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July 26, 2008
Shangri Lar
What did Virginia Woolf say about a "room of one's own?" When I started writing, it was at the kitchen table and whatever I was working on was set aside each time a meal was served. I graduated from kitchen table to corner of sewing room (in the olden days when I actually sewed, making curtains for our home and clothes for kids) and then, when Tyler had been off to college -- and graduated! -- I took over his bedroom. No matter the space, big or small, I was glad for it.
Now I am spoiled beyond words. Not only do I have a room, I have heaven on earth: Shangri Lar (photo to come). We have finished building a vacation home near the Canadian border and my sweetie made sure the top floor was mine. So now my away from home writing space includes five windows that take in the Strait of Georgia, White Rock, B.C. and sunsets to take one's breath away.
I am holed up here, now, at Shangri-Lar, finishing a novel revision. In the old days, my work would be disrupted for skinned knees or permission slips that needed signing or space to serve the Sloppy Joes. Now, my work is disrupted by herons etching the twilight sky like hieroglyphs or owls hooting good-nights or sailboats cutting a fine figure against the waves or neighbors eager to check out the new place in the neighborhood.
So, yes, I joined my sisters-in-law tonight around the campfire, telling family stories and toasting marshmallows. But that was only after several hours of pounding the keyboard, corralling the words I've been herding for weeks. Months. Years. Getting closer and farther away from the story each minute.
My digs have gotten more luxurious but the work is still the same: write three words, delete two.
So, wherever you are: write. You can do it at the kitchen table, in a fancy suite or on the back of a motorcycle (okay, maybe not on the back of a motorcycle). It's not about the place.
It's about you. And the story.
Note to self: one hour of writing in your loft office today equals one s'more at the campfire tonight on the bluff.
Fair enough.
Posted by kirby at July 26, 2008 10:47 PM