Back on the Blog Chain: There's a Place

Welcome back to the Blog Chain! B.J. picked the topic this round:

Is there a place you like to write that's extra special? Have you carved out a writing niche? Is there a certain time of day (or night) when the words fall into place, and your brain is focused on nothing but writing?

Mandy posted before me, and Eric will post tomorrow.

It's taken me a long time to set up my office in this house. I finally cleared out all the boxes this Tuesday, so now I can show you a few pictures. The first one shows the Beatles poster and photos above my desk; a writer has to have her inspiration, after all. The second is of my desk. I had a third one of my office, but it was too dark.

I do write in here sometimes when Alex is asleep or out of the house (sometimes I take a vacation day and send him to daycare so I can get stuff done). Most of my writing these days is on my lunch hour at work. I bring in my laptop and write at my own desk. I used to be able to write at night, but these days, by the time my son is in bed, I'm too mentally drained or need to catch up on finances or household chores. Sometimes I like to go to the bookstore to write at the cafe. I feel more motivated to write there since I'm taking time out of my routine and reserving it for writing.

While it is useful to have a designated place/time set aside for writing, I've found that as a working mother, I have to be flexible to make the best use of my free time. In the past, I used to print out the current page from my WIP and bring it with me so if I had a free minute, I could jot down a sentence or two. I need to get back in that habit again. But I think first I have to relearn how to focus. There are so many distractions out there that it's hard sometimes to concentrate on my own work. If you're focused enough, you can write anywhere, anywhen. After all, the muse is everywhere!