Obsessions

[rebeccmeister]

I must say, I'm a bit addicted to the Writer's Rooms series on The Guardian, as brought to my attention by the ever-tasteful gfrancie. Part of this obsession is probably due to the fact that I'm spending a lot of my time thinking about writing, and trying to figure out how to do more of it, or at least how to do it more effectively.

I was particularly struck by Jane Austen's writing space, relative to Virginia Woolf's writing space. Woolf is quite adamant about the need for a physically demarcated space (see, ahem, A Room of One's Own, though that isn't the only subject addressed). Meanwhile, as the article mentions, Austen had no such space, so she occupied an extremely small table in a quiet corner.

So now, when I toss about and fret because I can't seem to determine the perfect space to write the most eloquent of phrases about leafcutter ants, I think of Jane Austen and her table. I still think I'm right to be concerned about the quality of my writing space (cubicles, for example, are a horrible place to try and write, unless absolutely nobody else is about, and even then the possibility of interruption is distracting). But it's hard to say just what it will take for me to become a more effective and habitual academic writer.

Comments

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

I love the places that look lived in with books and talismans and chaos. I suspect this is really what our brains are like.

[trifold-flame.livejournal.com]

I also hate writing in a cubicle- in fact, unless my brain is full to bursting, I can't do it. For me the best place to write is in my bed, lying on my stomach. My boss does not believe me that this posture is condusive to work... but she is wrong.