Tag / space

by Gerald Hornsby

DAY 19 – #MonthOfBlogging #June2024 #MonthOfWriting

FINDING A SPACE

Earlier in the month, we talked about finding somewhere to write.

There’s something I wrote in my “NaNoWriMo – Meeting the challenge” book

https://gerald-hornsby.com/nanowrimo-2020

Here’s another complaint I hear – “I don’t have anywhere to write. I only have a small house / apartment / igloo”. We’ve all seen Stephen King’s writing room, and Ian Rankin’s upstairs office space. How much easier would it be to write if I had a centrally heated, air-conditioned, coffee-machine-equipped office with a view of Mont Blanc or the River Rhine or the South African Veldt or the soaring peaks of Glencoe?

Well, maybe a little, but you’re just finding excuses. Again. You don’t need a special space to write. Yes, you would do well to be on your own without interruptions from pets or family. But you can write with your laptop on your … lap. You can write in the middle of an office with headphones on. You can write on a train.

The most prolific period of my career was when I sat at a tiny flatpack desk facing a blank white wall. You can write in the kitchen whilst you’re waiting for your pasta water to boil, or your coffee machine to bubble, or even whilst you’re waiting for the kettle to boil. You don’t need an office. You don’t need a ‘special space’. What you need to do is write words. Get to it!

I remember an episode of “Grand Designs”, where a man wanted to build a house in France with an office “with a great view” so “I can wrote that novel I’ve always wanted to write.”

He built that house, and he really did have a study which had a wonderful view across a valley, including green fields and a village in the distance. So, he must have polished off that novel in no time?

He didn’t.

What he did do was write a book about how to build a house in France. The novel didn’t get written. So it wasn’t the lack of a special room that was stopping him – it was himself!.

You could say: “But Gerald, you’ve got a nice study with a view into countryside – it’s all right for you to preach!”

True.

But in my defence, it is a spare bedroom, converted into a study. AND writing is my business. AND my partner writes on the dining table. She’s a full-time author, too.

In conclusion: you can write wherever you want.

Just write.

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by Gerald Hornsby

DAY 1 – #MonthOfBlogging #June2024 #MonthOfWriting

FIND TIME AND SPACE

I’m going to start of this month of blogging with my first tip – and it’s the most common thing non-writers will say to me: “Oh, I wish I had time to write.” Or, even worse: “I’m sure I could write a novel, if only I had time.”

Now, I get it. Some years ago, before I became a full-time author, I too thought I didn’t have time to write. But now I understand that it wasn’t anything to do with time – it was that I didn’t have the HEADSPACE to write. Sure, there was physical time during the day when I could have written, but most of my head was filled with information about my work, which left little time to think of anything creative. But you might be different. I hope you are.

Now, for the moment, forget about a writing study with a view over the mountains, or a comfortable nook with hot and cold running gin and tonics – we need to be practical. But, on the other hand, don’t think you’ll be able to write sitting on the sofa next to family members whilst they watch Eastenders or The Price is Right (or whatever’s on the telly these days). You’ll need a space for a notepad, a tablet, or a laptop. And some way of ‘cutting yourself off’ – a door to the box room, or headphones to cut out extraneous sounds and interferences. Don’t worry – those around you will soon get used to your ‘special half hour’. Don’t demand more than that. It will create friction (instead of fiction, geddit?) and you’ll come under pressure to “stop messing around with that writing thing.”

Personally, I’ve found a spare bedroom and a pair of over-the-ear headphones works wonders. Or a dining table. Or maybe sit with the kids whilst they do their homework?

If you’re seriously struggling, time-wise, why not try setting the alarm half an hour early? Your house should be very quiet (tiny children notwithstanding) and your sleep partner will appreciate waking up to a fresh cup of tea!

But it’s all about carving out time and space, for something like half an hour initially. Don’t be too greedy. Just half an hour – for you, and your writing, exclusively.

So, in conclusion: do you think you’d be able to find time to write a page of a paperback during a day? Doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? Well… if you’d started that a year ago, you’d have written a complete novel by now! Something to think about. Start today!

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