Do You Work Best in Chaos or Control?

Stones on the beach at Flamborough

Do you work well in clutter? Does it really matter to you if the desk is covered in piles of manuscripts, notes to remind you, a document stand overflowing with ‘things to do’? Is it no problem for you to step over those things you’re planning to sort out every time you enter the room?

On the other hand, do you have to have a tidy desk, with everything in its place and nothing outstanding. Is that box of odds and sods already sorted for sale on Ebay or ready for the local charity shop? Or does such a box never exist in your life because you always clear these things as they come along? Is your inbox only ever the place where new emails live for the short while it takes you to deal with them? Are you obsessive about the places your things are located, ensuring everything is always exactly where you want it?

I lie somewhere in between these two extremes of chaos and obsessive tidiness.

For a number of reasons, with which I won’t bore you, I’ve had to allow certain irritations to build up over the last few weeks. It’s always a question of priorities. But I do find it difficult to be creative and disciplined in my writing habits when the desk has a pile of correspondence awaiting attention, the inbox has over 100 emails I need to explore further, the room I use as a study is crowded with objects that need some attention before I can either sell them or recycle them via the local Help the Aged shop.

So, on Wednesday afternoon, when I arrived home from the half week I spend at an office in order to supplement my earnings from writing, I decided enough was enough. It was time for a serious bout of deck-clearing. I want to get on with the fantasy trilogy I’m writing, and all these interruptions are getting in the way. The only solution is to deal with them.

So far, I’ve reduced the inbox to 13, and 12 of those are required for future action I can’t actually take at the moment. I’ve updated the Writing Contests page on this blog and therefore removed from the desk the pile of magazines, leaflets and other printed matter I consult for this task. I’ve restored my daughter’s old computer to a working state, which took some 10 hours of attention, reformatting and re-installing of software, so I can see if that will sell on Ebay. Along the  way, I’ve dealt with all new emails (I get around 70 a day), posted a couple of items on the blog, kept up to date with Pinterest and Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn, all of which are social sites I use to keep in touch with readers. But, as a happily married man who wishes to remain so, I’ve also spent some real quality time with my wife, who is a great support to my writing activity. An earlier post on here describes our day in Hull to see the Da Vinci drawings and watch the latest Bond film. And we also managed a longish walk along the local cliffs near Flamborough. I love the sea and find it refreshes my spirit. Took some pictures along the way, which I’ll add to the albums I have on Facebook when time allows.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, the lesson of the last few days has been that I work better without clutter. And, if I’m able to keep it at bay, I’ll get a lot more writing done. So, I’ve found my ideal working situation. Have you found yours, or are you continually in a state where you’re either fighting against a chaos over which you have no control, or are you so busy keeping everything tidy that you have no real time to do what matters most; you writing?

There you go. I’ve even found time to write and post this piece on the blog. So, here’s your challenge: if you’re not already working in your ideal environment, do something about it and sort it out so you can work in your optimum way and actually get that writing done.

Good luck, and have fun!

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The Writing Den; What's Yours?

Whether luck or prudence provided me with a room of my own is for others to determine. My suspicion is that, in common with most things in life, it's a mixture of these things. Be that as it may, I have the good fortune to have a room in which I can lock myself away from other concerns when I write.

It's not ideal. Small, with a window, behind me, that overlooks the end of the drive with the fence between us and the neighbours beyond and the garage door to the right. As I sit, at a desk built from a flat-pack kit bought some twenty or so years ago, I face the door into the hallway of our bungalow. At present, because I'm writing this before my wife and daughter have emerged from sleep, I have that door closed. Hanging from a hook on the back is a hand drawn map of the land I'm using to set my epic fantasy. Beside that, a cork board bears a few documents as aids in my everyday writing as well as a collage I made as part of the creative aspect of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way course I'm currently undertaking. It depicts those things I most want in life and is intended as both motivator and reminder of why I do this thing; writing. Next to that is a portrait of my wife and a couple of self-designed posters to act as reminders about certain of my less positive aspects - positive statements to keep me on track.

A large, four drawer cabinet sits below these, housing an assortment of things that have nothing to do with my writing; it lives here as the only suitable location for such a metal monstrosity. Utilitarian but exceedingly useful.

Directly in front of the desk a small chest of drawers stores various bits and pieces and acts as base for my printers. Printers? Yes. A monochrome multifunction laser printer for my physical submissions; it gives the best quality text. And a colour inkjet for my drafts and to print off those things that need to be in colour, including photographs.

My desk holds the computer, which actually sits on the desk as there's no room on the floor, where my feet rest on a plastic footrest. A pair of headphones sits on top of the computer box, for those times I want to exclude all external noise, playing the music I have recorded onto the system. My flat screen monitor is directly ahead, on one of those rotating stands that allows it to be moved out of the way. The speakers sit either side and the mouse, along with a graphics pad rest to my right. The box of gubbins that projects the internet signal to my wife and daughter's computers also lurks there, under the monitor. A document stand rises with various bits of essential paperwork to the left and a coaster holds a glass of water (I never drink alcohol in here, though wine is stored in a rack just behind the door.)

I have pens, pads and post-it notes at hand either behind me on the windowsill or on the desk itself. The drawers to my right hold all the essential stationery and other stuff I might need.

The walls on either side are lined from floor to ceiling with shelves bearing most of my books. My essential reference volumes are within easy reach for all those occasions I need to consult an oracle.

I play music as I write. Not because I listen to it, but because it excludes those external sounds that might otherwise distract me. I have two playlists. One mostly of popular music and giving 2 days of tunes if played constantly. The other contains classical music and would last for a day and a half if played without stopping. I play them alternately and use the random selection option so I never know what track is coming next.

A radiator at my back keeps me warm in winter and the window above it can be opened for fresh air and cooling breezes in summer.

There is little decoration, largely because there's very little spare wall space. But there's room for a few pictures and I intend to fill that soon. I also have a couple of small statuettes; one a porcelain slip cast in white of a female torso that I picked up from a potter in the Yorkshire Dales many years ago. The other is a fairly primitive carving of a kneeling woman, which I found in a shop on the Greek island of Rhodes, a favourite holiday destination. I like it for its simplicity and natural quality.

So, there you have it. The place I use to create my works.

Is it ideal? Of course not. I'd love a large library room, with an antique desk and plenty of space to spread out, and a view overlooking the sea, to which I could walk in minutes. But that's the dream and it'll take a lot more work to make it reality.

But it is my own room. My private space. I can relax in here and do as I wish. My wife and daughter respect my need for solitary times and rarely interrupt me, unless they have some sudden computer issue that needs sorting or some domestic emergency arises that I'm best suited to resolve.

I have my space and I make great use of it. I admire those writers, usually women, who are forced to carry out their craft at the dining table with family as constant distraction. To create under such conditions would be almost impossible for me, and I salute their dedication and ability.

So, where do you write? Share your space with others who visit this site and see if we can't, between us, inspire some creativity.  

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