How I envy Sebastian Faulks. Quite apart from the awards, prizes and CBE (all of which would be nice), he has his own quiet writing flat, 15 minutes walk from his home.
And how I envy JK Rowling. Not the riches and fame (they, too, would be nice) but the ability to dash off novels in a busy café. Harry Potter’s genesis was in an establishment ‘just crowded enough so that you blend in’, because, as Rowling said;
It is no secret that the best place to write … is a café; you don't have to make your own coffee, you don't feel that you are in solitary confinement while you work and when inspiration fails, you can take a walk to the next café while your batteries recharge.Finding the right place to write has been crucial for me. Amazingly, most people assume that I write at home. With three small children and no study I am fortunate if I can concentrate enough at home to send a cogent text message, never mind write a novel, so early on in the writing process I started looking for a location out of earshot of our house (two to three miles away).
Taking a leaf out of Rowling’s book I found a café in town. B Bar in central Cambridge has four floors, and the higher you ascend the more peaceable it is. The décor is uplifting, there is always a decent chair and table, access to tea and fresh pastries, and for the most part no intrusion from the other patrons.
But there were niggles. Occasionally they would rope off the upper areas which were the best in which to write. The background music could be annoying. And every time I needed the toilet or to order another Earl Grey I had to risk leaving the MacBook Pro unprotected or pack it all up and take it with me. Worst, if I felt sleepy, I would have to call it a day.
How Rowling managed I’m not sure. I can hardly imagine her leaving new chapters unguarded on the table while she nipped off for a wee (even at home, now, her unfinished manuscripts are locked in a safe). She recharged her batteries by walking to another café, but all others in Cambridge are bustling. Rowling is perhaps a writer who can churn out words in any location, but I am not.
The solution has been to use a friend’s house while empty during the day. It has been brilliant. Once discovered, it has taught me what I need from a place to sustain my writing. The list is something like this:
Where do you write? What are the crucial factors that determine how successful your writing times are? Are you a Rowling, writing anywhere, or more of a Faulks, needing your own convenient place?
- Away from home, without it being too much of a trek.
- Quiet, undisturbed, but with other humans nearby (walking or driving past).
- Pleasant environment – temperature, light: some writers don’t care, but the physical environment significantly shapes my mood.
- Allowing small ways to break up the day, such as popping out to Co-op for pastries or a sandwich, a mindless DVD episode, or simply making more tea.
- Somewhere to snooze. No wonder so many Writers’ rooms have a comfy chair, sofa or even bed in the corner. 20 minutes nap when I feel sleepy clears my mind for the rest of the day.
- No Internet connection. Annoying when I want to research or check something, but a godsend in obliterating time wasting.
Where do you write? What are the crucial factors that determine how successful your writing times are? Are you a Rowling, writing anywhere, or more of a Faulks, needing your own convenient place?
1. A chair that I can sit cross-legged on
2. Access to a kettle
3. Being on the second, if not third floor of the building
4. Being up ridiculously early. The earlier it is, the more lucid I am, and the more focused.
But by far the best thing to put wind in the sails of the Good Ship Thesis is an impending deadline.
I've also re-realised recently how useful a good walk is in the middle of a writing day: suddenly, my thoughts fall into place and I Understand Things. Though not, frustratingly, if I go on a walk thinking about how going for a walk will help me think.