I love to write. Just the process of preparing my pen and settling down with my diary comforts and soothes me. I love to write on sunny days. I either sit at my very small desk in my bedroom, which displays a few of my favourite things, or out in the garden with a pot of steamy Yorkshire tea at hand. I can never write if I'm depressed, although if I can manage to write it helps.

What do you do?

I'll often bring a notebook and pen to my local Starbucks (which has an outdoor patio) with the intention of doing some writing, but that doesn't seem to be working for me; I just don't get anything done there with all the distractions. For me, writing is kind of personal, and one thing that inhibits me is worrying about busybodies who could be looking over my shoulder when I write. I realize this fear might not be rational, but I seem to get most done in the privacy of my home in my all-purpose computer room/office. I'm a night person, and my brain seems to work best on the creative stuff after ten p.m.

I have an office in our house with a great big roll top desk. My room is filled with pens, inks, paper and other fun art supplies. I keep up many correspondences plus I illuminate my daily to-do list with fountain pens filled with all colors of ink. My little corner room is an absolute sanctuary and the place I write every day. /:)

I use a large Levenger's Euro desk with a desk pad in the corner of a
home office with two windows at right angles to one another.

When traveling solo - quiet museum corners, hotel rooms, ships, restaurants,
airports, a tent with headlamp - basically anywhere except when riding in a car
or atop an animal. I prefer some kind of cover over my head when writing for
some reason.

When I was young I could balance a tablet on the edge of a razor blade if necessary and write a perfectly legible hand. Now that I am - well, older - I really must be sitting at a table or some sort of surface where my arm can be supported. A lap board is OK if it's big enough to be an arm rest.

At home I write at a secretary desk that I inherited from my mother. The glass doors on the top stand open all the time because I have to have easy access to all that good stuff - moleskine notebooks, pens, bottles of ink, etc.

I keep a small moleskine notebook in my purse that I've labeled "Out and About." When I'm running errands in the city and need to take a break, I often write in this journal while sitting at a coffee shop. I love coffee shops. They were particularly lively last year after Katrina. A lot of people were staying in motel rooms in Baton Rouge after the storm, and coffee shops became evacuees' livingrooms. I met some very nice people during that time.

Judybug
P.S. Jeen - what sort of animals have you been atop? I haven't tried writing while on horse back. But my Peruvian horse gives such a smooth ride, it just might be possible. At the Peruvian horse shows there is a "Champagne Event" where they ride around the arena holding a glass of champagne. The idea is to not spill a drop. Some of the riders succeed!

These days, I write ...well, pretty much everywhere. On the subway, if I get a seat; on the bus home; during breaks at work; during my lunch hour. My preferred place these days is the couch at home, with a lap desk, and a large mug of room temperature something to dip. (Doesn't matter whether it started out as steaming coffee, iced fruit juice, cold white wine -- it'll be room temperature, because I'll sip it, then get lost in words for a while before I come back to it.)

The weirdest place I think I've written was on the gynecologist's table, while in stirrups waiting for my exam. Usually, though, I look for more comfortable places.

I used to go to coffeeshops, but, I have begun to find them too distracting. So, I work at a large office desk my landlady got me, where I have all the pens and paper and notebooks and inks readily available.
Sometimes I go to one of the University Libraries, or to a large Reading Room they have. This Reading Room was built in 1935, and all the furniture is original from those days, and they dont allow cell-phones or laptop computers there!!!!

About writing when riding an animal, I took notes while riding on the back of an Asian elephant, when I still lived in India. I was a teenage volunteer for Project Tiger, and we were riding elephants in Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, counting Royal Bengal Tigers.

A thinking cap?

I prefer writing at a table as I like my arm to be fully supported.

I like to write in bed. I prop my M journal on top of two pillows, with my favorite fountain pens at the ready in my night stand. It's not very sturdy, but this is my most private and comfortable spot in the house. 9

Last spring my husband and I bought a small greenhouse. He left me space at the end of one of the tables for a place to write. The greenhouse has become my favorite place to write. I can be outdoors, but I'm still protected from the wind and rain.

