred space to meditate and expand their minds, many of us writers have that special space to write our stories and mine is my kitchen table at home. A slight exception is when I’m writing a longer work such as a novella. Unlike when I write the first drafts to my short stories, which I write with pen and paper, I write the first drafts to longer works of fiction on my PC which is in my living room. However, I will do all my brainstorming and pre-draft outlining for a long work in pen and paper and therefore in the kitchen. So, my house is my sacred writing space and I also consider it my mad scientist lab of written creation! It’s where I bring to literary life many of the monsters that haunt my horror stories and invade my sci fi!
Some writers do their best work in a natural setting such as the woods or the beach. Some do it in a café (in which I do many of my later stages of editing there and in fast food joints since I’m addicted to diet cola!). Others may do their best writing in the library and some even write in a book store. This last one was often the late Harlan Ellison’s place of writing. But when writing my fiction, my home, particularly my kitchen and living room, is my studio.
Today’s IWSG is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Gwen Gardner, Doreen McGettigan, Tyrean Martinson, Chemist Ken, and Cathrina Constantine! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the Cassa Series of novels!
Until next time . . .
Ultimately home is best because it's secluded and you have all you need right there.
ReplyDeleteI used to write first drafts by hand but then my first NaNo trained me to do it on the computer.
That's kind of what started me to do my first drafts of novels/novellas on the computer was NaNo: I just wouldn't be able to put up with all that handwritten paper in so relatively a short amount of time, I guess you can say! lol Too much to manage.
DeleteAs Dorothy said in OZ, "there's no place like home." I love writing at home too, I need peace and quiet to be most productive.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late response. I was away in San Francisco last week and so am just now checking messages. San Francisco is great, but as you said as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home"! And that goes for writing too, of course. I was doing so much out last week that I had no time to write except in my journal. I'm still trying to get back into the my regular writing routine. And each time I come back after being away somewhere for a number of days, I find out how true it is that my house is the best place to write my fiction. Thanks for visiting!
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