When I decided earlier this year, to concentrate on my writing, my mind turned to the concept of a writing place. Many famous authors have had a special place where they write and which is set up to inspire them and to nurture the creative flow. I'd like to share just a couple of them here.
The first one is Mark Twain's Writing room at Elmira New York.
Mark Twain's Writing Room
I love this building. It speaks to my creative side about the circle of creation. I love the big bright windows that would give a good view of whatever is outside. I tried to find pictures taken from the interior to see what Mr Twain would have looked at while he was working there, but I couldn't find any. If I was to have a writing room, it would be like this. Either round, or hexagonal. I don't know why, but that just resonates with me.
It reminds me of a Quaker Meeting House and that might be a part of it, because the circular pattern gives rise to the completeness of things, and it puts me in touch with the inner light which is the source of all creation.
I would love a little room like that. Notice the chimney, which means that the Writer would be cosy and warm with a blazing fire in the winter. I'd have to go on a lower budget scale due to my circumstances, but if I could have my dream, a writing room like this one would be pretty darn wonderful!
The second photo I found is of Virginia Woolf's Writing room.
Virginia Woolf's Writing Room.
Again there is the emphasis on light with large windows to catch as much sunshine as possible. This little room is secluded and has more of a cottage feel to it. It doesn't resonate with me quite as deeply as Mark Twain's does, but it looks as though it would make a good creative space nonetheless.
A writing space doesn't have to be a whole separate room, though. It can just be a space that belongs to the writer and is only used for writing. It can be a seat in a garden, a pagoda, a table by a window. The emphasis is on light and clean though.
Ernest Hemmingway, in a story titled "A Clean Well Lighted Place," wrote of a cafe that an old gentleman liked to visit every day.
In the story an old man sits on the terrace of a café at closing time. It’s late, but the old man, the last customer of the night, is reluctant to leave. A waiter wipes off the old man’s table with a towel and shoos him out. This waiter is eager to get home to his wife, his warm bed. But a second waiter, older than the first, is sympathetic to the old man’s need to linger. First, he tries to explain this to the younger waiter, and then, when the younger waiter loses interest, he tries to explain it to himself, or to whoever will listen—what it is about this particular place that is important: “It is the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant.
You do not want music.
Certainly you do not want music.”
This waiter is very clear about what is necessary for him.The emphasis on light and cleanliness seems important. For a while, I had allocated the study in our home as my writing place, but Sandra and I are both such packrats that that room is always cluttered and I find I can't focus to write there.
A writing space can be any place you have or that you create in your home. It doesn't need to be a room, but it needs to be somewhere that will inspire you.
The third picture I found was of a space created for the owner of a website called "One Year of Writing and Healing." This space she has created is nothing fancy, but it obviously inspires her.
That space is a little too busy for my tastes, but these things are as individual as the writer.
Do you have a space where you write or create?
