Set up your environment to inspire writing
The daily writing practice is the basic unit of a writing career.
You need to create that space for words to percolate down from deep inside you, and finally land on the page as your fingers tap them onto the keyboard.
A good way to start is to set up a tiny space that inspires you and makes you look forward to your daily writing practice.
Today, I’ll talk about how I set up my writing space and a few more simple tips that stimulate all of my senses to write!
But first, coffee!
I’m not particularly a coffee person. But there’s something about the wafting scent of coffee in fresh hot water that tugs at your brain cells, helping the creative juices flow out.
The aroma and taste of coffee help me feel more like a writer, and then I have no choice but to do what a writer does- sit at the desk and write!
Let the unique power of this aroma inspire you to write something great today!
If coffee isn’t for you, I have some more ways you could try!
Background sounds for focus
There are certain sounds you particularly love. For me, ##typing sounds or the soft screech of chalk on a blackboard feel relaxing and help me focus. For you, it could be the sound of rain, soft music or anything else!
Play the sounds that you find soothing, when you sit down to write. YouTube has these awesome Study With Me videos that you can use as white noise for your background.
Here’s my writing playlist that you could use. Else, create one for yourself — it helps you get into the flow real quick!
Let the Sticky Notes stick
You’ve probably thought of a bunch of little ideas- words, analogies or dialogues you’d use when you sit down to write; they’re free floating inside remote parts of your brain and are likely to get lost.
Whenever you think of anything like this, grab a sticky note, etch the idea onto it and stick it by your desk.
Little sticky notes make your writing corner appear more quirky and help you remember the right ideas at the right times.
You could also keep a note-taking app or a small notebook at your desk for the same thing!
Back Support
There are times when all the stress and work from long writing sessions gather at your lower back and cause pain. Avoid them!
Get a good back support pillow to complement your chair and make sure that while your mind is at its active best, your body doesn’t suffer as you write!
Lighting
Find out what kind of lighting best works for your writing -if it’s the soft warm glow of a lamp at night or a room bathed in the fresh morning sunlight.
Use the lighting that gets your heart, mind and all the cells of your body to sync into the perfect writing motion.
Write at a new place
Often, when I’ve changed my place and tried writing from somewhere else, it has almost always worked wonders for me! For a change, head to a coffee shop near you to sit and write. Or a park where you have the chance to sit perched up on a bench to write for some time.
A change in your immediate surroundings help to unlock and activate newer parts of your brain and help you stumble upon thoughts, ideas and perspectives you never thought of before!
Use a non-phone clock
I recently bought a small digital clock.
A few months ago, I sat down for a 30-minute timed writing session with the timer running on my phone. At the other end of it I realised that I had impulsively reached for my phone and unlocked it almost a dozen times, with no particular purpose.
We often reach for our phones to check the time, to look up a date or simply drop a text. But it doesn’t stop at that- once the phone is in your hand, you most often get pulled into doomscrolling till eternity.
Use a digital clock instead- to check the time or to time your writing exercises.
When you write, try keeping the phone in a different room or somewhere away from your immediate reach and make the clock a permanent desk accessory.
Time spent away from your phone is never time wasted!
