Growing up I had a large oak desk and I miss it. Unfortunately, my place is small and crowded for a second one. My wife uses an adjustable one for work. Ever since becoming a stay-at-home dad, my need for a desk or the dining table to write grows less.
One thing I noticed when I worked as a private investigator is I always used my right thigh to hold and write on my yellow legal pads. I still use this technique to this day. I wrote this article draft while sitting on the couch next to my younger son as he flipped pages from a book.
That’s the price to pay for being a field writer. You use whatever resources available to you in order to write. Unless you’re an amputee, sorry, your thighs are always with you if you need a writing surface.
The lesson: you don’t need expensive equipment or the best writing setup in order for you to write. Trying to do that will prevent you from writing. Your notebook, pencil, and thighs are all you need. Now, go forth and write.
I’m going to focus the rest of the week to try to finish The Package series. Novelette 2 will be done before the July deadline. Novelette 3 might be done before the August deadline.
My condo is small. Space is limited, we have lots of stuff, and there’s barely any room to maneuver. When I enter through the front door and into the living room there’s a 80” x 72” playpen taking up the majority of the space.
With the playpen there’s barely enough room to walk around to the couch, stand next to the changing table, and swing the door open to allow people to enter or leave the house. But it’s a good place to write as long as my children don’t climb all over me, which is often. So, I always have my notebook and pencil with me instead of my phone.
If you do this, remember two things. Don’t let them grab your notebook and pencil so they can put them in their mouths and don’t focus too much on writing when your children want you to play with them.
If there’s one piece of writing advice I can give to you and others, it’s the title above. Let’s face it, many of us writers have trouble getting past that blank piece of paper or screen. Even we if have something written, often we don’t write anything else, and progress stalls.
So whenever you’re having trouble writing something, just write one sentence at a time. If you can keep up the momentum and write more, then that’s great. If not, just write another sentence the next day.
Let’s assume you’re writing a novel, 80,000 words and the average sentence is about 17.5 words. If you only write one sentence a day it will take you about 12.5 years to complete a draft. Yes, that’s a long time, but think of how many writers you know that have waited that long and still haven’t published anything.
The lesson: Compounding works. One sentence a day produces progress. It may take a long time, but you’re doing better than someone who keeps hesitating and letting perfectionism overwhelm them.
I consider myself a field writer. There’s no dedicated wooden oak desk to call my own. The dining room table feels uncomfortable. And any cafe is a violation of my quality writing time. So I have to be adaptable to wherever writing setting I go.
One day I had an idea. My wife and I have this little table. It’s rectangular and the legs are bent and shaped so that it can slip next to a couch or regular chair. And it’s the perfect height when I have to sit on the toilet.
So, I put it in our main bathroom and it looks perfect. I have the privacy to write while doing my business, or pretend I’m doing business. You’d think this is the best idea ever. But my wife put her foot down and said no. The reason was hygiene so that idea is dead.
Hey, if you can get away with it get a small table for your bathroom and if it works for your writing, then good. I hope your spouse, roommates, or whoever lives with you agree with it. Just make sure you clean it every day or so.
Wow! Can’t believe I made it this far. All three drafts of The Package trilogy are done. Now, all I have to do is revise and edit them.
If things go well, I’ll publish the first story by the beginning of June. Maybe sooner. I’ll let you know where I’ll publish them, stilll deciding on that.
Thank you for those still interested in the series. I hope you like them.
As a teen, I’d leave the TV on while writing, studying, and sleeping. It’s a terrible habit and has stuck with me since. Instead of TV, now it’s YouTube. But at least this habit has lessened throughout the years.
I can write without distractions for at least fifteen minutes. Then I’ll watch something on YouTube for a few minutes. I’ll write again and repeat the process. It’s the best system for me.
How about you? Is there some bad habit you do whenever you write? Let me know.
I recently watched the seventh season, second episode of Star Trek: DS9, Shadows and Symbols. The character Benny Russell (played by Avery Brooks) is in a psychiatric room writing his story on the walls. He does this because the doctors refuse to give him paper.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Wykoff (played by Casey Biggs) offers Benny a paint roller to erase his writings so he can be “cured” of his delusions. I won’t spoil any more so go watch. After watching that episode it gave me an idea.
Inside my home I have blue, white, and yellow walls. What color wall would I choose? Or would I write on all of them? Unfortunately, white and yellow walls are too bright even in low lighting. Blue walls are easier on my eyes and still bright enough when there’s not enough light.
However, all of this doesn’t matter. The real question is: how long can my kids and I write on the walls before my wife goes berserk and makes me clean and repaint them?