The Night Shift

I have a mini-workspace right next to my bed. On the bookshelf nearby, I keep a notepad and a special pen that lights up just enough for me to see to write in the dark.

It’s for writing during the night watches.

The Bible is full of accounts where God speaks to His servants during the night. David often couldn’t sleep, so wrote many of the Psalms during the quiet hours of darkness. In the book of Esther, when the king couldn’t sleep one night, God moved the king to honor Mordecia, the friend of the Jews. Paul speaks of amazing encounters with God–at night.

History is full of accounts of writers who kept a mini-workspace next to their bed as they prepared to work the night shift. Phillis Wheatley, famous African American poet from the colonial era, kept a candle and writing supplies on the table next to where she slept.

Often, during the night, the Holy Spirit will whisper a thought in my heart. I’ve learned to reach for my pen and notepad and jot it down. Otherwise it will probably be forgotten, or worse yet, cause me to stay awake and toss and turn as I try to remember it for the morning.

Other times, just as I’m drifting off to sleep or waking up to a brand new day, God imparts into my spirit a nugget worth more than gold. I quietly get my pen and paper and write it down without disturbing the household. Then, when I’m fully awake, I’m ready to write His message to the world.

-contributed by Nancy I. Sanders

A Most Unusual Workspace

Well, if you read Gloria’s wonderful post about the writing workspace, then you’ve read about my workspace as well. She was honest. A lot of writers feel a kinship with Gloria (including me!) As I said in a comment box, she is a productive writer. Boy, does she get things done and that’s what counts.

Since Gloria described our workspace so well you’d think I’d have nothing more to say about this topic. Oh, I always have something to say (o;

If you are a Christian and God has called you to write, He will provide the workspace that’s right for you, and it will be His timing. In my case He chose a most unusual and unexpected first workspace…my Sealy Posturepedic. My bed.

In the early 1990’s I was bedridden with a mysterious illness. The pain was excruciating at times. My cognitive abilities were impaired as I went in and out of a mental fog. For seven weeks nearly all I could do was get up (with help) to take a shower, and sit in a chair to eat the meals my mom prepared. The exhaustion was overwhelming. My parents graciously cared for our two young sons during the day until my husband came home… while I made a major dent in our mattress.

It was during that time that I felt an intimacy with God unlike I had ever experienced. I read the Psalms for comfort and spiritual strength. Thoughts of how God had comforted me throughout my life filled me with an overwhelming passion to write a book…a book on the Psalms for children. Was this mental fog clouding my judgment? I had never written a book  in my life! Was I crazy? Write a book from bed?

My writing supplies consisted of pens, legal pads, and every version of the Bible my family could find and spread out over my covers. I pulled myself up, leaned against two pillows, and began writing. I wrote from the workspace that God had chosen for me at that time. Alone in that quiet room, I heard His still small voice in my heart urging me to write.

Dear Christian writer, is your writing workspace less than ideal? If it is, do not be discouraged. Is it the kitchen table? A little corner in your  living or dining room? Is it your bedroom or even your bed?  No matter. If He has called you to write…you will!

Today, I have my own office. I have a comfortable chair, a good computer, a large window, a nice desk, file cabinets and bookshelves, and a paper tiger! It’s a blessing to have this office, but I have to say that my first workspace holds the dearest memories…and as I look up at a framed book cover of Psalms for a Child’s Heart on my office wall, I’m reminded why.

Contributed by Sheryl Crawford

A History of One Writer’s Workspace

 

Since other posts to this blog have already said just about everything there is to be said about the writing workspace (and I echo it ALL, especially “the swamp”) I decided to write about my writing space through the years.

 

Back in the mid-1970’s, when I first attempted to start a writing career, my “office” was a small, blue Smith-Corona portable typewriter that sat at one end of my dining room table.  This was before anyone knew about home computers, but at least this typewriter was electric!  I used this typewriter and “office” through the years (79-83) I attended college as a returning student and earned a degree in English.

 

Meanwhile, I continued to submit manuscripts, and shortly after my graduation from San Bernardino Valley College, having made a number of sales, I upgraded to a wonderful IBM Selectric typewriter that had its on little typing stand.  I added a filing cabinet to hold my published articles and a rolling file to hold the “pending” ones.  All of this fit under a window in our family room.

 

However, the age of computers was slowing creeping up on me, and in the late 1980’s, I was dragged kicking and screaming to my first computer, a bulky Tandy/Radio Shack model that used actual “floppy” disks.  Of course, I had to get a computer desk to hold all these components, and this along with the files, etc., took up most of a wall in the family room. 

