Writing in the Great Outdoors
At some point you office types and homebodies will meet someone who says:
Why not write with the sun and a gentle breeze on your face, near songbirds in the trees, and the rippling waters of a pond, stream or river?
This will sound good to you so you’ll do it. Then, it will be really hot, or cold. Or ants will climb all over you and flies will dive-bomb your head. A creepy guy from the woods will keep staring at you, a child will accidentally(?) hit you in the head with a baseball, and a cloudburst will soak you, your Moleskine journal or your high-priced laptop.
OK, I’m loading the deck here. I do enjoy the outdoors, although I go outside when I need to clear my head and sort my thoughts rather than when I need to write. If writing outside sounds interesting to you, try it. But think about the possibilities and find a good spot where you’ll be undisturbed.
Also think about how much you love the outdoors—are you going to be so distracted by the beauty of a lazy river that you end up daydreaming? Creative minds need their daydreams, but this post is about the time you use to write, to produce, to work.
Writing at Home
Some writers swear by it. They say that writing at home gives them the freedom to wear what they want, to take a break when they want and to write undisturbed (these are people who don’t have children in the house during writing sessions, or a spouse or roommate watching American Idol with the volume turned to 11).
Compare your productivity at home with elsewhere. And this is what it comes down to, no matter which setting you’ve used till now or which you prefer: Where do you write more? And where are you more apt to write the good stuff? The stuff that makes you say, “This is why I’m a writer. I’ve hit my mark here.”
I’ve known writers who prefer one setting or another, but they don’t write anything. They prefer coffee shops because they like coffee. And talking to their would-be writer friends who are also spending too much time talking and not enough time writing. Or they like writing at home because a chunk of their “writing” time goes to looking in the fridge and seeing what’s on TV.
Find a setting where your surroundings energize and comfort rather than distract. Then get busy.
