Grab the Wayback Machine and travel back in time to September 2, 2012. There you will find my blog post showing where I was writing. I know you don’t want to go back there, so let me show you the picture:
If you want to know what all the numbers and arrows are for, you will have to go read the post – A Fine Place for Writing
I not only wrote many of my books in that fine place, but I also wrote a few books in an upstairs bedroom that was basically a playroom when our granddaughter visited. Ha! That room is Pepto Bismol pink. Here’s a picture of that writing place:
And who can forget the deck Rich built for me. That was a great place for writing until bird doo-doo, bugs, flies, neighbor kids, traffic, and my own family running in and out of the house every five minutes basically sent me back into the house.
You don’t need pictures of our local library or the Marriott hotel. I was writing at both of those places, too. I schmoozed with the staff at the Marriott more than I wrote, so that kind of defeated the purpose, but what great people! I had fun there, and it was a nice distraction during the rough times earlier in the year.
So, now that I’ve turned my life on its head, pretty much everything has changed. So, of course, has my fine place for writing.
Are you ready? Get a load of this setup:
Faerie lights. That’s right, faerie lights. I’m writing at night more than I am during the day, and I love these lights. There’s not much rhyme or reason to their placement, but they make me happy just as they are.
That’s still the behemoth of a desk I bought many years ago at a thrift shop for $35. It was pretty beat up then, and I haven’t done it any favors over the years, but I love it. It weighs about a million pounds and was the last thing I managed to get in here, because I couldn’t find anyone to move it for me. My “office” is just inside the front door in the living room.
My overall mood determines the music I choose (when I can tear myself away from the music of The Dead South). I always write with music – usually loud. The neighbors haven’t complained yet. And occasionally, I might have an adult beverage. Drambuie over ice is my preferred drink in winter, Hendrick’s and tonic for summer – or sometimes a spicy bloody Mary (bonus points for the potassium in the V-8 juice).
My old computer on the right has years of emails, photos, documents, and all-around junk filling it to the brink. Many of the files are backed up elsewhere, but there are programs I still use that are obsolete, so I keep the computer up and running and drag files back and forth on thumb drives.
My new computer is a marvel. How in the world can an entire computer fit within a thin monitor? Sheesh, I remember our very first computer back in ‘92. It was a Packard Bell with a 50mb hard drive. The computer and the monitor took up a ton of space. I was proficient with DOS programs. Technology. Wow.
I must admit, I love being able to sit at my desk and write whenever I want. I actually love being able to do whatever I want whenever I want. This new-found freedom is good for my soul. I have no idea how much time I have left in my life, and I plan to live this time with happiness and abandon.
So, how about you? A life of happiness and abandon? How about your fine place for writing? Take a picture of your writing space and drop it in the comments below!
Living life with abandon doesn’t mean living recklessly but rather deciding that no matter what comes your way you are going to enjoy everything, and you are going to make the best of what is going on around you. ~Michael Horner, Living An Ultra Life
Breezy Books 
You know, of course, I love your writing space, AND I love your newfound freedom! I too used to be proficient with DOS, oh my now that was fun times! NOT LOL I love my computer without the tower part. I’ve had an all-in-one- computer since it came out years ago. Cheers to living one’s life with abandon! Talk to you soon! Love!!
And dial-up! Don’t you miss dial-up?!! Ha! I actually love this new writing space. With it being a dark, rainy day, I already have my faerie lights on and the radio blaring. I’m nearly done with an editing pass on the book. I’ll get this book published soon! Love to you, too!
Oh crap, dial-up!!! Now there were fun times. Every time someone would call it would throw me offline and I’d lose whatever I was working on. LOL Not that you could do a whole lot when it first came out. Do you know wayyyyy back in the early days I belonged to the first online book writing club? Yup, it was with Kensington Books and I talked to the (now) owner Steven Zacharius loads of time. We even talked on the phone a few times. A very nice man. 🙂 I’ll have to tell you that story one day. 😉
The world seemed like a small place back then, didn’t it. Now, the internet has made it huge. On the other hand, you could reverse that … the world used to be huge and hard to see; now it has all been brought to our fingertips. That is very cool that you belonged to a book writing club. I never heard of Steven Zacharius, but I looked him up. Wow. You were rubbing elbows with early greatness. 🙂 Yes, tell me the story!
My next email to you, I will tell you that story! When I met him his father was still the boss man. Now Steven is. He is a typical New Yorker though. He’s a nice guy with a big heart. 🙂
You’re so talented that you could get it done standing on your head, but a nice place to work surely helps. Keep it up, Maddie. 🙂
Your supportive comments always bring a smile to my face, Tim. I appreciate you so much!
Saying what I think. 🙂
I remember the deck setup and I also remember thinking I couldn’t do that (I require a lack of visual and auditory distractions. That also means minimal light (just enough to illuminate the keyboard (I’m not a touch-typist). The strings of lights would generate too many reflections both on the screen and on my reading glasses. But, whatever lets you put words to (digital) paper, that’s what you want to go with.