I still enjoy writing in coffee houses, so much goes on when people decide to sit down and take a break, the dynamics are wonderful. In effect, coffee houses are a reflection and microcosmos of everyday society, folks of all walks of life get together for something in common, yet each and every guest is uniquely different. I mean, even watching someone order is amazing: the other day a guest became irrate with a bus boy/piccolo for not reacting quickly enough upon request. It turned out that the piccolo was deaf, she had an hearing aid behind her left ear.

This coffee house I like to frequent here has a policy of employing physically and mentally challenged people, maybe the guest did not realize it, I was touched by the innocent manner in which the piccolo reacted, she too apparently did not really understand what was happening, she continued to smile, and cleared the table, in spite of the insulting remarks.

For some reason this incident has stuck with me, I don't know why but it really nags at me.

And yes, maybe it is not very polite but I love to catch snippets of information as the sound bytes hitch a ride upon the coffee fumes as they make there way around the room, snap shots of intimate moments from across the tables and between the hustle and bustle of everything.

Journal, FP, a good cup of joe and some time, wonderful .

Daniel

Writing in a greenhouse is my idea of heaven.

Dan, did you make notes on the coffeehouse drama in your journal? Those incidents always (soapy mouth) my writing thumbs--something so touching there about the human condition, the ways we cannot see one another and yet we keep stumbling forward, keep co-existing, one way or another.

Sonia, I have been making notes on this and similar incidents in my journal, have transcribed much of the rough copy onto my laptop (seriously thinking of getting the dragon 9 naturally speaking mentioned earlier). The context of the story will lean heavily on "coffee house impressions"

I am trying to write a short short on these impressions, maybe even a short story if I can carry it through. Incidentally, the piccolo came up to me yesterday and we exchanged greetings, the first time after months of silent glances, it was really strange in some way, still don't know her name, but I may leave this character unnamed in the story, in any case. I am pleased at your reaction to the thread, I see that I am not alone with my feelings regarding this event.

Social sensitivity, I see the avatar of what I assume is your truly amazingly beautiful boy and makes me think of my children, hopefully they will become sensitive and nurturing human beings in the future.

Take care and bon soir ma cher amie (just showing off my french, you are Francophone, aren't you?)

Daniel

For me I mostly write at the dining room table with my writing slope. Although I will write any place that is relatively quiet. This is me time

I write in my office. My best work happens there between 5 am and 7 am. No distractions.

Hack work and editing happen the rest of the day, but I generally try to keep it in the office. When I'm in the family part of the house or outside, I'm there in order to NOT be writing. I guess it's different when you write and edit for a living.

BMWRT, I also enjoy using my writing slope at the dining room table.

Daniel, je parle français assez bien, mais j'écris très très mal.

And yes, that's my wonderful little peach. He's a fantastic fellow.

My study.

Tattered old hamadan on the floor, Phil the cat snoozing contentedly on it, Walls lined with books, and the furniture was all made by the Stickley familiy.

My study is one of my favourite places.

Badger, IMO, that sounds quite idyllic!

How lovely!. You have a proper table where your arm is supported [this is important to me], you're protected from the elements, but surrounded by nature. I can't think of a better place to write!

Judybug

coffehouses are where i practice my hand at writing dialogue. i catch the snippets of conversation that i hear wafting around me and try to build a fictitious story around the real people present. it's fun. and nobody really notices me.

Funny thread, because few days ago I found myself struggling to write on my Moleskine while traveling in the train, standing... At one point I said to myself: can't you wait? And the answer came: no...
I feel better if I have a cup of regular Twinnings on my side when writing...

I like writing at my desk, or outside. :bunny1:

I cartoon and write on a clipboard so often, that is is my favorite way to write...

I made a longer clipboard out of a chunk of pine board (about 2 feet long by 1 foot) Stained and oiled it, then bought a cheap clipboard and drilled out the rivets, and screwed the clip to the end of the board. So I can use that when I'm at home writting.

But I have three clipboards (not counting the long one) that are scattered around the house, so I can grab one whenever I need to write or draw something....

That didn't ansewer the question did it?

I do most of my writting either out on the back porch (I don't smoke in the house) or sitting on my bed.

But I also like going out to a coffee shop and writting.... I just wish the coffee shops (where I live) wern't all in the parking lots of shopping centers....

