Whether artist or writer, we all have to find places to do our work. Over the years, I've pretty well tried a lot of them from a kitchen table to an extra bedroom but am enjoying best my corner of the living room-- which is good considering how many hours a day I work there between editing, writing books, creating covers, working with photos, and blogs.
Working in a living room has a drawback for the living room. Writing can be a cluttered work. There are notes and ideas for the book. Jump drives are piled nearby (smart writers save onto them frequently-- or should I say experienced computer users), Then there are the personal items-- lipstick (well, mine because my lips often feel dry, and I don't want to remember where my purse is), extra glasses, the dealie I use to strengthen my neck, BenGay, postits, etc. Camera can't be too far away.
So, a working writer's area in the corner of what is an otherwise tidy living room is an issue if it matters how the living room looks. On the other hand, for working, it's perfect for me. It wouldn't be for everyone.
One thing that makes my space work is my husband is not much of a television viewer. If the boob tube was on, there might be a conflict. Although when I had the grandkids here a week, I worked right through their morning kid viewing. It also enabled me to peek over once in awhile to see what they were watching. Mostly I have a personal ability which helps, when working around others, I space out what is not on the computer screen in front of me.
This space is also handy for me to be near a phone, out where I can duck into the kitchen if need be, where I am in a central location to the house.
By working here, I am near windows which enables me to check out strange noises (also, of course, has me hearing all the log trucks, noisy motorcycles, and cars traveling too fast on the highway (about 100 feet away although with a creek in between). I can keep an eye on the cats if they are in what we loosely call the hummingbird yard.
Naming our yards, which (like most people) we have two, is not the easiest thing because of the placement of our house, and this being a farm property. We have come up with different ways to describe them but none have stuck. The hummingbird yard can also be called the old yard, the first yard, the creek yard, the flower garden yard, front yard (even though it's really the backyard), or the driveway yard. The vegetable garden yard can be the... oh you get the idea. Maybe one day we'll figure out a title for each that works. For now I love having two yards where one works when it's morning, the other afternoon. One works when it's hot and the other when it's cooler. We have tables to eat in them in both. Where I am working looks out onto the the 'first' which is also the rose garden yard.
What made my writing experience here even better is something I just added to my work area. It took a rearranging of favorite paintings and a Navajo rug but I am very happy with how it functions. Because I went on so long about my yards, I'll save this change for next blog. It is a change I much recommend for writers where characters are important to their story.
