My Writing Space

There are two main places I write: at my desk or on my couch. Whenever I try to write somewhere else, I find it far more difficult. Recently, I spent several hours waiting for some repairs to be done on my car. I knew it was coming, and brought my laptop to get some solid writing time in. As you may have guessed, it didn't work out quite as I hoped. In fact, I found so many distractions that I don't normally encounter in the relative quiet of my home.

There was the incessant TV, endlessly playing news programs. I had no interest, yet even with headphones and some of my traditional writing music, the chatter kept pulling me out of the moment. Then there were the dozens of people who walked in and out of the waiting room, each catching my eye, however briefly, and pulling me out of my writing. And finally there were the wafting scents of fresh popcorn and cookies-- yeah, complimentary even, which made my healthy eating pledge and stomach both growl.

All in all, it made for a less productive atmosphere for my writing. But it got me thinking about the distractions I still have in my home writing space, even if I've learned to work around them. If I'm at my desk, there are stacks of bills and paperwork, piles of general clutter, even old dishes from a snack. These things don't keep me from writing, but they sure do make it more difficult.

The answer-- remove the distractions that I can, and learn to work around the others. At the car shop, for example, I could have turned my chair away from the TV, perhaps even facing a wall if necessary. At home, I can clear off my desk, finding a new place to house my paperwork-- even putting it all away when it's my writing time and then bringing it back up afterward. And I'm sure my wife will be happy if I put old dishes into the dishwasher when I'm finished with them.

Distractions can be a huge bane to my writing. Like the act of writing itself, it takes some planning and discipline to eliminate distractions. I hope the payoff is as large as I think it will be.

What about you? Where can you reduce distractions to your writing?