Monday 17 February 2014

Wayne - Make Room For Your Writing

Inside my 'Writing Room'
Following my own advice from a previous post, I am still embracing rejection, having received confirmation that I have drawn a blank on all of my submissions so far. That's ok. I'm still learning. What isn't ok is the fact that January was the first month that I failed to submit anything - and I also had a pitifully low word count.

Not good enough.

Fortunately I am a member of a very supportive critique and submissions group, and our latest meeting was enough to spur me back in to action. Having reviewed my (lack of) progress, I decided it was time to shake off the post-Christmas slump and be proactive. As well as stating some new, sensible goals for February, I also realised that I needed to re-establish my old writing rituals, routines and - most importantly - I need to get back in to the habit of writing in my 'Writing Room'.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated space, my own room, a 'man-cave', if you will, that is separate from the rest of the house, free of distractions and with everything I need to concentrate on my writing. Unfortunately, sometime last year, it became a dumping ground for all of our clutter and any items that were in that strange netherworld between 'useful' and 'rubbish'. In short, I could barely open the door - let alone sit down and let the words flow.

Yesterday, the sun was shining and my spirits rose long enough to motivate me to attack the mess and restore my room to its former glory. Ok, perhaps, it isn't quite back to pristine perfection, but spending any longer on it would've been classed as procrastination and it's good enough for me to get back in to the swing of things. I already feel more positive and have done more writing and editing in the past 24 hours than I have in the last couple of weeks.

Maybe you aren't fortunate enough to have a dedicated room of your own in which you can write, but it's still important to have a space you can settle in long enough to get creative and focus on your project. For some it's the kitchen table, for others their favourite seat in the coffee shop. The point is, we all need to clear a space - metaphorically and literally - and make room for our writing.

For the record, my goals for the remainder of this month, are to sub a piece of flash fiction and to finish editing my short story, 'Beach Hut Monsters' ready for submission to a teen Sci-Fi magazine.

I'll keep you posted as to my progress. Happy writing!

Wayne - Take a look at my blog, Kelly's Eye.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Wayne,

    I've lost my writing space due to room renovations which seem to have spread all over the house! I'm resigned to the kitchen table, which isn't the best as there is a lot of footfall heading for the fridge during my writing time, so I'm on the move myself looking for a new place to write.

    Its not easy, and I am considering taking my writing time out of the home to either a coffee shop, or similar. I thought about the library, and did some research on a few different days of the week, however, its too busy on any evening, and there is no where to sit.

    I will find somewhere very soon. Good luck with your new plan, and enjoy your writing space.



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  2. My whole house is my writing and creative studio.. The living room has to make way for my writing space.. dining room, my painting space..
    Good luck with your writing goals.

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