Where is your writing place?

All writers need a place. As Virginia Woolf famously wrote, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” She ultimately found that the room she created specifically to write did not entirely do the trick. She often contemplated and wrote outdoors. She imagined stories while walking the quadrangles of Oxford or strolling through a garden. But the quote in part has come to signify the importance of a solitary place to write. In fact, I know writers who thrive on writing in busy coffee shops that are the antithesis of quiet sinecures of contemplation. They create their own solitude within an impenetrable shell of concentration. I am entirely too distracted in that setting by people-watching and eavesdropping. Each to their own I say. Personally, I like to write while sitting on my patio in the quiet of early morning with only birds as my background chorus. I also have a room of my own. When I close the door, the muse cannot escape; it is trapped in the struggle of my creative tug-of-war. To quote Mrs. Woolf again, “a lock on the door means the power to think for oneself”. In my room, I have a desk. My desk once belonged to my mother and I treasure its history. My desk is cluttered, unlike its life with my mother. When I think of writing, especially if I plan a long period dedicated to that pursuit, I think of my desk. It is my place. PROMPT: Write a short essay on your writing place, your desk – whether it be in a room of your own, in the kitchen, at a library table, a notebook on your lap – wherever. What does it mean to you? Our writers’ group will each write about their desk in our blog posts next week.