I'm with Elena--I like writing in bed. Pile up pillows under my chest and go for it. Secondly, either kitchen or dining room table. The desk in my home office is used for typewriters (I own 50+) or computers (2 laptops). I think I like writing in bed because growing up that's the way I did homework, ignoring the beautiful desk in the study that my parents provided. That waited until typing took over.

For me, it doesn't matter where, as long as my arm is properly supported and the floor remains steady.

It really depends what Im writing and what I'm doing, although it is very nearly always a singular activity for me. I do a lot of schoolwork at the school library during the day in my free periods to lessen the evening's load. I do my major personal writing (journal, creative) in many places, the local library which has got a nice small table by a window that I sit at, my bed, away camping, my own beautiful desk in the privacy of my bedroom(prob. my fave place), and I sometimes go to the park (though it's a bit cold and wet now its december) and sit at one of the bandstands or by the lake. Ive been there in a torrential rainstorm before which was quite powerfully inspiring!! Ive also written on journeys- car, coach, train. But never the grotty, bumpy bus into town- it would probably break my pen!! Ive written snippets of info, thoughts etc whenever and wherever- classroom, office, gallery, coffee shop, bookshop.... I've never really majorly written (my journal etc) in a coffee shop like starbucks etc. as I have to get a 30 min bus ride into town to get there! But maybe next time I'm in Borders bookshop's Starbucks I'll sit in one of those comfy leather chairs (if I can actually get one!) and write..... I like to sketch in these places aswell but I like being out of doors even more for that!

An overstuffed chair in a warm corner, with a clipboard. Yes, I fall asleep, and I do my best writing after I wake up from the "starter nap". Although I think desks are often neat pieces of furniture, I have always thought of them mostly as bill-paying stations.
Gerry

I'm with those who need to sit at a table or desk to have arm support. At home, I tend to write on a little folding table in my bedroom. I like to write by candelight, but it's not essential. During National Novel Writing Month this year, I wrote a lot in McDonald's, in a local coffee shop, and at a university library. I don't mind noise (conversation, etc), but music is often distracting to me, perhaps because I'm also a musician.

I also write during breaks at my desk at work, on a picnic table at the local state park, and at the kitchen counter at my in-laws. They were out of town, and the view out of their sliding back doors of rolling hills with a flock of grazing sheep was lovely.

Any pictures of this? This sounds interesting!

I write at my desk at home, but also like coffee shops and have made it a goal of mine to visit every one in the city in live in (still working on it BTW).

The neighborhood Borders. My wife and I stake out the comfy chairs on Saudays, and usually spent 3-4 hours there. I generally take 3-4 fps, and rotate them about every 30 minutes or so. Just to give them their daily exercise, you understand...

I have this wonderful antique secretary in the corner of my living room, surrounded by pictures of family and framed pieces of pen advertising ephemera. Drawers with pens and ink and paper right beneath me. Tonight was that, my journal, and 3 fingers of a great pear Cognac given to us by one of my wife's coworkers so I could wind down from today's mall excursion to finish some holiday shopping



[edited for typos...too much cognac maybe???]

Late to this poll - but in the Summer outside at the table under the trees overlooking the lake I live on.

Rest of the year either in my "writing room" , a nice office like room, with a desk looking out the window. Or in the LR on the couch. Also by a window. I like looking outside.

The board has enough weight that it dosen't slide around, and is long enough that I can rest my forearm on it when I write. (I'm left handed, so the clip is on the right side.)

The grain of the wood comes out kinda wierd, but I sanded it so it is smooth

Patrick, what are the dimensions of your pine clipboard? I am thinking of making one with the clip on the left side, since I am right-handed. Thanks in advance.
-Sid

It was a scrap of pine that was left over from a shelf, I think it's suppose to be 12", but the actual dimensions are.... 18 1/2" by 11"

Thanks Patrick. I will find a board approx that size and make one, maybe next week after all the festivities are over.

I've been to every coffee shop in my hometown, settled on a favorite, and write there on occasion when I'm home. I used to go there between classes when I was going to school here. I go to a coffee shop very close to where I live for school, now, and write there a lot. I also get a lot of writing in sitting on the bench, waiting for the shuttle to take me from one campus to the next. Occasionally, on the shuttle itself. My favorite is just to sit out on the grass somewhere, up against a tree, and breathe in the fresh air. At home, I can write pleasantly in my room... At school, well my dorm room is another story.

