Where Should I Write? Finding Your 'Writer's Room'
When you’re short on time—which, let’s be honest, we all are—you often have to find a wavy to get in the creative zone fast. If you only have 30 minutes, you don’t want to spend 20 of them trying to feel inspired.
One of my go-to strategies for this is not just to find the most inspiring spaces, but to create them where you find them. Today, I want to share ideas for creating your very own “writer’s room”. Let’s go.
I rewrote my first novel, When You Read This, about 13 times over six years. Yeah, a lot of times.
The final time I rewrote it—and it was final time because I finally learned to stop writing according to all the rules and instead put my heart into it—I was staying in a cabin in upstate New York, where it rained hail the size of baseballs and at night I watched shooting stars.
It was a surreal and amazing week, and the weather made it feel magical.
But that setting wasn’t something I could replicate, because, well, my friend who invited me up there moved away and I didn’t have a connection to that place anymore.
Then I sold my next novel based on proposal, meaning, an outline and a couple of sample chapters.
After you publish your first book, you can do this—sell your next novel based on a proposal, it’s pretty great.
This time, I had a newborn at home, and I could only write for a couple of hours a day while my husband could watch him.
I couldn’t write at my house because the baby was there. So I had to leave home and just…make the best.
I went to cafes. Bars. Restaurants. Park benches… I wrote my entire novel in public spaces like these, in sessions of about 45 minutes.
So how do you make that work?
Tip #1: Make whatever space you land in sacred
The writers I work with are like me—working their writing time around their very busy lives as mothers, professors, lawyers, and doctors.
Because we live these lives, we write where we can—scribble something in a notebook on the bus, dictate into your phone between meetings… Do whatever you need to do.
But I’ve found that what helps me quickly get into the writing zone is to have a designated spot, at least for the time being.
Is it a particular chair in a particular meeting room at work? A stool at the coffee bar? One end of your couch? On the floor of your bedroom?
It doesn’t have to be a desk—for me, it’s never been.
This idea of having a designated space taps into basic psychology and classical conditioning, and it’s actually pretty simple.
If you pick a space and the only thing you do in there is write, then every time you go to that space, your mind is going to start naturally kicking into writing mode just by being there.
But for that to work, it means you need to treat it like a sacred writing space. Don’t host your neighbors for afternoon coffee there, don’t watch TV in there, don’t take a nap in there. Just write.
It’s the same idea behind the advice to just sleep in your bedroom so that you can get to sleep more easily. Whatever space you choose, keep it special and dedicate it to writing and nothing else.
Tip #2: Make it fun
I often find myself more inspired when I give myself permission to make my writing surroundings—meaning my tools, mainly—fun.
Colorful pens. Notebooks that are overpriced and that make me happy just to look at.
What feels luxurious to you?
So what if it costs $19 instead of $3. It’s worth it, and I hereby give you permission to spend the extra sixteen bucks.
If you’re working at home, how can you personalize your writing space?
You can put decor on the walls and trinkets on your desk that inspire you—there’s plenty of book and writing-themed decor out there, but it can just be things you find beautiful or that you like.
Kurt Vonnegut, despite being an atheist, kept a prayer for writers tacked to the wall above the desk. It was written by Samuel Johnson on April 3, 1753, the day on which he signed a contract which required him to write the first complete dictionary of the English language.
He was praying for himself.
Here’s the prayer: "O God, who hast hitherto supported me, enable me to proceed in this labor, and in the whole task of my present state; that when I shall render up, at the last day, an account of the talent committed to me, I may receive pardon, for the sake of Jesus Chris. Amen.”
Madeline L’Engle, author of so many wonderful books including A Wrinkle in Time, one of my childhood favorites, kept a laughing Buddha on her desk to remind herself not to take herself too seriously.
What gives you joy? What makes it fun?
Tip #3: Take 20 minutes, and rearrange
I recently updated my writing space. I had stacks of papers toppling over into one another—bills mixed in with doctor's notes mixed in with my novel draft pages. Looking at it made me feel behind and chaotic and like, meh.
That’s not how you want to feel about a space where you need to be creative. So I moved things around.
What once worked for me wasn’t working anymore, and that’s okay.
With some simple rearranging, suddenly your creative mind feels more spacious, open to new ideas and inspiration. It’s good to ask yourself every once in a while: is this a space I enjoy being in? Is this space fostering my creative mind?
If the answer is no, you need to switch it up. Maybe it’s a new lamp, a couple of new plants, or just changing the direction of your desk. Maybe it’s going to a new place entirely.
We all need change, whether big or small, from time to time, and it’s okay if the same setup you were proud of and inspired by a few months ago needs some rearranging now.
Tip #4: Go some place new (and quiet)
Speaking of going to a new place, this tip is for folks who don’t want to or can’t write at home, like me for a lot of my writing life in recent years.
Not always will we have the convenience of having a separate room or space in our homes dedicated to writing (although a converted closet has done the trick for a friend of mine).
And now that so many of us work from home, it can be all too easy for our spaces to blend together, where now home and work are the same location and it becomes harder and harder to keep those parts of our lives distinct from each other.
With that in mind, sometimes you want to get out of the house and find a different place to write that isn’t also where you eat and sleep and bathe and be a parent or work or whatever else you do at home.
Remember what I said about keeping your writing space sacred? That’s not always possible when you’re always at home along with the other people who live there.
So what can you do?
You’ll want to look for a place where you can go consistently, where you can focus, and where you feel inspired.
Coffee shops, libraries, and even museums… Just keep in mind that it may take some trial and error.
The museum that you have to drive two hours to get to, while lovely, is not going to be a place you can consistently and sustainably go to every week.
The coffee shop your friend suggested has a great vibe and plays great tunes, but the new noisy espresso maker might be a bit distracting.
But the library with a quiet section next to a giant set of windows where light streams in in the afternoon? You’ll know it when you land on it. It’ll feel like a room of your own, even if you’re surrounded by other people.
Now, you’ve found your place.
Ready to write your dream book?
If you made it this far, I’m guessing that you are writing a book, or want to write a book. If so, I want to talk to you.
When I’m not writing, my mission in life is to help talented writers write their dream books. I love it. I live for it.
Because before I published my novels, I first had to figure out how to write one. It wasn't easy because none of the writing classes I was taking showed me how to actually write a novel.
Not until I had a newborn and only a couple of hours to write a day did I come up with a process. The process worked.
I wrote my entire novel during my 8-week maternity leave. Now, I teach it in my program the Book Incubator and it works for dozens of other writers.
If you're curious to know more, I have a free video walking you through my exact process for writing a book. You can get it by clicking below and answering two questions to apply to the program.
You get the video whether you join or not—no pressure to enroll.
Just click below to tell me a little bit about you and your book—you can fill out a form online. I’m so excited to hear from you!
