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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

IWSG: Writing space




Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.


Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
This month's amazing co-hosts are  J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!
And this month's optional IWSG Question: 
 What are five objects we'd find in your writing space? 
I'm going to run with this question as a break from talking about my NaNo project. It's kind of fun to think about, because with us having sold our home and gone walkabout, my space is down to the minimum. I'm looking at my desk and I see: a small pile of paper and notebooks relating to my novel or writing, and my laptop. That's it, for actual writing stuff, though much of the time there's also a coffee cup (which is, as you know, essential writing gear).
Because I need to do some housekeeping, there is also a pair of insulated biking gloves, a Nook, and two books I need to take to the library, or down the street to the Little Free Library. Before we moved, I also had a shelf or two of reference books within reach, and when we settle again, most of those will come back.
So the 5 objects I need are:
1. Computer and mouse (I'll count those as one)
2. My computer glasses
3. Notes and notebooks
4. Pen
5. Coffee
Anything else is a distraction, which isn't to say it's not there :)
Do you keep anything in your writing space that's not really necessary, but makes you feel good? A mascot? Something to fiddle with when your brain isn't working? Let me know in the comments, or link to your own IWSG post (or both). 

41 comments:

  1. I haven't gone minimalist in my writing space. It's my room so I have it exactly as I want - painted in lovely Italian rose colors, lots of bookshelves and lots of French-type decorations. Keeps me very happy to spend so much time in here.

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    1. Sounds lovely!
      Before we moved, my writing space wasn't very minimalist. But it was more defined by clutter than French decor :p

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  2. Right now my desk is a mess with NaNo-related stuff, but most of that will move to the table in my office where stacks of papers live...and multiply. :)

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one! Going houseless is helping me get better about reducing the piles of paper, though they have multiplied as we've been settled in our temporary digs since September.

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  3. You have a work space similar to mine. I move around a lot so it's just me and my laptop with a cup of coffee a lot of the time.

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    1. The bare essentials! Though I do need the paper notebook, too. Maybe it's age, but there are some things I just have to write down.

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  4. I've been much more settled since I brought the guinea pigs back upstairs to talk to, and to read edits to. But any chance to show guinea pig photos is a good thing, isn't it?

    IWSG Five Things in my Writing Space

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    1. Guinea pig photos are always a good thing! And I like to think of you in your space, writing and reading bits to the wise-looking cavies.

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  5. I try my hardest NOT to keep my cat in my workspace, but he always seems to wind up there, anyway. He likes to bite my pen while I write.

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    1. Cats do what they do. If you have one around, I think you just have to accept that you are it his mercy :) On the bright side, they can be inspiring. I think. Maybe. When they aren't sleeping on your keyboard.

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  6. The biggest distraction in my workspace is the three-year old who wanders in wondering what daddy's doing, asking for a drink/snack and otherwise looking for attention. :-)

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    1. I remain in awe of you getting any writing done at all with a 3-year-old around. When my boys were little (i.e. before they were in school all day), I wrote nothing. In fact, I did very little beyond deal with them, squeeze in a short run most days, and read while ignoring them.

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  7. My space is pretty minimal, but I like having a few fun things like a painting I did.

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    1. I think I would like my space to be a little less spartan.

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  8. That's smart to keep the distractions to a minimum.

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    1. Not that it's helping right now. Of course, the computer is one giant distraction, isn't it?

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  9. I don't have a special place only for writing. SO I have all kinds of crazy things near by-ish. Including three cats and three kittens (they're just over three weeks old.). Oh, and a husband watching movies!

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    1. You do well if you can focus at all with 6 felines and a film going nearby!

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  10. When you mention the bike gloves and library books, I laughed. Why does everything wind up on my desk to taunt me and remind me of OTHER things I want to or have to do?

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    1. I have no idea why the bike gloves are on my desk, and why I haven't hauled them upstairs and put them away. We stopped biking several weeks ago when the first snow fell.

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  11. I have a musket ball, glass goat and a couple of other symbolic items under my computer monitor.

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    1. Now we are all dying to know the connection between a musket ball and a glass goat!

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  12. A coffee cup is definitely a writing must :-)

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  13. Distractions do come easily. I have pictures my children made hanging on the wall. Otherwise, everything is pretty book/writing orientated.

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    1. For me, the clutter is a distraction and something that makes it harder to work, but I still can't keep it under control!

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  14. My writing space is unset and changing depending on the day, but I do have an office with a lot of fancy knickknacks!

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    1. So you have the office and then write elsewhere?

      I've been experimenting with roaming more, since I've been using a laptop this fall. Change can be good.

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  15. I have a frustration doll (Raj from The Big Bang Theory) and some thinking putty. While certainly aids to the creative process, they can become distractions in and of themselves. They are toys after all!

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    1. Fidget toys can be good, though, when you are trying to think!

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  16. Once upon a time, this little girl had a fixed writing space. Then she moved. And moved again. Now she is a vagabond with her faithful follower, Laptoppie. Yep. We two get along quite swell from the comfort of BedLand to Couchland to KitchenTable--wherever they wish to quest. Just me and my laptop and never-ending trough of writerly desires.
    The End.

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    1. A lovely story! Did you move house, or just start wandering about the house?

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  17. I seem to live with perpetual 'mess'. I cull it every now and then. This should be one of those times. You sound pretty minimalist. I applaud you!

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    1. I am minimalist by necessity, and the pruning of our possessions to allow us to store everything and go wandering was painful in the extreme!

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  18. I have a desk but don't use it. LOL. I sit in bed with my laptop, coffee and reference books nearby. No mascots, though. I should think about getting one ;)

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    1. A mascot is nice. I stick with the inanimate sort, due to excessive travels and allergies.

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  19. I don't really have a dedicated writing space anymore, since getting a laptop, but I like to burn a scented candle while I write. It's become a nice ritual.

    And almost always, I can count on a cat or two keeping me company.

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    1. I hear that cats can see ghosts, so that might be especially helpful for you!

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  20. Nothing wrong with minimalism, we sold our house for a tiny, and I do mean tiny place on the beach. It's perfect, especially for writing.

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    1. Minimalism is good for me. I tend toward clutter, so living in small spaces and moving regularly may be the best things I can do.

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  21. I have a lot of "distractions" and cute knick-knacks on my desk, including a ceramic BB-8 coin bank. :)

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