MY work space is a cluttered desk in an even more cluttered room in the chilly upper midwest.
It's not where I would like to churn out my first great (or complete...) work. I would much rather sit back and write somewhere peaceful, like on a porch with a huge wheatfield in front of me, or maybe a beach.
Basically a place that's open, pleasant and has no problem with cigarette smoke.
What about you?
I was just considering this myself. I'd love a desk in a finished tree house that looks out over the top of a forest facing east so I can watch the sun rise.
Maybe a cabin like Hemingway or Woody Creek Farm. My other options would be where ever there is a beach or a studio apartment in hells kitchen new york with nothing but a type writer, matress and a fridge full of beer.
I'm such a city person, I'm not sure if I could handle being in the quiet and solitude of nature. I like the idea of sitting in a cafe or Biergarten in Berlin, where I got to do study abroad. I quit smoking, but I still love the smell of cigarettes and the social atmosphere that comes with it. I need to be around people when I'm writing-- the backgorund noise gives just enough distraction to not feel isolated with my work.
A dingy bar with cheap drinks, but one where someone/thing wouldn't break my computer.
I would write in Interzone.
I would like to take a typewriter and lay on both Bukowski and Salinger's graves with a huge thermos of coffee for a solid 24 hours each. Give a 6 pack to Hank and throw Salinger in a river like he told people to.
I would also like to take a notebook and a tape recorder to camp while tripping on acid for the first time at Hunter S. Thompson's monument, watching politicians lie to the American people on a portable tv.
I really just wish I was a "Necroscope".
@Laurance
One spring break in Panama City I smoked some chron with these hippies in the room next to us before I ate some ecstacy tabs and got really drunk before going down to the beach to pee in it. Afterwards I did the weird thing that hunter thompson (Depp in the movie to be specific) did on the beach with the american flag (but with a beach towel.) Then for a while I stared at the ocean (it was very late) and thought about how it looked like it just kept going. Then I walked on the beach for a while and the rest was well classic spring break behaviour. The tripping on acid, camping, thompson thing brought those memories back because I had brought a red notebook to write everything down in like fear and loathing but was too busy for that. And I'll never forget that crazy week.
I like sitting on my balcony. I can't today because the rain's so bad. Other than that, doesn't really matter to me.
Exploring some random part of the city. I really like my city. Downtown is a big hub of culture and weirdness, and getting steeped in that is a fine place to write - specifically at a large park in the middle of it all where they sometimes host live bands, like Cold War Kids were there recently, and there's musicians and stuff playing for tips and the local art college does things down there sometimes, and there's also a farmer's market every Saturday and early morning joggers... etcetera. What I'm saying is, it's a very fine place to go and exist: it doesn't feel like an area, downtown, but a living, breathing machine. You're taking something from it but it's also taking something from you.
Forsyth Park, downtown Savannah, GA, if anyone's wondering.
@amazingrobots, that's what I'm talkin about!
In the middle of Nevada Desert, or in a middle sized house in Maine.
But I'm quite pleased with my place, actually.
Oh man I would be at my old childhood home in Las Vegas, Nevada. I never fully appreciated the view at a young age and I had such a beautiful view of the Nevada mountains from my window, sun rises and sun sets like you wouldn't believe.
A secluded island or place with diverse settings. Ascension island or somewhere in New Zealand.
How about places not in this world?
Risa anyone?
I keep thinking of a small condo/cabana in Key West with terrific wifi would do the trick!
Peace,
Rue
I wouldnt want to write in Pauly Shore's apartment.
@jacks_username, "Whatcha wra-wra-writin buuuuddy?!"
@jacks_username, "Whatcha wra-wra-writin buuuuddy?!"
@Dhanny
A highly pornographic novel with the main character as Helen Keller as a circus clown.
THAT I would read.
Did anyone call strip-club or whorehouse, yet? Because if not - DIBS!
Gahh! More and more I'm considering changing my place to Portland!
@jacks, I was just looking at a hotel in Portland called The Nines. In there, they have a hidden library... I would definitley pump out a few thousand words there.
@Jeffery - I'm curious, how is it hidden? I tried looking it up and everything I've found just refers to it as hidden, without explanation.
In chuck's mind
I'm pretty fond of my house, but I get interrupted a lot. So I'm going to say somewhere without interruptions or distractions.
@Raelyn, I honestly have no idea how it is. I found it after a string of google searches.
I'd love to write on a secluded tropical beach somewhere.
Being more realistic, the Pacific Northwest has some really gorgeous spots. I kind of want to take a day trip and go on a "writing retreat" for myself.
Hotels! All sorts of hotels, all around the country. The idea of traveling to a city I've never been to, checking in to a decent hotel, and setting up shop with my laptop and a cup of hot coffee... now that sounds like fun! I find familiarity such a distraction. I can barely write a word at home--I even purchased a little laptop so I could escape the confines of my house and find new places to wroodle away.
There is this little cafe by my office in the city that gets pretty busy during peak hours of the day, but I'd love to go there, order a pot of tea, sit by the window and write. But it takes forty minutes to get out there, and who'd want to be so close to the office on a Saturday?
Cafes and beaches. My dream is to just pack a small bag, my camera and a small notebook (like the air... oh baby!) and travel the world. I'll shoot as I go, then stop at any random city/town/villiage, find a cafe, or a beach somewhere, and just write.
@Kate Winters: Oh, yes... the AIR. Because I'm mainly a Windows user, (well, I used to be anyway) I found that working on a Mac while at work cut down on my distractions somehow. I decided on the Air when I was shopping for an ultraportable because the Mac OS was familiar enough for me to set up Scrivener and surf the web, but alien enough for me where I wouldn't get too comfortable and cram a bunch of other programs and distracting things onto it. It was an expensive investment, but I told myself I'd only ever use it for writing and web browsing and that's what I've been doing, so when I open it up to use I know I'll get some words in.
And it's such a sexy thing to take to a cafe!
@missK: OMG... I have to say, like everyone that has switched, once you go mac, you don't go back... I've been a long time PC user. I build them, set them up from scratch and everything. I use linux, unix and windows, but from a usability and convenience point of view, Macs really do know what they're doing. I have completely abandon the use of a mouse, since the trackpad is significantly more sensitive. I have a 15 in right now for graphics and for everything else, but it IS a bit of a weight to carry around even if it's already one of the lightest 15in out there. An Air would be fab for traveling and going somewhere to do writing related things :D (and yes, it's soooo shmexy to take to a cafe :P)
I wandered into that little cafe I mentioned before. I think I mentioned it, anyway. Ah, being there--I wanted to sit down and write immediately. Unfortunately, it was only my lunch break and I was there for a smoothie and some bags of tea.
I really need to wake up early enough to stop by there and get some writing done before work. I imagine the experience would be rewarding. But this new place I moved into is so warm and comfortable and it's so hard to roll out of bed in the morning... bah!
One day. One day I'll do it!
In a train station. I freaking love train stations.
I'd like to tour all the train stations in the world, writing.
Well I'd take notes at the station, draft in a café, rewrite in a big house with friends in it, and edit wherever there is a whole lot of dope at hand.
Awesome.
While I think ultimately it would be cool to have a room dedicated to sit down and write, I think it would be as equally (if not more so) better and more prolific for me to write without a set enviroment, to write when it comes to me, from wherever in the world.
Somewhere quiet, clean, and far away from any kind of unwanted human contact. Solitary confinement, maybe?
