by Chris McMahon
It’s amazing how much a different environment helps you focus. It seems counter-intuitive, but if I move from my oh-so-very-silent dungeon home office to a back table at a busy cafe – with conversation buzzing so loud I can’t even hear the music coming over the speakers – suddenly I can focus.
It’s as though all the angst and negative emotion that might surround a particularly challenging part of your writing process somehow gets linked to the local environment. The inner voice is going, ‘Oh, crap. Here I am stuck in this chair again, looking at this scene.’
Many writers function well in the coffee shop setting – some even write entire novels there. I guess getting food, coffee and snacks is a lot less problematic. Affording such a running tab could be a problem. I’d say you run the risk of spending the entire Advance in advance 🙂
I have also noticed when I travel the hotel room also seems to offer the same sort of emotional ‘blank slate’. I guess the lack of distraction comes into it as well. Hotel rooms are notoriously boring – nothing to do but get lost in your own world. I have had some very productive sessions in this setting. I know Sarah enjoys getting away to the hotel!
So do you escape your desk to write? Do you only slip away to a new environment when you hit a snag? Or is it a conscious part of your artistic process?
Mad Genius Club 
2 responses to “Writing Environments”
Sometimes it’s a matter of getting away from the internet. I mean, I love you guys, really, but I have to go to work now.
I’ve taken my alpha smart on vacation, and found it so much better than pencil and paper that I sprung for a notebook computer. I’ve just recently tried the writing in public, meeting fellow NaNo writers. It works quite well, even with occasional breaks for conversation.
One trick I’ve tried, is to just open a new file and start on a new scene. It curbs the tendency to scroll backwards to find a name and get caught correcting the bad grammer, the awkward sentence, and the typo.
Hi, Pam. It is a weird experience writing with other writers. When I did the Rabbit Hole earlier in the year there was about twenty of us – all in pretty much the same room. At the start I was worried that I would be distracted by other people, but soon enough everyone was typing away – totally focussed on their own work. It was great.
Being at the retreat – away from all distractions – with the sole purpose of writing, really helped. As much as I love family and find my home comfortable – some things are just impossible to escape.
Good luck with NaNo!