by Ina de Man

Even though I've been writing all my life - well, since grade school - , I didn't commit to real writing until sometime around 2014. Although I started the proto-version of my first children's book Raven Castle some thirty years ago on vacation in France, I wrote mostly at home. At my desk. In these times of automation that also seems the most logical place but usually such a desk or office is not really inspiring.

The first time

The first time I noticed that writing in a place other than home can be inspiring was when I spent a week in San Francisco for work. In the business district, you really fall over the coffee shops, brands like Starbucks, Cosco, Craftsman and Wolves, Philz Coffee, Illy and others stand side by side. On the very first day, I noticed that many of them were populated by people who were just working there with their laptops. The din of conversation and the sounds of the street didn't seem to bother them, so one evening I took my laptop and headed to John's Grill, a cozy eatery where Dashiell Hammett reportedly wrote his Maltese Falcon. After a delicious seafood meal, I set my laptop on the table and tried to see if the muse would come. I had to wait a while for it to click, but once I came up with a story and started writing, I was struck by how quickly the ideas in my head came together. Before I knew it, my short story was on paper, and I noticed that I didn't have to put as much effort into it as I would have otherwise.

In 2014 I participated for the first time in NaNoWriMo, a worldwide initiative to write about 50,000 words of your (first) book during the month of November. There were writing meetups in Antwerp and one time I actually went to one of those collaborative writing events. It was a positive experience, there was a bit less writing but you could test your ideas with your fellow authors, brainstorm about a particular piece you were struggling with or just motivate each other to keep going. And from those first writing meetings, I've gained two good writing friends. Corona and deadlines hasn't brought us together in a while, but it's on my to-do list as soon as things get back to normal.

We decided to just keep getting together to write after NaNoWriMo. Admittedly, due to busy work and a lousy spring, our first session wasn't until sometime in May but it continued at a book café in Deurne near Antwerp. This was followed later by another Irish café where it was crowded so we had to move to a quiet tavern on the Grote Markt in Mechelen but we also wrote on my terrace and other nice places.

Creative environment

I noticed that sometimes it is good to leave your old familiar place behind and spend some time with your manuscript in a different environment. For me, nature and the sound of birds works tremendously motivating and for some reason creativity comes faster when I'm outside in my garden than when I'm just sitting in my efficient but boring desk. I don't really have an explanation for it. Maybe it's because among other people you have to make more effort to focus on your story so mentally you form a kind of cocoon? Anyway, as soon as the days get warm and it stays dry, you can find me with my laptop on the terrace or in the garden. Those are my most productive moments.

This year the temperatures don't really want to cooperate yet, which is a shame because I so want to write outside. I tried wearing a thick coat, but it doesn't really work. That's why I put a table against the window. I can see my garden and I can hear the birds there and although it is only a surrogate for writing outside, it helps a little. Yesterday I wrote some 3,500 words that way, which is not bad considering that I occasionally do some research in between.

The ultimate place

I have one more big dream and that is a writing cottage in the garden. I once saw a report in a women's magazine about an author who had completely transformed the garden shed into a writing cottage. When it was cold, she could light a stove and when the weather was nice, she folded open the front wall and wrote in the open. The walls were painted in soft pastel shades and cute things hung everywhere. I want a writing cottage like that someday, too. Far enough from the house not to be disturbed, but close enough to still have a working WiFi signal. With a small covered terrace so I can keep writing when it rains (and it does tend to do that in this country in the summer). I want one wall in cork so I can pin inspirational pictures on it, or research material for the book I'm currently working on. And of course a coffee maker because writing without coffee is not going to work I'm afraid.

Anyway, as soon as all this corona-misery is a bit behind me, besides writing in the garden I will try again to find some nice spots, I am thinking of picnic tables in the greenery. Maybe you should do the same if you get stuck with your story?