It’s impossible to create the perfect writing environment.
Stephen King, at his peak Kingness during the 80s, set up a vast table in the middle of an enormous room surrounded by bookshelves filled with books. He was the opulent creative genius sitting in the centre, there to write words and weave stories.
And in the end, he moved the computer back to a small desk under the stairs.
Because it worked.
He also wrote on unlined paper in hotel lobbies and on typewriters in a laundry mat.
Regardless of where he wrote, or one what he wrote, he wrote.
That is the key. Writing the worlds and building a habit. Building a dopamine loop that is connected to putting the words on the page. Not the music that plays, or the space that you’re in, or the equipment you have. It’s the words and teaching your brain to love writing them down.
That’s the only environment you need to create.
How to: Write
1. Write a lot.
2. Even if it’s not good.
3. If you get stuck, read what you wrote and edit it a little.
4. Don’t do other things while you’re writing.
5. Write more.
6. If you really can’t write the words, get up and go for a walk. But don’t take your phone.
7. Come back and write some more.
8. Go read something good.
That’s my almost-at-the-end-of-the-teaching-year words of wisdom.
I’m going for a walk.
Long days and pleasant nights.
Stuart.
