Friday, July 16, 2010

Peek Into My World


'Be it ever so humble there is no place like home.'

John Howard Payne wrote those words in 1822 in his poem 'Home, Sweet Home'. They are still true today. I'd like to add that however humble, a writer's writing niche is 'home'.

Now, I'm going to give you a peek into my world. My writing area is in a corner of a bedroom, beneath a window, next to the closet with French doors, opposite the door leading to the poky little hallway. My desk is old, old, old, given to me years ago by a friend that didn't want it anymore. My printer is tucked away in the closet. The window blind needs replacing. I'll get around to it. And the blizzard damaged the roof and there is a watermark on the ceiling my handy hubby keeps promising to repair.

It is humble, yes. But I don't mind. . .for now. It keeps me humble by reminding me 'I am not all that!'

My dream niche - a room only for writing. Bookshelves. Pencil portraits of my children on the wall. A framed enlargement of the book cover to Surrender the Wind, followed in the near future with the Daughters of the Potomac series covers also in pretty frames that match the time period. A comfortable chintz chair with a throw. A large window with a view.

Whether or not I ever have my dream niche, and I think I will once my boys leave home (hopefully after each of them finds a godly wife and a good job of which I pray fervently for), where I write is not as important as what I write. When I work on my novel, everything around me fades, and my eyes are locked on the computer screen, my mind on the images of scene, like a movie running through my head.

What is your writing niche like?
What is your dream niche?

4 comments:

Diana Flegal said...

I esp. like the view out your window.
When you said when you write- you loose yourself in the story and the writing and your exterior environment fade, I thought of Ann Frank, writing from her attic room, and others that have written from concentration camps and prisons. So much writing has taken place in undesirable places and yet have turned out to be gifts to the world.
Press on dear sister and continue to offer yourself up. The best is yet to be seen :-)

Rita Gerlach said...

I recently saw the film about Ann Frank. So sad in the end.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Rita -

I'm with Diana - a window with a view is a great feature.

I have a decent-sized, crowded office. It's on the same floor as my kitchen, so I can zoom in there and get chocolate or something to drink.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Bonnie Toews said...

When I work, I completely forget to eat or drink. My throat burns before I realize how many have hours have passed. My rescue kitten sleeps beside my computer screen, and she doesn't stir until I get up. My drawing board sits beside a window, but the view is of the street, not of the gorgeous landscape you enjoy, Rita, so often I work with the blinds closed so people walking by can't look in. You're right, though. The spot doesn't matter as much as the writing, and sometimes when we switch to something that would seem more conducive to writing, it actually disrupts or interrupts the "Muse."