The Myth of the Perfect Writing Place

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Welcome to the Inside Creative Writing Podcast, the weekly discussion of craft and technique for writers of fiction and creative nonfiction. And now here's your host, writer and educator Brad Reed. Welcome to a bonus episode of the Inside Creative Writing Podcast. When there's a topic I'm dying to talk about, but it's not enough for a full episode, it's time for a bonus episode. Today's topic, the myth of the perfect writing place. And welcome to the show.

My name is Brad Reed with the Inside Creative Writing Podcast. I am thrilled that you're here with me today. We're gearing up for the relaunch of full episodes, but I had time to sneak in another bonus episode for you today.

Now, before we dive in, a few important things to know. If you've been a longtime listener to the show, you will know that our website address has changed. So you can find us now at BradReedWrites. com with information about the show and a whole bunch of other things that we're doing. And as always, you can still call in with your questions, your requests for the show, and your favorite writing quotes at our call-in number. It's.

Again, that's. That's just a message line, so you can call in, leave a message for us, and maybe hear your voice on the show. The other thing that I'm really excited about is the Patreon team that's starting to come together for the show.

Now, one of the rewards for team members is access to a weekly real-time revision video where you see how I put the techniques from the show into action in my own writing. Now, I just uploaded this week's video about how to seamlessly incorporate moments of narration or exposition into your writing, a topic that was suggested by a fantastic member of the Patreon team, Jesse Hawley. Thanks, Jesse. Find out how you can be a part of the team by going to BradReedWrites. com and clicking on the Patreon link.

Introduction to Writing Myths

Okay, so on to our topic for the day, the myth of the perfect writing place. Now, we've all heard the advice of writing teachers and maybe writing role models that we should approach our writing like a job, sit down at the same place at the same time every day for a given period of time and just write. That's what successful writers do. This is the advice we often hear.

So find a dedicated writing place, set it up for success, a cup of coffee, your favorite blanket over your lap, and your trusty thesaurus at the ready. Of course, maybe that's just me with the trusty thesaurus. Now, all of this is actually great advice, and I would wholeheartedly agree with this, especially in a perfect world. We should be treating writing like a job. We should set aside specific times and places for our writing.

Reality of Writing Conditions

But here's the reality. We don't all have the luxury of such a life, of such a schedule. What I wouldn't give for a life that I could organize so cleanly and intentionally. The truth is that I, like most writers, have had to make the best of writing amidst a life of constant obligations, unexpected interruptions, and limited space.

So what I realized is that in an effort to follow this good advice about where and when to write, I was falling into what writing coach Steven Pressfield calls resistance in his great book, The War of Art. Check that out if you haven't. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. And resistance is one of the driving factors behind procrastination and probably the driving factor behind procrastination.

So what I realized about my own writing life is that I was using the search for the perfect writing place as a means to procrastinate without even realizing it. I got to the point where I could convince myself that I couldn't do my best writing unless it was the right time of the day with the right atmosphere in the right place. Now for me, that's first thing in the morning. I'm sitting at my iMac with some instrumental music and no other noise. I need my comfortable chair or the temperature has to be just about right. And I needed the right software too.

I've tried all of them each time thinking that the software would be that magic pill to finally complete my perfect writing place. So I have that kind of perfect place in mind. And if it wasn't just perfect when I sat down to write, if it was a different time of day or if something was just amiss, I could easily convince myself that I couldn't do my best work without being in that perfect place. And it didn't feel like procrastination to me.

In other words, it was easy to justify. If I were treating writing like a job, especially a job that demanded my absolute best, I required the right setting, didn't I? I mean, just like a professional mechanic needs his shop surrounded by all his tools. I needed my writing shop. Or just like the doctor who needs his fully equipped operating room. I need my fully equipped writing room, right?

Recognising Procrastination

So this went on for a long, long time for me. Yeah, I'd find those rare days when the stars lined up and I got some great writing done in my quote-unquote perfect writing place. But it became easier and easier to justify not writing when everything wasn't perfect. I could always find excuses like, well, I couldn't write this morning because I woke up with a headache. Or more commonly, I had to go to work. Or I couldn't write today because I only have 10 or 15 minutes and who can get into their story in that short of time?