 

After much “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” I learned to use this equipment quite effectively, and enjoyed being able to type faster, move text around,  print out documents and save them to a disk.

 

By now our son had married and moved out of the house, and I finally had a room I could turn into my very own home office.  After a much-needed thorough cleaning of the room, we painted and papered. I added more filing cabinets and a nice assortment of fitted bookshelves/cubicles/drawers.  I moved the cumbersome Tandy computer and desk, and the old faithful IBM Selectric and stand into my office, and I was set to go.

 

I was making many more sales now and was very happy in my new environment.  But technology was pushing at my back, and I soon realized everyone was using much smaller computers and Microsoft Windows was a MUST.  So, in the late 1990’s, I purchased my first PC.  Once again, tears flowed as I struggled to learn the intricacies of the Internet, e-mail, AOL, Googling, etc., and I soon developed a love/hate relationship for this new computer.

 

I’m now using my third PC (it’s amazing how short the “shelf life” these expensive machines have!) and have moved up with the various AOL programs.  Most days, I’m ensconced in the office longed for (and can’t imagine how I once functioned at the corner of the dining room table!)  However, with all the paper generated by my computer printer, I’m afraid all this organizing hasn’t prevented the “swamp syndrome,” no matter how much I promise myself to file every day!   And we won’t even mention the small closet in the corner of my office, where published manuscripts, rejections, paid bills, IRS returns, and other miscellany go to rest—-not too neatly!

 

But among all this clutter and chaos, I manage to get manuscripts written and sent out and continue to make sales.  And I feel blessed to have my own office, my own space, and that I can close the door on it at night!

 

Contributed by Marjorie Flathers

 

 

Workspace Blues

When I realized I had to write about my workspace not once, but twice, this month, I didn’t panic. My clutter is beyond panic. I did, however, take two headache pills. Then I looked around and did a mental inventory of the place where I work.

My desk is piled high with projects. Against one wall are a scanner that doesn’t work, and nineteen article and story folders (I counted them) jammed into a standing file holder. Against the window wall are five book manuscripts in various stages of development, a yellow flower pot full of pencils and pens, some pull-out drawers holding large pink erasers, paper clips, business cards, a magnifying glass, a correction pen, a clipping tool for magazine articles, and several unopened packages of those tiny colorful post-its that can be used as book markers. The center of the desk is littered with all manner of manuscripts in progress, address books, a desk calendar, and a pile of bills, clippings, and magazines that should have been paid, filed, or read last week.

My computer, a color printer, a regular printer, and more file cabinets fill an adjacent wall. Floor to ceiling bookshelves cover two others. A large table covered with standing files and a comfortable chair block the closet, which can only be opened by brute force. A couple of rolling tables stand wherever I used them last. A copy machine perches atop a wide-drawered filing cabinet, filled with things I haven’t looked at for at least two years.

Marge Flathers and I both call our offices “the swamp.” I think it’s an appropriate tag, but I looked it up to make sure. A swamp is a place where an untold variety of plants prosper. Well, not prosper, exactly, but they do seem to keep growing — just like my piles of paper. Soil in a swamp drains slowly or not at all — just like my wastebasket, which never seems to remain emptied.  A swamp is inundated by water — just like my office is inundated by papers. A swamp has things called hammocks, which are bits of dry land covered by vegetation — just as my desk, tables, and carts are covered by notebooks, loose papers, folders, and sticky pads. A swamp is sometimes referred to as a quagmire — a place where you can disappear and never be seen again.

People used to drain swamps, but that is considered a poor practice today. Swamps, after all, are habitats of unique plants and animals, rare flora and fauna. They are teeming with life. Wait a minute! Does that mean that MY swamp has value? Does it mean that amid (and under) the piles of ideas, unfinished stories, pages of research information, and rancid potato chips lurk unique and rare settings, characters, and plots?

I looked around my office again and saw possibilities. I have two weeks (the time until I write a blog again) to dig for gold, to separate the wheat from the chaff, to sharpen my pencils and get to work. Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it goes!

-contributed by Marilyn Donahue

Congratulations, Marilyn!!

Our congratulations go out to our own Marilyn Cram Donahue for winning 1st Place in the Young Adult Manuscript Critique competition at the SCBWI Editor’s Day this past Saturday. Great job, Marilyn!

Major Overhaul

I needed a major overhaul of my workspace. My writing area consisted of a very small desk that contained my computer, my printer, my keyboard, and a plethora of assorted files, CDs, etc. Next to my desk I had several bins overflowing with manuscripts, correspondence, contracts, and published copies of my work. I was constantly cleaning and sorting, but nothing ever seemed to work.

