Filed under: A Year Of Old Things, Crazy Idea, Creative Process | Tags: how to write, ideal situation, typewriter, usb typewriter, where to write, writing
The ideal situation would be high on a cliff with a small wooden table of my own making with a slight wobble but not enough for me to do anything about where upon a typewriter sits. I should have the technology enough to be able to type but then have it also scanned into a computer for digital editing. So why not have a typewriter that does actually work but also is connected through USB to my laptop which sits whirring very gently in the hot sun. Ideally waves would be crashing along the bottom of the cliff but it doesn’t necessarily have to be close by. I can sit amongst the trees with a hammock nearby even if it’s not the caribbean. Caribbean may be too hot. I’m thinking like Virginia weather in spring, or Chicago in fall, or French Riviera in late fall. Something with cool nights and warm days but not too hot. If it’s too hot then please give me lots of shade to sit under but also plenty of sun drenched space so that if I choose to sit in the sun I can but also quickly get out of the sun when I tire of it. I’d also like to be with in 5 minutes of a beach. I get these ideas in my head that I’m a swimmer, they come quickly and I wish to tear off my clothes almost fully and swim easily. If I have to go to a public beach or a non private area then I’ll wear a swim suit. But if I could ideally it would be a private beach, or at least a beach only a few people know about. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the sand doesn’t have to be completely white with a nice slope into the water. It could be rocky and actually I almost prefer rocks. Not all rocks mind you but at least a lot of rocks. Rocks that I could possibly climb on from time to time and if I were one day to have kids, they could also climb around on and at the end where the rocks jut out into the water, they could jump into the water. The very first time I do it I would be a little scared that I would be pushed, crushed against the rocks but once I did it a few times I’d be comfortable and then when those kids go out there, the first time they might not know to be scared, I would be scared. See this beach should be close by also in case of an emergency. I’d love to have a part of the house where I could see the entire beach. I could let those kids go out and play at the beach while I wrote and then when I want to check on them I could go to the area of the house, maybe a lanai or patio that overlooks the beach. Ideally here there would be two places that look out over the beach, one inside and one outside. The outside one have a table, and chairs that could be used for dinner times and when we have company. We could set out a nice family dinner any night of the week. Of course also have along the edge a high table with bar stools that a few people could enjoy the view and look down on the beach and also have a few drinks if they so wish. But the writing spot shouldn’t look over the beach. It could if it had to but I’d like it to be a little like a nest. Definitely this needs a hammock and a good firm chair. As I said before the table doesn’t need to be firm but almost firm but the chair needs to be firm. I’d like the table to have a bit of the wobble so I can always have something to complain about. Living in such nice weather, with a great view and a great wife and with work as a writer, what else would there be to complain about? It would be this damn table. I’d put folded napkins underneath the shorter leg but it would always have just a little bit of a wobble no matter what I did. Eventually maybe I would replace the table with someone else’s table. But I’d like the fact that I built it myself. I’d like to make brackets and fittings and saw down the legs to the right height. work with the table for a week and then make the necessary adjustments. Maybe the wobble is there so I always have something to work on. If I have a table too well made then I can’t work on it. Now come to think of it I’d rather have a wireless typewriter. The typewriter should be connected wirelessly to the laptop that sits inside always plugged in. I can go inside if I want to make edits or do any editing but the wireless typewriter is outside to do the hard part, the actual writing. The typewriter is where the greenery is. Where the house is most alive. The trees making shade and the look out on the water, out to the sky. I should be able to look straight up and see sky, with maybe a retractable roof. This retractable roof should be manually adjustable but it could be electronic if needed. I’d really like it to be on rollers and I can reach up, or pull a cord, or a rope, or pull a large lever or something so that I could see the sky straight up, also at night this is important. When it’s late, or a sunset everyone looks out to the sun while I’d love to see the clouds above reflecting the glow of the sun. The three dimensional form above me instead of the two dimensional seeming sunset in front. There should be plenty of small plants around as well. It doesn’t need to be a rose garden or anything like that but at least a few pots that I need to water each day. Each day as I water them I’m doing a physical action of watering while my mind prepares to water the seeds of ideas. I’d also love there to be a series of small speakers around the writing area that I could set to play random music. I’d probably by that time have a good playlist of music that I always like but whenever I’m writing about a theme I try to create a thematic playlist of songs I don’t normally listen to or of songs that have been recommended to me. It’d be great to hear them but not really have a speaker directly in front of me blasting the noise. The sound should come from all around, fill the air with sweet or sad songs. It doesn’t have to be very loud or clear. Just needs to fill the air with something. It needs to shake the still air but also be able to be turned of easily as I sometimes need to concentrate on the task at hand. I make no bones about writing for a living. I didn’t want to write to live. I never set out to write as a living and I don’t think I will. It’s just that the stories I want to tell I haven’t heard, or seen anyone write them. Nobody else can write the stories I wish to tell. Looking at it now I don’t think I will ever write for a living so this ideal writing space doesn’t need to be large. It just needs to exist. Ideally it exists in a beautiful house, or apartment , or shack somewhere in the world. I’ll find it one day. It doesn’t matter if it takes a long time to find. It might be more about the journey to find it than finding an ideal place to write.
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