Or I couldn't write today because my studio space was a mess and who can write in a messy space? I'm not sure what finally made me wake up to the realization of what I was actually doing. Like I said, it didn't feel like procrastination, but something finally clicked and I realized that that was the root of what was going on. And I started to notice all the time during my day that I could reclaim for writing, waiting in it for a doctor's appointment or writing in a car on a long trip or just killing time between meetings, things like that. It added up to hours and hours over just a few days.

But I couldn't really use that time for writing, could I? I had convinced myself that I needed at least an hour of time to really sink in to my writing in order for it to be good, to get back into that mood of the story. And I couldn't actually write waiting in the car while my wife picked up some groceries, could I? It wouldn't be comfortable. It wouldn't be perfect. I would be like a doctor trying to perform surgery out of the back of a van, wouldn't it?

Adapting Tools for Flexibility

And I realized it was time to find out and if I could take advantage of these lost moments throughout my day and actually put them to use in writing. So I made probably the best two decisions I've made in my writing life for a long time. The first thing I did is I switched from all my fancy writing software with all the bells and whistles and I started writing exclusively on Google Docs.

Now a lot of this for writers that seems clunky and kind of basic, but it worked for me. So I switched writing on Google Docs and that way I could access my work from literally anywhere and on any device. So if I found myself with some time to spare and access to any kind of internet connected device, I could get a little work done through Google Docs. I also went out and bought the absolute cheapest Chromebook computer that I could find. I think it was only a little over a hundred dollars. It's cheap enough and small enough that I can literally just throw it in with me wherever I go and I never really have to worry that much about it getting damaged because I haven't invested that much into it.

And it's small enough to use when I'm folded into my little vintage VW bug looking out over the ocean. I can have it in my lap and get a little writing done. And it's cheap enough that I even take it out on the beach with me sometimes where I write in a lawn chair as the sand swirls around my feet and you know, maybe is starting to clog up my computer. I don't know. And at the end of the day, I'm not sure that I care, right? If this computer dies after a while, it's more than a fair trade for all the writing that I've gotten done on it in those reclaimed moments.

I've even found myself standing in a long checkout line revising a few sentences on my phone, which has a Google Docs app that's always synced across all of my devices. So I've really had success in finding these little writable moments is kind of the way I think of them. And a really cool benefit of my cheap computer and my constant connection to my work in progress is that I can often write in the actual place I'm writing about. I can literally be in the setting I'm writing about.

Writing in Real Settings

So an example, if I'm writing a scene where my protagonist is alone in a forest clearing, I can actually go to a place like that. I can sit there with my little Chromebook computer in the dirt if I have to and actually be there listening to the sounds, noticing the details, taking in the smells that are there and bringing all of those explicit little details that make our prose really shine into my writing because I'm living, breathing, writing in that actual space. Now, is this the perfect writing solution for everybody?

Of course not. Now, most of the time I'd rather be sitting in my little comfortable space in my writing studio, my iMac with a nice big screen in front of me, all my tools and comforts of home at my disposal, but not at the cost of not getting the writing done. So I've learned over time to prioritize the words over my comfort or being in that perfect place. And this has really changed who I am as a writer. Like anything else, the more you do something, the better you get at it. And for the first few times I was out in my car with this little computer on my lap, you Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal?

They do not. They simply dig. I love that quote. And I think this applies to our spaces, our writing spaces and tools, too. Can you imagine a coal miner not digging because his working conditions aren't perfect? I'm not sure any any coal miner's working conditions are ever perfect.

So, of course not. Coal miners simply dig wherever and whenever they need to with whatever tools they have access to. And I think writers should be the same, it seems to me.

Reclaiming Lost Time

So how can you reclaim lost time in your life? How can you set yourself up to turn those moments into words on the page? I encourage you to think about that and see where you might be able to reclaim some of your lost time and break that resistance of feeling like we have to have the perfect place, the perfect time, the perfect tools.

Now, because this isn't a full episode, we're going to forego the weekly challenge and the wise words segments. Both of those will be back with our first full episodes coming in just another week or two. But I do want to remind you, as always, that the best way to improve your craft is by writing. That's what I'm off to go do. And I hope you're off to do the same.

So let's get some words on paper and we'll meet up again soon for another episode of the Inside Creative Writing Podcast. Thanks for listening to the Inside Creative Writing Podcast with your host, writer and educator, Brad Reed. We'll be back next week.