           

After a good year of talking, I finally took steps for action. I already knew I wanted a corner desk, so I spent some time looking online and in various office supply stores for desk designs that had enough work and storage space to meet my needs. I also had to work within specific dimensions since my “office” is part of my living room, and I wanted something that would blend nicely with the décor.

           

I settled on a corner desk with an attached filing cabinet in a dark cherry wood color. Because it was particle board, the price was reasonable. I also purchased a small storage cabinet. Since I wanted to have a more presentable workspace, I figured the less obvious clutter the better.

           

When everything arrived and my husband and I had assembled all the pieces, I had to do a thorough cleaning out of all my files. I had to determine what was important and what could be tossed. Amazingly I tossed out a lot. Then I had to re-file and re-sort. Now I have a functioning workspace that looks nice and professional instead of messy and amateurish.

 

Contributed by Catherine L. Osornio

A Work in Progress

For the second time in my life I have an exclusive space dedicated solely for working on art. What a gift! It’s small, but it gets great light and all my art, supplies and equipment are in one room.

 

I’m not a space designer, office manager or neat nick, but over the years I’ve learned that there are some things that help me in my work space. Maybe they will help you, too.

 

Conquer the clutter! Some advice I try to use now and again, is to have a specific place for every single item in my office. Right now, everything is out, and this advice sounds like an overwhelming task! A couple more shelves would help, but  I also need to purge a few things that aren’t useful to me anymore. I use the six month purging standard—Have I used it in the last six months? Do I think I’ll need it during the next six months? Bye, bye broken pastels, dried markers, paper samples…

 

Get the proper tools. I finally got rid of a chair that’s been rocking, squeaking and giving me back aches. Next is my scanner which is slowing me down because one side scans a little darker. I’m bummed because I don’t want to spend the money. You see, I’m a cheapskate. I know a few artists who can’t seem to “splurge” on the proper tools and supplies. But we need to. We’ve passed the hobby stage and now it’s time to get serious about being in business. I do my research before I “splurge” on the equipment I need. I don’t want to break the bank, but I do want to get the right tools to keep me and my business healthy.

 

Make room for inspiration. For me that’s pretty pictures. Paintings, drawings and illustrations by other artists, a couple family photos, and a painting or two of my own. Since I spend a lot of time at my computer, I’ve put many of these pictures on a bulletin board above my computer screen. A bulletin board allows me to change the scene as often as I like. It’s nice to glance at something beautiful throughout the day.

 

And your space? How’s it shaping up?

 

Contributed by Veronica Walsh, children’s book illustrator

My Workspace? You Don’t Want To Know!

I have the privilege of launching our new subject: The Work Place. Oh, why me? Better someone who is organized. They could give you awesome ideas on organizing your space. Not so yours truly.

While I am blessed to have an entire room to myself (please don’t hate me), I am not the best guardian of its space. I have two desks, one a roll-top, but I have long since stopped using it to write. Its duty is to hide all my ”junk” when I know we’re having friends over who will want to see my office.

I do have things spaced nicely in my office. My computer sits on the desk I do use. Shelves (crammed shelves, I might add) sit atop the desk. My printer sits nearby on a lovely oak file cabinet stuffed with who knows what.

My chair is comfortable. Soft enough for me to cozy up in. The problem is, it’s so cozy I tend to get droopy eyelids when I sit in it! It does roll around my fake wood floor rather easily so I seldom have to get up to get to any of my bookshelves. Maybe that’s why I’m having to diet now!

Let’s talk bookshelves. Mine are loaded with writing books, Amazon used books, library discard books, and religious books. If someone tried to figure out what it is I write, my bookshelves would not give them much of a clue. Too varied. But, I LOVE variety!

On my desk is stacked reams of paper with writing on it, not much of it mine. I print out everything I think will be helpful to my writing. I also print out recipes, moving stories and things I think will make a good story.

Several times a year, I begin the tedious process of filing or throwing away the stacks of paper on my desk. This is not a day or two process. More like weeks. I feel so good when it’s done. About two weeks later, I notice the paper monster is beginning to return. I try not to panic. Add another few weeks and it’s there again! Stacks and stacks of paper! Now the process begins again.

If you want an event planned, I’m your girl. I organize these things so neatly I even list when you can have potty breaks. But, if you want an example of an organized office, look elsewhere.

I guess it was good to start with me. All you readers can see how it’s NOT done. Others who come after me can astound you with their organizational skills. Perhaps, just maybe, there is someone “out there” who can relate to me. If so, the best to you on getting all your “junk” filed.

-Not a very good office organizer, Gloria