Sunday Scribblings: A Writer's Room

This week's prompt for Sunday Scribbling is Writing. Because I am a teacher of writing it was a big part of my week with my students. They were eager to begin again with stories of summer adventures, funny incidents, and what they learned the first week of school.

When this prompt came up I thought about places to write. Many of my students love to word process on the computer. Some of them like a composition book with a colored pen and a place on the floor. Others like notebook paper and a desk away from others where it is quiet. Places to write can vary from person to person.

I always thought I needed a certain place to write. With a writing room and great pens, pretty journals, and a pottery mug I knew words would just flow from my mind to my pen. It just doesn't work that way for me. I don't think it works that way for my students either. Sometimes I do my best writing in a noisy room while sitting in an uncomfortable chair. I have also written on a napkin while eating in a restaurant. Classical music and a window with a view don't always put me in the writing mood. Often it is inspiration from another writer or a passage of good literature that gets my creative juices going.

When I have a conversation with my mom when doing a memoir piece I will jot down words and images. I will let them sit for a few days while I percolate the ideas in my head. Then I will put the words to a piece of writing. I will sometimes be sitting at a desk. Often I will have the laptop at the kitchen table. I just get the ideas down when they formulate in my head.

When people want to write, whether it is in a journal or working with prose or poetry, they may think they need a writer's room in order for the flow of words to come. There are no two people with the same needs. Writers I have researched have a variety of ways they work. Some did have a special room only because they were working at home and need space from the family. Others walked in the woods or along the beach. Some wrote while the family was busy creating life around them.

The one thing I have learned from blogging and from reading others' blogs is that it isn't so much about a room or the right tools, or the cool pens or journals. It is carving out the time to do it every day. My writer's room is giving myself room in my day to write. It doesn't always have to be an hour. Some days it may only be time for brainstorming, but the ritual of doing it each day begins the writer's life. No special place, no perfect desk, no fancy writing program on my laptop, but thinking, formulating ideas, finding time, and trusting yourself as a writer.

You can go here to read other thoughts on writing.