Lesson One: A Writer’s Space

I am working through some books to help me restart my regular writing habit. The first book I’ve chosen is A Writer’s Space: Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write by Eric Maisel, Ph.D.

Part One: Physical Space

Let’s agree on a few things:

[C]hair, table, closed door, a computer or a pad, a little awe, a little love, maybe the shades drawn, and your brain humming. That is your physical space, and your church service.

A Writer’s Space: Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write

Where I’m at right now:

I have cleared the room of everything I definitely do not want. Everything that remains is what I want to have around, except for an ugly utility shelf that I need in the space for now, but I’m trying not to be married to any of it. While this room is going to be used primarily for writing, it will also be used for cross-stitching, doing pilates (because I’m out of shape as fuuuuuuuhk), and any other art making that strikes my fancy (makeup and hair experiments, paper making, water colours, origami, collage, Mod-Podge, etc.)

To-Do

1. Assess the current space.
   1. Is it quiet enough?
   2. Is it secluded?
   3. Is it organized or organized enough?
   4. Does it have the right energy for the kind of work you want to do?
   5. Is it the way I want and need it to be?
2. Describe my ideal writing space.
   1. What can I do to transform my current space so it’s closer to my ideal space?
3. What is the biggest challenge with my current space?
   1. Identify three possible solutions, decide which is the most feasible to implement, and make those changes.
4. Is the space private?
   1. How could I make it more private or even completely private?

Day One:

1. Let’s have a look:
   1. Yes, it’s quiet enough. Random street noise isn’t disruptive. I live in downtown Ottawa, things will be fine unless the convoy comes back.
   2. It’s at the back of the apartment, I have my own bathroom, and the door shuts.
   3. It’s not organized at all, and I haven’t used this space for writing or really anything but sleeping and dumping my crap into it since I moved in 4.5 years ago.
   4. I guess it has energy, but the energy will improve once I dismantle all my pandemic depression nests.
   5. It is definitely not the way I want and need it to be.
2. My ideal writing space has a chair, a desk, a table, a big cuddly chair, my computer, my reMarkable2 tablet, enough floor space for my yoga mat, and some storage that’s cute and functional.
   1. My goal is to complete my perfect space using my local Buy Nothing group, thrift stores, and by re-purposing things I already have in my home. The big chair is going to be the biggest problem, so I might have to continue surfing Facebook Marketplace as well, and actually drop some $$ on it.
3. My biggest challenges with my current situation are: there is more stuff in here than I want. The wi-fi signal is unstable to unusable in parts of the room.  The south wall and part of the west wall has baseboard heating so nothing can live in the south-west corner that would block the heat for 6 months of the year.
   1. Easy fix, move that shit out. I would need to have a wi-fi extender or get a more powerful router, or some kind of technical fix. Initially, I wanted a sofa in this room but the heating situation kind of bars that from happening. So a chair that can be moved out of the corner and then back in again is the solution, I think. There’s also the issue of my chosen colour palette of purple, black, and silver/grey. That will limit some of my choices, but they are choices I want to make. The quickest thing to do is to move the shit I don’t want out.
4. My room is as private as it can be with having to leave the door cracked for the cat.
   1. I don’t think I could make it any more private unless I tried barring the door and making it soundproof.