Creating Space - Frustration to Inspiration

A few weeks ago I was feeling super frustrated about my lack of writing. Not having the time or mental space while we were Down Under was understandable, but I still hadn’t put more than a handful of words on paper for two months since then.

Fortunately I'm pretty pragmatic, so I started racking my brains to work out if there were any practical steps I could take (apart from just putting one word after another on the page and ignoring the inner critic who was having a field day with me at that point!).

Around this time I realised that every time I saw a picture of a writer’s working space, the green eyed monster would come and perch on my shoulder and dig its claws in. A simple desk with a notice board above it, like this one of D. Savannah George’s could set me off…

http://nowastedink.com/2012/07/13/guest-post-writing-space-d-savannah-george/

…but it’s always Roald Dahl’s cute writing hut approached by this lovely avenue of trees that would really get me weeping.  I would skip to “work” every single day if I had somewhere like that to write!

Photo copyright David Sillitoe (http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/aug/26/familyholidays.culture)

Up until now, I always worked on our large dining room table and struggled to figure out how I could change that. Having recently, almost accidentally, moved to one of the most overpriced areas outside London, our house is a tad more modest than we've been used to and there’s no spare space in it. Having a garden room built at the bottom of the garden was a dream I'd started regularly entertaining, but one that seemed completely unjustifiable at least until something of mine has been published. Not about to happen any time soon. And even less likely to happen if I’m not writing anything.

I need space!  Physical space (perhaps coz I suffer mildly from claustrophobia) but also mental space coz I'm an introvert who gets energised best when I'm in my own little world :-) 

Finally I decided that if I couldn't work out in the garden, the next best thing was going to be the bay window in my bedroom, overlooking the garden.   There wasn’t any space in it, but I realised that with a bit of moving things around - primarily swapping an armchair for a small table - I could create my very own writing space. 

It might only be about a square metre in size, but it's a great start! The view is fabulous and will only get better as plants start to spring into life over the coming weeks. I can leave my notes out on the desk, rather than having to tidy them away so we can eat dinner. There's a drawer to keep things all together in one place, so I stand a better chance of finding random notes-to-self again, and a small column of wall to stick up things to inspire and encourage me.

Small changes can have a big impact.

Since creating this space a month ago, I've written thousands of words.  It's SO exciting!  I love spending time there.  As it’s solely dedicated to writing, nothing else distracts me and I can get totally lost in what I'm creating.  Which isn’t always a good thing if you forget to eat, drink or pick up your kids from school (oops!) :-)

As I gaze up the garden (in between typing, or sometimes even while typing), enjoying the beauty, majesty and intricate detail of creation, it energises and inspires me massively.  But my gaze always carries on, right to the bottom corner of the garden, as I dream about the purpose built studio (with desk, sofa and wood-burner!) that might be there one day!