Welcome to My Writing Space

After my first "Writing Zone" blog post, I wanted to share a bit more concerning the space where I work, in a series of pictures.  Although I was pretty descriptive regarding my home-office environment, "a picture is worth a thousand words."  In this case, I think that couldn't be more appropriate, so...

...Welcome to my little creativity factory, where my ideas, characters, and (with time) my first book are born!

Welcome to

My Office

When you enter my home-office on a day when I'm writing, two things will stand out: the window roller shade will be drawn all the way down - very little natural light - and that the lighting will be pretty dim, unlike the photos you'll see today, where I've maxed out the lighting so you can actually see everything without squinting.  I find that I do need some amount of light that isn't the ever-present glow from my monitors - I tried working with the lights off and it just didn't feel right, and having the lights on helped to draw my attention away from the work and instead made me think about how great it would be to have natural light bursting through instead of all this artificial light.  The middle ground, having the lights dim, did the trick: I had some light to help with my eyes dealing with the monitors, but it wasn't so bright that it detracted from my work.

The poster against the wall, opposite the doorway, is a "Self-Repair Manifesto" that espouses the DIY (do-it-yourself) culture, promoting various rights that the owner of a product should have as its owner.  When it comes to ideas and creating a work of fiction, I do find most of what's on the poster to be very relevant.

My Desk

There isn't too much to say about my desk that wasn't already shared in my earlier post, but I will say that I back up my manuscript in three places: a ZIP file on my local machine, which is generated automatically by Scrivener; my home server, which you can see under my desk; and to my Google Drive account.  These days, if you are working on anything of importance to you, there are many easy paths towards ensuring your work is protected from any unforeseen event.  You may not have a local server, but many of us do use platforms like Dropbox and Google Drive - get in the habit of leveraging those as reliable backup sources.  If you're one to insist on a local backup, a simple USB flash drive or external hard drive would suffice.

Two computers, One vision

But I digress.  My desk is kept as clean as possible - the less clutter for me, the less likely I'll be distracted.  That said, you may be wondering what that pile of paper is on top of my computer... That is a small, but growing, collection of hand-drawn art that I created that is related to my book!  I find that seeing some of what is going on in my novel is not only useful, but makes it easier to describe what I'm envisioning in my mind.  I can't draw people too well, but more fantastical objects of interest come much easier!

Bare Walls

...for now.

Another feature of my space that may stand out, when compared to other rooms in most homes, is the lack of pictures on most of the walls. Well, two of the four walls do not have anything hung on them, one of which is behind my desk.  This means that on the occasion my vision drifts from my monitors, all I see is the creamy-white wall that separates me from the outside world.  I've been debating whether or not I should put something up on the wall, whether it be a bookshelf or a motivational poster or two.  I imagine that I'll come to a decision regarding that one day, but I'm actually pretty content with the wall I see most often being free of items.

Top-left: "Terra" from Final Fantasy VI; Top-right: "Red Potion" from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past; Bottom-left: "World 1-1" from Super Mario Bros 3; Bottom-right: "Crono's Resurrection" from Chrono Trigger; Center: Issues #1 and #285 of Nintendo Power.

However, the wall opposite my desk has four works of art and two framed magazines - all video-game related.  They are there because I've had most of the pieces for years, and being that my office still serves as an entertainment room, their positions in this space was guaranteed.  From a writing perspective, however, they also serve as sources of inspiration, as the four canvas paintings are from my all-time favorite games, two of which had complex characters and stories.

When the door is closed, that means I'm working!  Again, nothing too special, but the separation between me and the rest of the house - not being able to look down the hallway and see other rooms, which may lure me away from my desk to conduct a round of vacuuming or some other chore - makes a big difference.  At this point, it is baked into my mind as well: When the door is closed, I am working.  Anything that resides outside of my office can wait until I am done or until I am too hungry to continue focusing on my work.

Maybe I should get a mini-fridge?

Doors are Closed?

Writing is Happening!