Even though we’ve been here three years now (which seems unreal), I’ve yet to finalize my office.
Last year we finally closed off what was the dining area to turn it into an office for me, but the temporary desk is still what I’m using. I’m forever on the lookout for a desk, bookshelves, and filing cabinet that meets my approval (nothing so far). Here’s the post about the build-out:
https://dispersertracks.com/2021/04/22/another-quick-update-why-ive-been-busy/
I did the taxes this past week and it brought home the fact the current workspace isn’t very conducive to doing actual work (I had papers on the floor and on another chair, atop the printer, etc. etc.)
I liked my old set-up, but I can’t recreate it here (notice I also had a huge desk).
https://dispersertracks.com/2015/05/22/bare-bones-selfie/
This week I made another promise to myself to get serious about getting proper furniture.
As for writing, I can write anywhere I can put my PC. I can write on a laptop, but I don’t like it; I prefer large screens for pulling up reference stuff and notes, and so on.
Yes, I always have music on, but rarely anything with lyrics. I like Epic Music and Enigma for writing, and I usually listen to them via headphones.
If I get hung up on something, I will switch it off and I then require silence and no distraction to power through impediments. That said, that rarely happens.
Once I get started, I can write for many hours at a time, and that’s my preferred method for composing. I started writing the story for the title challenge that I just posted on Saturday afternoon and finished (including edits) about six hours later (plus an hour to eat dinner and spend some time with Melisa). And yes, I started with the barest of ideas and powered through the plot and character development, such as it is.
I also prefer to write in large blocks. As a pantser, once I’m on a roll, I prefer as few interruptions as possible. That means I often start writing in the evening and go to the early hours of the next day. Anyway, that’s enough about me.
Glad you have a place you like, and if the neighbors complain about the music, get some headphones.
Wow. Your rebuild is really great. It’s so interesting how what works for one person wouldn’t work for another. You couldn’t write on my deck, I’d be claustrophobic in your office. The landlord thought I would drop my desk in one of the bedrooms. Heck no! I need to be by windows and doors and light and activity.
I like your old set-up a lot. Spacious and a large window. Great desk and additional work area! The skeleton adds a nice touch. 🙂
Agree on computer/screen for writing over a laptop; although, I will use a laptop when necessary. I used to write like you do … huge chunks and hours at a time. I’m a pantser, too. And I used to do my best and most of my writing at night. That’s what I’m trying to gravitate back to. I guess we have more in common than I realized.
Music has been blaring all morning. Still no complaints. 🙂
Yeah, the old office was pretty good.
. . . now I have even more urgency to finalize my new digs.
Love your setup, especially those lights! I know we’re supposed to be able to write wherever but I’ve always wanted a nicely setup space. I did buy a really pretty desk (I’m away so can’t share) but it is ridiculously tiny!!
When you get back home, you will have to drop a picture or link to your desk. That desk I had in granddaughter’s playroom was tiny, but I didn’t mind. I liked being up there and able to look out the window to the center of town – which was basically the gas station. 🙂
Ha ha our views!!
I loveee your fairy lights! They make things seem so bright and clean and cheery. I think I would more seriously consider adding some here except I don’t think I have any plugs left haha. It’s neat seeing where you were a while ago and where you are now. I’m trying to think on what I was using to write ten years ago… things have definitely gotten a lot better since.
My setup is for work and play alike and it’s been tough trying to get elements of both in here so I don’t distract myself from one when I’m supposed to be doing the other. But I’ve spent a while making it a cozy place. This past year I starting adding more RGB stuff. https://i.imgur.com/UEHLIYH.jpg
I love your setup! I love everything about it – the desk, the screen, the things you’ve placed in your environment – definitely cozy. I will assume you play that violin? I didn’t know that about you. I want to hear you play!
Thanks! I do play violin. Not very well, but it’s a constant work in progress. 😀 I used to play a lot when I was younger and then fell out of it, but recently decided to get back to it.
Looks like, reads like you are serious about this writing business. 😉
Ladysighs, I honestly thought I was on my way a few years ago. I was finally making money that counted, and I was just on a roll – loving every minute of it. Then, when Rich got so sick and nearly died, the rug was pulled out from under me, and I’ve not been able to get back to that place. Now that I am on my own, I am driven to find out what I can accomplish. I’m excited for my future and getting “serious about this writing business” again. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
I love the lights! Music is good, I need to get back to listening more to it. My son that lives with us built my tower before I got sick. My computer down in the cave is obsolete, windows 8 and needs out, it won’t update. My laptop is ok but now only try to use my stroke arm to type practice. Need to get rid of a few computers. lol I’m mostly reading but hope to write soon. Looks like a good writing area and freedom is good. 🙂
Windows 8. 🙂 The old computer on my desk is running Windows XP. I’m keeping it until the bitter end. That’s nice your son built a tower for you – that he has the ability to do that. Reading is good; I wish I had more time to read. And your writing will come again. Day by day … you just keep going forward!
thank you