The Writing Journey: My New Office!

I have a dirty little secret to share.

For years, my office was in my bedroom.

While there are many things I love about my house, one thing I don’t love is the fact it’s only two bedrooms. Sure they are HUGE bedrooms (our house has a very open floor plan with tons of windows with beautiful views) …

But there are only two.

(Hubby got the second one.)

So, back in 1998, when I quit my job and decided to go back into freelancing, I set up a desk in the bedroom.

Over the years, my desk migrated to my bed. (You see, I’m quite tall and my height is in my legs, so I find sitting at a chair uncomfortable for long periods of time).

In my bed, I could stretch my legs out comfortably. I could prop my laptop up and comfortably write.

On my bed, I wrote six nonfiction books, two (nearly three) fiction books (the other two novels were written at my desk before I migrated to the bed) and built a multiple six-figure copywriting company.

So, why would I change?

Well, because in addition to all of the success I’ve had, I also realized I’ve created a lot of bad productivity habits on that bed.

This year, I’m determined to increase my daily writing output (I want to release three fiction books this year plus I have another nonfiction book percolating).

I’ve never done that before.

And, I’m a big believer that if I want to do something I’ve never done before, I need to take different actions.

(Think that quote from Albert Einstein “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Or, think of George on Seinfeld who decides to do the opposite on one episode. At the beginning of the episode, he had no job, no girlfriend and was living with his parents. At the end of the episode he’s still living with his parents but now he has a hot girlfriend and a great job with the New York Yankees.)

And of those actions was moving my office out of my bedroom.

But, where would I put my office if not the bedroom?

Well, I decided to try the dining room. Here’s a pic.

So, part of the reason why I wanted to try the dining room was I remembered something from when I was a teenager. (When I tell you this story, keep in mind I’m old.)

Computers were barely a thing when I was sixteen, but my dad had purchased an Apple 2E, which had a word processor. It was a family computer and set up in our rarely-used dining room, which was next to our rarely-used living room and our heavily-used kitchen. (We mostly ate in the kitchen and watched TV and whatnot in the family room.)

I had some of my most productive writing years sitting in the dining room, listening to my mother cook behind me and playing Queen albums on the little stereo in the living room.

I wrote my first novel ever there (which I’ve since lost, bummer, I’d love to look at it again) plus I wrote a bunch of short stories, one of which won a national award.

When I remembered that story, I thought maybe I should give the dining room a try.

I’ve been there for a week now and have already noticed things shifting. I’ll keep you posted on how this experiment goes.