I carve out space to write in between toy boxes and Buzz Lightyear. Some days I trip over lego masterpieces and get tangled up in home-made dog leashes for the dog my youngest son hopes we will one day have.
I write between the elephant mobile my mom’s youngest sister brought back from India and the prints from DaySpring that speak joy and love and laughter into my life.
I write between super hero wars waged against the forces of darkness and light sabers that twirl and tilt toward the age-old battle of good vs. evil.
I write in my own small corner carved out of the chaos of the playroom.
(When I’m not writing in bed or at the kitchen table, that is).
Where do you write?
Because after reading so many of your voices this last year I am curious where they originate from.
Wanna give us a sneak peek?
I write at my cheap corner desk because I am too frugal to spend money on a fancy desk. I write in the car line when picking the kids up from school. I write when I can’t sleep, burdened down by cares, and the glow of my computer screen is soothing.
This post (http://www.shellywildman.net/2009/01/seven-quick-takes-friday.html) has a picture of the chair in my bedroom where I write. What a fun question!
I’m like you…I write in a little corner of the playroom that is all “mine.” It has pictures & a pretty lamp & space to sprawl out notes & inspiration.
But that also means that I write with a toddler hanging on my leg, my foot smarting from stepping on a Little People toy, & the television humming with what my husband watches. It’s distracting, but I try to make it work.
I try to do most of my writing at Starbucks on Saturday mornings. I go from 5:30am to 10:30am to plan my week and write. But often my posts begin while I’m out running or doing dishes. And finally, most of my posts are polished and published while I’m sitting on the couch with my husband in the evenings.
Ironically, I have an office spot, but I don’t write there much.
Oh man, I aspire to be that organized! But I don’t see it happening anytime soon :)
I like this idea…not the getting to Starbucks at 5:30 AM on a Saturday part, but the getting it all done at once part. :)
Ha! Well I usually get up at 5:30 so it’s not hard for me to do on the weekend. I’ve actually come to love the quiet and solitude of those early hours. It also makes it easier on my husband since our kids will usually sleep until 7:30 on the weekends.
in the car, on my notepad
in the shower, between prayers
in my notepad lodged in the bottom of my napsack, sitting in the back of a Lorie bouncing around Africa
in the elevator, on my way up to work
on the back of napkins, when I am out to dinner or at starbucks
on a scratchpad by my bed, in the middle of the night
on stickie notes, stuck in my journal folder…
bouncing around in the back of a lorie? Love it. Haven’t done that, but I have tried to write on some pretty rough African roads, under starry African skies, in cool crisp African mornings and (even now so many miles away) with a strong cup of Kenyan tea in hand…
in the car, in the bed, at the kitchen table, in my head….in fact, most often I write posts in my head long before I can type them up…and sometimes they sound so much better in there! By the time my sleepy eyes are seeing the words I can actually remember on the screen they don’t seem nearly so well put together. oh well!
Me too. I write a lot in my head throughout the day and in the evenings let it finally seep out onto my keyboard.
We live in a tiny house bustling with activity. With 4 (soon to be 5) kids under one small roof, we manage with no playroom for them, no basement to retreat to. We’re a jumble in here altogether, and as such my poor dining room table is where we eat 3 meals a day, where I fold 4 loads of laundry a day, where I school my two oldest, and also where I set the laptop to write a few lines before bed. I’d love someday to have my own space, but for now, in the midst of family life, it works just fine.
I LOVE that. Truly, LOVE it. Writing in the midst of the real and the nitty gritty of life. Yes, that’s when writing can’t help but breathe that same life out to anyone who reads it.
I write snuggled up on the sofa, listening to hubs watch sports or play Wii. I write at our local coffee shop, where our local Christian radio station plays in the background & I find inspiration in a cup of chai. I write while sitting at rehersals for the worship band my husband is in, where laughter and foolishness and boys who love Jesus make my heart melt. And I let God write the words in my head when I’m too tired to be stubborn and can’t ignore Him – and then I try to remember the words in the morning.
