Ahh, writing. The most beautiful and simultaneously nightmare-inducing thing in the world. Being a writer is hard, especially if you take your craft seriously. Sometimes you can feel like you’re flying, surfing over the words and sentences with ease. Other times, you can feel like you’re in a gridlock, with a number of words waiting to be written but no easy way to get through the traffic and get into gear.
The writing space itself has a big impact on this. One of the reasons many people find writing so difficult is that they are in the wrong place to do it. For instance, if you find yourself getting tired while in the middle of writing, it’s not because your work is sleep-inducing. It’s because you’re writing in a bedroom. A room designed for sleep!
For any writers out there, it’s important that you find a room in the house that can actively aid in your writing. The living room is often the most utilised in this regard, not just because not everyone has room to spare, but because the space itself is cosy, quiet, and a place to reflect and concentrate on a world of your own making.
But how do you make the living room a perfect space to write? Below are five things you should do to transform your living room space and ensure it is the perfect room to go to battle!
First Off, Prioritise Comfort
Everyone works differently, but it’s a general rule that – in order to feel immersed in your writing – you have to feel immersed in your surroundings. For this reason, it’s important that your living room furniture sets are comfortable.
You need to be able to stay in this space for a prolonged period of time, so the last thing you want is an uncomfortable, hard wooden chair and a back that is beginning to ache. Prioritise your comfort, and make sure that you want to be sat in that room.
The Impact Of Lighting
If you want to be immersed in your work, it’s important to make sure it feels like it’s just the work and yourself in the room. Changing up your lighting scheme is a great way to achieve this effect.
Instead of putting on the big light, invest in a few table lamps or mantlepiece candles. This will not only dim any distractions in the room, but it will also be easier on your eyes and ensure that you do not strain them.
The World Of Nature
A great way to create a strong writing space is by surrounding yourself with nature. According to a recent study, plants can elevate creativity by more than 15%, but it’s not always possible to write outdoors!
For that reason, you should bring the outdoor world into your own home with a number of indoor plants that can make the room feel natural, and beautiful and induce a sense of concentration and creativity.
Simplicity And Organisation
The mind of a writer is all over the place, with a number of ideas tumbling over the other. For this reason, it is important to keep the physical space simple.
If your mind is buzzing with ideas and your writing space is similarly cluttered and untidy, this is only going to make the act of getting down those ideas far more difficult. It is way harder to work productively in a space that is untidy, so make sure your space is always simple and organised, and you will find that your writing process flows far more smoothly as a result.
Minimising Distractions
This last point is less to do with the room itself and more with your own initiative. If you have done a job to create this perfect writing space, you need to make sure that you stick to a schedule and make sure that – whilst you are writing – you do not have any distractions.
Plot out a time that the family is not using the living room, and then make sure that you are utilising the room at that specific time. Whilst you’re in your own world, you need to ensure that you have done everything possible not to be pulled out of it. Creating the right space is the start, but your own initiatives will determine whether that space works going into the future!
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