Friday, June 30, 2006

Writing Alone

I'm always amazed when I hear of writers who go to coffee houses to write. I need alone time, myself. I need to be away from people, in an environment that is relatively quiet and without interruptions. Before my divorce (impending), I had a home office, and although interruptions from family members were not uncommon, at least I couldn't hear the TV. Right now I'm living in an apartment and the computer is in the living room with the TV, which is also where the couch is and where everyone gathers. I think this is part of the reason why my fiction production has fallen off in the last couple of years.

The good news is that we're getting ready to buy a house out in the country, and since there will be an extra bedroom I'll once more have a home office that is separate from the rest of the world. There won't be any TV in it. Just computer, desk, chair, and books. And also a door.

If the boy's a writin', a closed door's not invitin'.

2 comments:

Sidney said...

I don't write in public venues, but I probably ought to. I don't mind the noise. I guess it's because I spent so much time in noisy newsrooms in my misguided youth.

I like the energy of public places, and I wrote a lot of a pretty good short story in an airport once.

Kind of like you were talking about in the earlier post about the guy interrupting your group meeting, you have characters all around.

I started out with a small idea - saw a girl in a cowboy hat and fringed jacket go by, incorporated her into it the tale and it grew from there.

Eric Paul said...

I agree, I too crave and need solitude. Just recently, while on vacation, I pinned this sign to my studio door: "SORRY...WRITING...WRITING...IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT...COME BACK LATER." Of course, I kept the door locked.