Your playroom corner is so neat! I’m very impressed. :)
I write in my head on the commute to/from work. Stolen moments at lunchtime. After the family is in bed, on the sofa on the laptop. Or down at the girls desk/family desktop computer in the (very chaotic, plus filled with drums, piano, and guitar and crafting stuff) playroom.
Which is probably why I don’t post more often! (BTW- I have the exact print from Dayspring-the brown with flowers one for my daughters bath. Goes well with the groovy 1960’s baby blue tile!)
Hmmm, let’s just say the timing for photo taking is important. I think I took that picture back in September and I’m not sure that corner has looked the same way since :)
I need a quiet house. Everyone asleep. Laptop on my lap. Curled up in my favorite chair. Trying to write, tweet, skype chat and read my favorite blogs at the same time.
I usually write with my laptop in the living room. Also, I do lots of writing with pen and paper while waiting in lines (carpool, grocery, etc.) Sometime in the near future we’ll finish getting the office put together and that is supposed to be a little writing space for me, too!
I was just pondering this when I popped over here… where to write? When? I seem to do everything in my power to avoid writing – which tells me that it’s something I probably need to do. I have a babysitter for a couple of precious hours today, so instead of returning the gifts that don’t fit, I may head over to the coffee shop, sit my mom purse down next to an aspiring hipster, and force myself to scratch out a paragraph….
Have you seen the magazine called Where Women Create? It’s delicious!
My posts begin in my head … among the playing, cooking, cleaning, homeschooling busyness that is our home. Posts are usually written at our small corner desk … with some inspiring quotes hung on the wall (Psalm 101:3 … “Grace is an unconditional acceptance to an undeserving sinner from an unobligated giver” … “Jesus + nothing = everything … Everything – Jesus = Nothing” … and “The Fellowship of the Unashamed” speech). They’re usually written when the girls are in bed for the night. Every so often, though, they’re quickly pounded out while our oldest is homeschooling, our youngest is absorbed in Veggie Tales or Blue’s Clues, and my husband sits next to me reading or something. S
But sometimes the posts are written after my husband is in bed (he works nights) and our oldest is off having a little playtime in her room … and our youngest has pulled up a chair next to me, climbed up on it, and touches every.single.thing that is on the desk while simultaneously saying “Momma, look at this” … “oh momma, what this?” … or something similar.
But I wouldn’t change it for the world. In fact, we hope to add more busy little munchins to our family. In His timing.
Usually I’m sitting at our kitchen table, typing away on my laptop. That way I can watch over the kids or look out the window. My favorite is probably sitting in my comfy recliner chair with my feet up and my laptop on my lap. But, that means I’ve waited until 11 PM the night before, because that’s the only time our house is quiet. :)
I just realized … I have no real “where” to write. And to think I’ve been wondering why my writing has suffered.
the thoughts for what i write most often come to me in the car, the middle of the night, or as i am waking from slumber in the morning. but the actual writing normally takes place in my bed with some pillows propped up behind me :)
Love the clean corner of your play room!! I write at work – in between calls. Sometimes at the kitchen counter while dinner is finishing up. In bed on Sunday nights after the boys are tucked in is my FAVORITE place though…
Have been known to do a mobile post from my best friend, er, iphone too!
Blessings!
Something fun for Saturday… http://bit.ly/hsSsma
I like to write in coffee houses with my headphones on. That way, I can’t hear the noise around me but I can feed of the energy that seems to come from an atmosphere like that.
A lot of my words begin in my head during sleepless nights. They spill out on my PC in my home office or my netbook at the kitchen island or sofa. No matter where I am at, I need quiet to concentrate.
I write in a chair in the living room. Laptop on lap. Dog curled up next to me. Usually late at night after everyone (aka parents!) have gone to bed. Sometimes in the afternoon, like right now.
I write where there is peace, and order, and beauty. In the mountains, I can always find a place to write. Of course, not blog, but write. At home, I write in bed. Or in the living room, or in the dining room, or at the kitchen counter, depending on which room has the most peace, order, and beauty. I can’t think in a messy space, but I can’t keep my whole house clean, either. :)
I usually don’t try to write something sensible until the girls are in bed or listening to a tape in their room. And then, I sit on the couch, where I can glance out the windows as I type.
