Separate to this post, we are also asked to ask YOU for ideas on what to write about. So tell me? What would you like me to write about? Any particular genre or style or topic?
Right now, I’m typing this at my desk, in my home office. This hasn’t been my “normal” writing space for such a long time, but i do love it, and am settling back into it again.
As most of you know, for years I travelled for work and so I wrote on airplanes. I would use the Notes App on my iPhone and let my fingers (thumbs, actually) fly. Still, to this day, I’m very comfortable writing on my phone. It’s so weird. I have this beautiful space with a massive screen and yet, I find it so easy to write anywhere at all on my phone. I actually wrote a post for LinkedIn on my iPhone last night before bed. I will copy and paste it into LinkedIn tomorrow (Monday morning).
When I use my iPhone to write, it seems that I can write anywhere.
I write a lot at work now, in this new job. I write articles, social media posts, reports, countless emails. I work in an office with a lot of people talking all the time, generally taking or making calls, so I only hear one side of the conversation. I do have headphones in the office and I do use them if I have to get something done urgently. Although, I seem to be getting used to the noise, or I guess I’m less distracted by it now.
For creative writing, I think that more than the space, it’s the routine that’s important. A ritual can often help inspire the words to come. When I flew, I would get a pillow to hug, I would put on my headphones, turn on Sam Smith and then type and type. I don’t use the pillow or the headphones anymore, and I seem to be able to write on my phone no matter what’s going on around me. When I’m in the zone, I’m in the zone (on the phone).
🙂
I am someone who loves paper, and yet I almost never “write” on paper. My planner-diary aside, of course. Does anyone do drafts on paper? I have done in the past, usually in hotel rooms, but my thoughts travel much faster than my hand and as a result my handwriting is almost illegible when I go back to read what I’ve written.
I’ve been trying to improve my handwriting, with the hope that focussing on writing neatly will lead to neater fast-writing. I’m not convinced that’s going to work, but I’m willing to try!
I wrote this for the Finding Everyday Inspiration – Where do you write?
x desleyjane
musingsofafrequentflyingscientist.com 
I’m enjoying this series immensely. However, it’s come just as I’ve committed to digital detoxing, so I’m not as responsive as I would be otherwise.
What I’d like you to write? Something about the scientific side of your life couched in a way a total laywoman can understand.
Writing on paper? I don’t do complete drafts, but I do mind-map ideas and shape the structure using the mind-map sometimes. I still handwrite the chronicle of my life, four or five lines daily as a kind of meditation. And that’s it. Taptaptap otherwise.
Do you have more time for writing now you’ve stopped travelling? Or are you just intentionally writing more? Daily on someone else’s topics is a big commitment.
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That’s a good idea for a topic. Thank you! Especially in my new role, it’s super interesting science.
I guess I do mind-mapping on paper sometimes, that’s true. I Write a tonne of notes at work on paper but I hardly ever write stories on paper.
I don’t really have more time, but I really wanted to get back into it and reconnect with people here because I’d missed you all so much. So I joined this course after I saw that my old buddies Mara and Amy joined. It’s a big commitment for sure, but it’s also self-paced. We all started at different times, a few days apart. You miss he community of other this way but it’s also nice to go at your own pace.
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I occasionally draft on paper. 🙂 sometimes it’s the quickest and easiest thing to do.
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Hmmnnn interesting. I have this romantic notion of writing all this amazing stuff on paper but it just never happens. I guess we’re just conditioned to type these days….
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Totally relatable. I am used to writing using my iphone, anywhere. I use notes for that. If I am home I use my computer and big screen, just because I like to use photos on all my posts. It is easier to choose and edit, if needed, on the spot. Handwriting tires me, takes much longer and I may not be able to understand it later…
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Twins again. I agree with everything you say 😁
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Yes, we are! 😀
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Forgot to leave my suggestion: poetry
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Stop it. I can’t do poetry?!!!
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Who said you can’t? I suggested to take from your comfort zone. I was inspired by Mara, who suggested that I write about what I never did before.
I thought about horror stories! No way!
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Lovely desk space, Desley 🙂 with all those cute pens, and pencils, writing should be fun! :p
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Thanks Sandi! Yes I agree, it’s usually very peaceful.
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Wow, you actually can write on the phone? I couldn’t do it. I can’t even answer comments on the phone, it’s too clumsy and slow to type (swipe). I got some wonderful suggestions when I asked my readers what to write about, and one of them was particularly interesting, it was to write about something you know nothing of. That’s a challenge!
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Yeah I think I prefer it sometimes. Maybe it doesn’t feel like such a commitment as the big screen. And much less than on paper! I only got one request 🙃
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That’s so true, that it feels less like a commitment, maybe I should rethink and give it a try when I’m stuck!
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Let me know if it works!
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So far I’ve installed the WP app on my phone, so first step done 🙂
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Ok that’s a start! The app can’t be used when you don’t have wifi which is a problem. That’s why I usually use one of the note-taking apps to draft my posts or stories.
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Does opening the app and looking around count as another step in the progress 😉 ?
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Of course! I don’t see why not 😁😁
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Oops too fast. But your suggestion of something I know nothing about is a good one too!
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I love your “home” workspace – so pretty and NEAT!
I hear you, though, I love paper products as well, and I probably hoard more than I should. But I, too, hardly write on paper; I still try to write paper cards to my friends, but even that is becoming less frequent!
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Thank you!!! I love it in that space. Yes it’s funny isn’t it. I buy SO much paper! I do use it a lot at work but not in my creative writing life. 😁
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Absolutely great! Keep writing on paper or in your phone. Just write
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Thanks! That’s the plan.
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I agree. I tend to write faster typing now than I do with paper and pen (and it’s always easier to read). I wrote blog posts and such on my laptop in my officer surrounded by photos and my snoring cat. When writing in my journals, usually on the couch. I am no a phone writer. Too slow.
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LOL yes my dog is a snorer too, although I find it quite cute. At the moment, when I’m on paper, I’m doing everything in my ring-bound planners, which aren’t the best for couch-writing. I may have to move to a “normal” notebook for that. Thanks for visiting!
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I write anywhere in my notebook. I just wrote a blog post about it. Check it out at chrissysfabulousfifties@wordpress.com thanks for sharing. I totally write on paper and then I type up what I wrote.
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Thanks Chrissy, I’ll check it out.
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