Where do writers write?

Where do writers write? And why? Creating a writing room of my own got me thinking.

A writing room of my own

I already have a writing room of my own. It sometimes doubles as a spare bedroom, but most of the time it’s a dedicated home office. During lockdown, however, I decided to move my workspace into the garden shed.

There was a practical reason for this. The cottage I live in is on the Suffolk coast. I moved here for its view of the river. But the house is cold and damp, even in summer. It always feels several degrees warmer outside, than in.

There was another reason. I like change. I like moving house. So much so, it’s become a family joke.

When my younger daughter saw what I was doing, she laughed.

“You’re only doing this because of lockdown. You can’t move house so you’re doing the next best thing: moving into the shed.”

She was right, of course.

I painted the shed walls and floors white. (I’m not a fan of colour, it’s another family joke.) Then I bought a doormat, because white floors have their drawbacks, obviously. The doormat say ‘welcome’ on it, which is a misnomer, because no-one’s actually welcome in it, except me. That’s the whole point.

Then I spent ages thinking about what should go into the shed, and where, and why. Apart from the obvious chair, desk and books, what did I need around me to inspire me?

Writers’ rooms

Which got me wondering about other writers’ rooms. And prompted a whole lot of other questions, like:

How does their workspace affect their writing process? Do they have routines, rituals, or talismanic objects to help inspire them? What do they write with, and on? Do they need silence to work? Or music? Or a view? Or tea, lots of tea?

So I did some research. Then I started talking to writer friends. And then, because I thought it might be helpful and inspiring for other writers, I decided I’d share what I found out, in a series of blog posts.

Where writers write

The Where writers write series starts with Virginia Woolf. Well, it seemed logical. After all, she wrote an entire essay on the need for ‘A Room of One’s Own‘.

As for my writing shed, it’s a joy. We’ll get to that later in the series.

And what about you? Where do you go to create? Get in touch or post a comment. I’d love to know.

If you want to keep up with the Where writers write series, it’s easy to subscribe to my blog. Type your email address in the box to the right of this post and you’ll be pinged every time there’s a new one. Or head to the Where writers write page, where you’ll find links to all the posts so far.