10. Find your space
Virginia
Woolf knew a good deal about the art and craft
of writing. Her essays are as interesting as her fiction – sensitive,
sympathetic, penetrating. But you wouldn't, I suppose, think of her
as an arch-pragmatist, would you? And yet, it was she who said:
'A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.'
I haven't always had a room of my own. I once spent two amazingly productive
weeks in a flat in Queens Park (the friends who owned it were away on
holiday). I've had wonderful writing periods in Carcassonne,
eyes down over the keyboard but aware of the towers
of the fortress outside the window. I've stayed in a number of quiet
hotels with greater and lesser success.
Then again, I once rented a lovely office with no disturbances and complete
privacy. I redecorated it in the ideal colour and sat down to …
Oh well, I hated it!
I'm not saying it's easy, but do try to find your space. A space that
suits you. Perhaps a haven where nothing else ever happens – just
you and the words.
