Writing spots I have known

I've been setting up a new writing spot as part of my preparation for November which is National Novel Writing month.  Actually I have more than one new spot and suddenly realized I was hearing some lines in my head about that.

Lines like:

"You need to create one special spot."

"If possible, dedicate a separate room to your writing, with a door you can close to shut out distractions."

"Your brain needs to know that this is your spot to write. So when you are there, you know it's time to write."

...

Okay; I get that.  Or I think I do.  But there is also much to be said for variety.  For different kinds of places. I mean, I can type on my laptop computer on my lap.  Imagine that.  Especially if I have my handy-dandy little lap desk under my laptop computer.  Pretty cool.  

I have discovered lots of special writing spots through the years.  I remember back in the days of my first writerly stirrings.  I did have a room mostly to myself - which served multiple purposes from laundry to storage.  Most notably, it was an unfinished somewhat chaotic room - not nice nor cozy.  But I did lots of learning and pondering in that make-shift space and I established a writing habit.  I even tentatively started a blog that still lives 12 years later.

And then our lives changed.  After 40 years in that house, we would live in at least a dozen places over the next 5 years - most of them pretty tiny.  Some of my writing spots during those years were downright miniscule.

First there was the teeny tiny "dry" cabin where we spent that first summer and where we crammed my little student desk into the corner of the loft just under the tin roof.  It was sometimes a noisy spot with the rain hitting that tin roof just a few inches from my head.  It could make me shudder or make me smile.  It felt a little like camping but more secure.  

When we moved into the bigger log cabin I claimed another loft corner - this one overlooking the fireplace below and the flowering redbud tree just outside the upper windows.   

Probably my favorite writing spot was the Black Bear Coffee House, that our daughter managed near Denali National Park in Alaska.  I spent five weeks of early mornings in there.  I'd show up as our daughter was opening up and claim the little table in the corner.  

Part of her opening routine was to slice up the fresh banana bread the baker had baked during the night and left on the cooling racks. She might bring the plate of loaf ends over to my table so I could help her clean them up. I was happy to be of assistance.  

I even discovered writing spots in a lighthouse keeper's quarters... when we were lucky enough to live and work there.  Reading spots and writing spots and windows to gaze out over the water...

Okay; that might be more than enough writing spots! I might need to make a Part Two.

For this edition, I'll close with our little apartment above a garage in the Dominican Republic.  I spent many hours writing on this lovely airy balcony to the soft backdrop of waves crashing along the shore.

But for now...  this week... I'll head back up to that lovely antique secretary from my dear neighbor and start my next NaNo project!