4 Tips for Setting Up Your Writing Space

 

4 Tips for Setting Up Your Writing Space

I have been suffering from an inadequate writing space for years. I live in an apartment by a noisy ass road with a ton of jacked up compensation mobiles roaring up and down the street at all hours. On top of that, there is a fire station and hospital not too far away. 

Sirens. 

All the g-damn time.

My apartment only has three rooms and a closet. There is nowhere to set up a special place to write, safe from outside distraction. 

I have tried and I have failed.

I need to move...but that is a different story.

For now, here are several tips for setting up a zen space for writing and research.

Tip #1. Location, Location, Location.

Where you decide to write will be influenced by where you live and how you deal with the other tips in this post. I am screwed, but you don't have to be!

Life is easy if you live in a house with spare rooms, good lighting, and no noise except for the chirping of birds. Most of us do not have all of those things. 

We have to make do with what we have.

Your writing space should, in an ideal situation, be removed from the rest of your life and obligations. If you have multiple spare rooms, pick the one furthest from the kitchen and living room. Maybe you are lucky and have a basement or garage attic that is finished and separate from the rest of the house. 

Perfect places to write!

A locking door is almost a necessity. You want your special place to be quiet and isolated.

Seal yourself away and write.

Tip #2. Set the Mood.

Dim the lights, play some Barry Manilow, light a candle, and get freaky...wait...no, that's not right...

You can still get freaky with you writing, but don't dim the lights too much. You kind of need to see what you are doing.

You need light, but it doesn't have to be harsh like an interrogation or surgical light. 

What puts you at peace and allows you to relax? 

You can still light some scented candles or some incense. Maybe use a essential oil diffuser.

You could plaster the wall with motivational posters and quotes. Maybe having the room full of plants will help? Or setup a water fountain.

Find what you like and stick with it!

Tip#3 Distractions.

Interruptions. Do you have kids? Do you have a cat? Inevitably one or both of these will demand your attention by walking all over your keyboard...

Your family will demand your time, so you have to have a dedicated space to get away from them. Lock the door. Put up a "Do Not Disturb" sign and schedule an hour to write. Keep your life out of the writing space.

Noise. This a problem I deal with on the regular. Traffic noise from the highway outside my shitty apartment. Every douchebag with a jacked up pick-up truck or crappy supped up Honda Civic thinks they need to rev their engine and floor it past my apartment. Then there is the damn fire station. 

I bitched about those already. 

You get it. Shut out the external noise. Play some classical thinking music or white noise. Hell, get some of those obnoxiously large noise cancelling headphones and enjoy the silence. 

Clutter. If your writing space is a mess, the procrastinator in you or the OCD in you will come out and demand you organize and clean it. That stops you from writing by pulling at your attention until you can't stand it any longer. Make sure your room is situated prior to your writing session.

Your cellphone, email, and social media. Shut that garbage the F down and enjoy a slower paced life. 99% of the crap coming in from any of those 3 platforms is useless. I know you feel super important and cool when you are constantly on your phone in between sets at the gym, but no one else is there in your writing zone to see. 

In fact, no one gives a shit. 

Ever.

Tip #4. Comfort.

Comfort can be all kinds of things, physical or mental. Some might find sitting on a pillow on the floor is comfortable. Others like a nice cushy executive chair (I am of the latter). 

The angle of your neck as you look at the screen, or the angle of your wrists to the keyboard can cause long term physical discomfort. Sit up straight and have the screen directly in front of you and level. Get one of those wrist pads that go in front of your keyboard. 

For me, comfort is a good chair and a space that does not look like some corporate office. I work in a friggin cubicle at my day job, so the last thing I want is to come home and work in another corporate suicide trap. 

Temperature. Make sure the room is a comfortable temperature. Too hot or too cold can distract you. I live in Louisiana and can personally vouch for the distraction of heat.

Can it be done?

A good location that is comfortable, free of distractions, and has the mood set just right to writer. Sounds impossible and honestly having all of those things at once probably is.

Your best bet is to set up your writing space with the goal of accomplishing all of the aforementioned tips. Rooms can be modified. Schedules can be adjusted. Distractions can be limited. Lighting can be set.

DO as much as you can and do not stress over what you cannot. It is a mistake, and an excuse, I make for not sitting down to write. 

I am leading by anti-example, as I am still in my shithole apartment.

Follow my advice, but don't do what I do...I am making mistakes, so you don't have to!