Local cafes top the list of favorite places to write but in A Writer’s Book of Days, Judy Reeves suggests several more places to try:
Laundromats: Thumping noises, lint-filled air, quarters clanging, and the scent of soap and bleach offer a completely different sensory experience.
Outdoor areas in nature: Take a walk, take your shoes off, take the time to lie back on the grass and write. And just because you’re in the green and blue open spaces doesn’t mean you have to write pastoral. Often the opposite of where we find ourselves is what we write, as Ernest Hemingway said, writing of Michigan while hunched over cafe au lait in a Parisian cafe.
Bus depots, train stations, airports, and other way stations where travelers come and go: Stay in one place and observe the people in transit. Pick up the buzz of motion and let its vibration inform your writing.
Public transportation: You write while they drive, and let yourself be transported to somewhere else, both in body and writer’ spirit.
Your bed: Fluff those pillows, grab a hot cup of coffee, and try practicing this location first thing in the morning while sleep still clings to your consciousness, or at night before you slide down into dreamy repose.
The brain likes new things-. I have to say some days I wander around my house–check out the vibes in the gazebo and act like a dog fluffing a bed as I look for "the place " to settle. Usually I end up back at my desk!
How are the writing vibes around your beautiful pool?
I don't think I'd ever leave the house!
Thanks for sharing, Marcia 🙂
What great ideas of places to try out. The different settings may make us think differently and change our perspective of something. Thanks for the idea, Cathy.
Thank you Ellen! Maybe we'll have to take our laptops to the local laundromat next time we get together…and then we'll grab a coffee! lol. 🙂
Outdoor and bed for me. 😉 And lately I've been enjoying the birds singing. 😉 Great ideas Cathy – it is good to be in new surroundings .. . And now that I have a laptop!!!! I can go anywhere. :)woot woot! Love, hester 😉
Hester, I know you must be lovin' that laptop! I love the story behind it. A gift from God, no doubt. 🙂
I like outdoors too — as long as there are no mosquitoes — which is virtually impossible here in the South. I can't wait to screen our back porch so I can give it a try. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!!
Cathy–love these ideas! And I was just commenting to my husband that I am scheduling time to take my lap top away from home–it seems like I am too distracted at home to get any true writing done. To be honest, never thought of the laundry mat…hmmm…just thinking of the laundry mat brings back so many childhood memories.
Thanks for stopping by, Kim. The laundromat brings back memories for me too.
I suppose I could take a load of clothes with me and kill two birds with one stone. 🙂
Blessings to you! Enjoy your time away with the laptop.
I love those, Cathy! I never thought of the laundromat, but it makes perfect sense. Plus it's a great place to people-watch. And it's really pretty quiet because of all the white noise. I need to remember that one!
Susan, maybe we need to launch a "Write at Your Local Laundromat Day" 🙂
Blessings!!
Thanks for the ideas for new places to write. I love to write on my deck but the bees scare me off. I can see you and Ellen at the local laundromat with laptops blazing! My bed is still my favorite place to write and I remember you laughing at me about that once .:)
Me? Laugh at you? 🙂 Actually, you were the first person I thought of when I saw this article.
I should've known you were right all along, sweet Dee!
I think this is what I need…a new writing environment! I've done a little writing here in the hotel while we've been locked out of our house, and I have plans to write on the plane on the way to Europe. But if I know me, I'll read a book and sleep instead. I keep thinking about trying the Panera or Starbucks route, but I will take ANY distraction to stop writing. So that probably wouldn't work well for me. I think I need to be completely isolated somewhere with no phone, no tv and no people!
As much as I like the idea of writing while sniffing soap (not!) I think I'm more like you in needing total silence — no distractions.
Writing on a plane to Europe sounds like a plan!
🙂