Several years ago during one particular November I was doing my best to get my words in for Nanowrimo but I struggled to write at home. Whether from the lack of comfort I was finding in the office or the television that seemed to refuse to stay off the end result was the same, I was getting next to no writing done and falling further behind. That was when I started looking at the online groups and saw people talking about going to write at coffee shops or different places. I wasn't feeling up to the possible interactions that could come from a Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf but I wondered if getting out of the house would help me concentrate.
I drove around one day looking for somewhere I could go to write. I kept coming up empty but as I searched aimlessly I got an email sent to my phone telling me that a CD I had requested was in at the library near my house. I turned around to pick it up before going home. When I went inside I saw plastic tarps hung up because there was construction happening as they remodeled a conference room. I didn't even know they had the meeting spaces. I asked the lady at the customer service counter and she mentioned that most locations around town had them and some even had computer rooms for students to get homework assistance as well asquint rooms to study.
The quiet rooms sounded exactly like what I was looking for. She directed me to the closest one so I could go see it. When I go there I saw several tables set up with people working. There were power strips built in to the table tops and most of the people had snacks and beverages that would keep them going as they studied or worked. In the back was an empty table. I knew it was meant for me. I started trying to write my Nano novel on November 9th that year so I was thousands of words behind from the beginning. With the help of the quiet room however I made up time and words. I even finished a day early that year.
In the years since I have branched out from the library. I have found a home at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf a few miles from home as well as gone to a group write-in during Nano though I am a very social person so I tend to end up talking if people let me. At the coffeehouse I plug my headphones in drown out the real world with a book-related playlist. I have trained myself to not wait for inspiration but instead to find ways to draw it out and be able to move forward in some way no matter where I am working.
Today I am sitting at the Ford dealership having service done on my car while I take over a small office area to get some writing and editing done. I planned to work at home but since that silly television has the power to pull my attention I will probably be more productive here anyway. It is not the comfortable, writing in my pajamas while I lounge around drinking delicious cups of coffee from my personal coffee bar situation so many of my friends seem to envision when I tell them I write but it is the reality of the job. We write anywhere and anytime we can.
There are still some situations I struggle with like people that can take a tablet to work to write on break and then transfer from Google Docs to word or something like that during the day. I cannot get myself to do that. I can barely get myself to write longhand on a break since they are so short. I either eat or try to relax and give my brain a moment to recuperate before I head back to work. I went weeks without writing a word at all, even posts here because I had so many things going on and I was not willing to sacrifice anything in my already packed schedule to make room for additional writing but now I am choosing to leave openings so I can incorporate a part of my life that is truly important to me. It is all about the choices we make. When, how and where are just things to figure out to make it happen.
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