-brian

Depending on the weather, I write in two places.

1. At my desk, in my bedroom. I usually have some soft, relaxing jazz playing in the background, The Mooche, Harlem Nocturne, piano-jazz by Waller and Johnson and Smith and a few other of the greater jazz pianists. If I really want to concentrate though, I turn the music off. I generally don't eat and write at the same time. I hate to get fingerprints and stains on my pens. If I do eat, I wipe my hands each time before I pick the pen up again.

2. And this is during winter. If it's winter and it's freezing, I then migrate to the living-room. Our living-room has a nice, woodburning open fireplace. I just set-up shop in front of it, in an armchair and a portable desk, pull out my writing-journal with all my story-notes, uncap my fountain pen and write away, enjoying the heat of the fire, and the pretty little flickering flames...stopping every now and then to lay down another log, or to poke the other logs around. It's very relaxing while I'm doing that.

I like to write in front of my writing desk (made by my father). There are all my pen cups with those fountain pens. What a pity I have just one office chair: I need to move it from my computer desk to writing desk before I can write. I also like to write when sitting in front of some table at café, bar or restaurant.

What does this writing-desk made by your father look like? Could we get some photos of it?

All these people with dedicated desks......I am relegated to the dining room table between piles of junk mail and bills......



-Bruce

I had the privilege of a writer's residency in 2001 in Ireland at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, where there is a wonderful greenhouse/conservatory. I'd sit there some days, with my yellow legal pad and (before my fountain pen addiction kicked in) my only FP, a modern black-lacquered Waterman (to this day I'm not sure of the model). Sitting there, working on drafts of poems, with birds and bees coming in through the louvered panes, was near-heaven. On another occasion I was writing in my notebook in the sandstone conservatory at the Botanic Gardens in Hobart, Tasmania, surrounded by orchids and lavish begonias--that was heaven.

I'm jealous over the Ireland writing area.

When it's a long stretch of writing (like a deadline breathing down my neck), I sit on my bed (with a special back pillow), my books and pens piled around me, my laptop on my lap. I've watched the sun come up like this too many times (a habit I swear I'll break, then the deadline looms, and there I am on the bed again). I have a very forgiving husband.

I used to write more in coffeeshops until a fellow called (guess what?) the Coffeeshop Thief was waving a gun at people sequestered in coffeeshops with their laptops and stealing the latter.

I write lots of places in all sorts of odd positions, but my favorite places are next to creeks (preferably with my bare feet dangling in the water) or beside ponds in the fields and woods around our home. I've also been known to climb trees and write in the branches, although that was when I was quite a bit younger and (I'll admit) lighter.

My second favorite place is sprawled across our bed on my stomach facing our big double windows and looking out across the field and trees out back, especially if there's a light rain or early in the morning.



Two of mine are blooming now--have been since February--and they are definitely heavenly.

I've got 3 places at my house.
1] A special chair and ottoman combo I bought specifically for comfort and installed in my office with appropriate lighting and table for my pens and water glass. This is my morning place.
2] A comfy recliner under a window in my living room where the sunlight comes over my left shoulder. This is my afternoon place.
3] The screened porch in the back with 2 fans plugged in to make it bearable in Florida temps and comfy rocking chairs and a glider. This is my whenever I can get out there without stewing in my own juices place. Due to poor lighting [only 1 overly bright porch light in a weird place], I've installed a kerosene hurricane light and 3 candle holders which give good night lighting so long as I use darker intensity inks. Both hibiscus are blooming there right now so I have pink and orange blossoms to scare me when they fall off the bushes with a fat "plop".

I'm actually working on a manuscript, so I need places I can actually scribble for hours on end. A good lapdesk is absolutely essential and I found mine 2 years ago at Target of all places. Broader than usual, wood and good padding.

I write most my letters setting at my dining room table. For those long introspective writings there is a nice coffee shop in our downtown. Here as I think I am looking at a historic building and green grass while savoring a sweet hot coffee.