Some posts, to be sure, are written at my desk, or amidst the craziness of children crying. But those are only ones that have to be written atthisverymoment or ones that have come on in a rush of inspiration that can’t wait until naptime.
I love LOVE your work space – what a lovely, happy little area!
I dream up thoughts and ideas and titles and silliness in the shower, at the kitchen sink, in the car, and yes, sometimes …even in the bathroom, hehe. I usually pull it all together and write on my living room sofa in the wintertime; in the summer I love my to sit on my deck & smell the outside. I live alone now and no longer have my sweet/loud children climbing all over me – but I still prefer a little noise…maybe some Pandora going in the background?
What a fun question! Have a great weekend :)
I write in our study/music room. Our behemoth of a desk is in there and we have a pretty sweet hookup with our laptop, monitor, and keyboard.
But some of my best writing comes during swim lessons. As the boys are swimming, I scribble thoughts into my blue spiral notebook. As pen scratches paper, the words just flow. Unfortunately, lessons only last 30 minutes. Sometimes I make the kids wait after lessons so I can finish my thoughts!
My life, too, is lived jumping over legos and twirling between lightsabers. And sometimes I pull the computer off the desk and into the midst of the chaos. My kids’ joy always translates to joy in my words.
With an empty nest, I have the luxury of writing wherever I choose ( and honestly, I arrived at this point in my life at light speed). I sometimes sit at the little desk in our bedroom; sometimes at the kitchen table. Often I set up a little tv table in the living room and haul my lap top to my little arm chair so that my husband isn’t sitting all by himself.
Often my writing begins while I’m walking or laying in bed or doing things around the house. I must quickly get it down on paper, though, because at my age it is all too common for a great thought to go drifting off into space never to be found again.
I have a little spot in the corner of our big comfy living room sofa where my laptop and I have quality time. My hubby forbid the laptop from the bedroom so that is my one spot. When I journal {sometimes I just prefer pen to paper} I go outside on the screened porch or take my journal to a coffee shop.
I’m either sitting on my sofa with my laptop, or at work at my desk. Both good spots depending on what else is going on around me. Not too exciting of an answer, but there it is. :)
I love your writing space — it’s warm and cozy. I write at a cheapo, fakey-wood desk in the corner of the sun room. I’ve been meaning to paint the desk white (’cause doesn’t a coat of white paint improve everything?) for forever and a day, but I just can’t seem to get myself to do it. The benefits are that the room gets tons of sunlight, and I can see the birdfeeder, with the cardinals and chickadeees and woodpeckers, right from my desk chair. The bummer is that I don’t have a laptop, so if I want to write, or blog, or browse, I am chained to this big ol’ desk. Plan for 2011: Buy me a laptop!
Thanks for this, Lisa Jo. It inspired me to stop and be grateful for the chaos, and think about where I write:
http://partofthemain.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/where-do-i-write/
in a new way.
I’m blessed to have a wonderful home office that currently could use a good cleaning and purging.
I write all over the place! I just realized that – I don’t have a spot at all. Yours looks excellent though!
It’s so cool to see where you actually write. I love the windows.
I usually write at my desk, but it’s branching out to crossed legged on the couch with Shadow curled up next to me…weather permitting the front porch or back deck…occasionally off the laptop and write in my notebook. Each place or means of writing sets a different mood.
God Bless :D
Only two months late…
I write in the shower, where I could be in there for an hour if there weren’t children to feed, clothes to fold, or coffee to drink. I’m trying to figure out a way to document the utterly brilliant things that pop in my head while showering, but alas, once dried off and at the computer, they’ve fallen out and down the drain. Otherwise, in Ireland, I write at a Starbucks off the main street in Malahide, one block from the estuary and where it’s usually wet and windy. I’ve tried writing at a Starbucks in suburban Missouri, but somehow, it’s just not the same… It could be the ubiquitous choice of coffee shop, or it could be the lack of European footwear, fast and romantic cars, and overcast skies.