Writing Chair

In 2020 I started writing a novel. It was an ill-fated endeavour, but I learned a lot along the way.

One of the things I learned is that it’s useful to have a separate “space” for writing.

I used to cycle into my city office on Eagle St., then take my laptop and a coffee somewhere else to write. There was this one particular spot, a chair in the lobby of an office building, that had people bustling all around and a view of the river. I’d put in my headphones, play a very specific playlist, and write.

I don’t live in the city anymore, and it’s not so practical to drive 10 minutes down the road to the closest café every time inspiration strikes. So instead, I unplug my laptop from it’s charger, and move to my writing chair.

We are spatial thinkers. We think with our mind, our physical body, and our environmental context. Our brains reorient and reorganise each time we move from one place to another.

If you’d like to write more (and you should!), try sitting somewhere new.