![]() It takes planning, structure and a plan that can be executed without procrastination and perfectionism taking over. The urge to write a book isn’t enough to get it written. It is like trying to find your way to a new holiday location you have never been without a map or GPS or tour guide instructions. ![]() The biggest mistake most first-time authors make is failing to plan out their content and structure before beginning writing. Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer on the location so unless 6 months locked away in a log cabin with your new-found love interest, I mean writing your book, sounds appealing, finding a more realistic space will have to do. I often get asked the question, does the location and environment where I write have any bearing on getting the book written? Now, as a fan of Romantic comedies, I have seen quite a few movies where the leading man (insert heart-throb here) is a ‘struggling writer’ who always seem to be either escaping their everyday life to an idyllic (and very romantic) mountain-side or sea-side location to get rid of their writers’ block (and meet the girl of their dreams). Her books, FIRST THERE IS A RIVER, JASPER MOUNTAIN and THEATER OF ILLUSION are available online and at bookstores everywhere.Finding the time and the place to write your book is often one of the biggest challenges people face when writing their first book. Additionally, Kathy is also published in short fiction and pens a monthly writing column, Between the Lines. Award-winning novelist Kathy Steffen teaches fiction writing and speaks at writing programs across the country. So where is your favorite place to write? Find out where you write best, claim your space, and write! Sometimes all you need is a fresh point of view. If you get stuck in your writing, try moving somewhere else. No room of your own? Bring out your creative objects and turn a corner of your house into your writing nook. What about complete silence? Wait until after everyone has gone to bed or in the morning before anyone gets up. Need some quiet? Try a library or write outside in nature. Love the energy of other writers? Plan some “write-ins” and invite other writers to join you. However you access your creativity, make it happen. Some find energy in the company of other writers, while other writers need isolation and inward focus. Like Amy Tan, I surround myself with objects that have great meaning for me-a robot clock that dances to its own techno-music, a “Sword in the Stone” letter opener, a bag of runes carved out of moonstones, a Jane Austen action figure, a Wonder Woman Barbie, a photo of Steven King with the line beneath claiming “…wrote a 1,200 page novel while you were reading this caption”-things that remind me I’m on a creative journey that requires inspiration and hard work. Now I’m lucky enough to have a dedicated (and at the moment, messy) writing office. For inspiration (and to christen the attic corner as writing space) I taped photos and quotes from my favorite authors all over the slanted ceiling. An inexpensive desk from Ikea and voila! A writing corner. ![]() I wrote my first book in our roughly finished attic in Illinois. Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter in a café, where she found, for her, the perfect atmosphere to work. Virginia Woolf insists: “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” ![]() His quote: “It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Stephen King traded his big, beautiful desk for a smaller one. Places to write are as varied as writers. Time to reorganize! This, of course, got me thinking about writers and their writing spaces.Įvery writer needs a spot to write, whether it’s a corner of a room, a favorite park bench, or café/coffee shop where entrance to the “writing zone” is possible. I need order in my life to get inspired and focus properly. Some people might feel at home surrounded by friendly clutter, but not me. Trying to write in the midst of papers, files, writing and research books became too distracting for me, so I decided-before beginning another book-to clean my writing space.
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