7.20.2011

Does setting matter?


Of course setting matters in writing, especially when world-building is involved.  Can you imagine Harry Potter without Hogwarts, The Burrow, or even Little Whinging?  How about The Lord of the Rings without The Shire or Rivendell?

But what about your own personal setting?  As a writer?  Where do you go to write?  Does where you write make a difference in how you write?

I used to write all over the place.  I'd write on the bed, at the dining room table, even in the bathtub, but I didn't really have a special place.

Over time I've slowly begun to realize that I'm much more constructive with a routine.  I've always had an office, but in the past it's been the place where I find the books and the art supplies rather than the place where I'd go to write.  Partly because I had a bad habit of throwing all the homeless junk in there and closing the door.  So it was always messy.  And partly because even when I got around to putting it back together it wasn't very attractive.

I'm a visual person and how a room looks affects how I feel in it.  Once I came to the conclusion that I needed a clutter-free, clean, semi-attractive room to write in on a regular basis I went to work.

I planned on posting photos of the newly revamped office, but the camera battery died before I could get any good shots, so they'll have to wait.  In the meantime here are some fun and sometimes funky writing spaces.



Check out that glass ceiling!









Do any of them call your name?

If I had to choose one I think I'd pick the white room with the sofa and the desk in the corner.  I don't tend to go for that much white, but I love how clean and uncluttered it is and I think that'd be user-friendly to my ADD brain.  Plus I love how the desk is facing out. I have a thing about desks against walls.  It's so un-Feng Shui.

Do you have a particular place where you write or does it even matter?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've literally been stuck in a closet for 20 yrs trying to write--any of those cool spaces would be an improvement! LOL Cool pics! When you buy your new place, I call the extra bedroom. Closet writing blows! :-)

C

Jill Kinchen said...

Do you think you'd write better if you had a different place?

Fat chance on that extra bedroom! We want 3 bedrooms to use as actual bedrooms and then I want an office, as does Drue. So we'd have to have a 6 bedroom house if you're to get one...lol. Although a 5 bedroom with an office/bonus room would work too... ;-) Then again, if you wouldn't mind a bedroom/office then you can hang out in the guest room.

Anonymous said...

No, I actually don't think the place matters much. I think the comfort level matters more. I need a good chair but the problem is I have to be able to get up on it by myself. Not easy with wheels. Right now I sit on a wooden chair with a box under my feet. Not the most comfortable so I have to move around more than I want but no, I don't think it impacts writing, just comfort level. Yeah, guest room is fine...I love the view from your space and aww to Izzle..cute girl!

C

Jill Kinchen said...

It definitely matters for me. Maybe at some point when my brain is more disciplined I'll be able to write effectively anywhere, but definitely not know. I work better uncomfortably than in a bad space. Thankfully, my chair is comfortable, albeit not at all cute.