Workspace Dilemma— D.M.K. Ruby
The piles of paper and notebooks are everywhere. I feel defeated as I try to sit down and make myself write creatively. My brain has trouble focusing when I spy the house insurance documents that must be renewed by the end of the month. Or the receipts that are piled up, waiting to be sorted. As an aside, why, when they ask you if you want a receipt at a restaurant or a grocery store, WHY do I say yes? I never look at them again until it’s time to address the ever-growing pile on my desk, glancing at them once before chucking them into recycling. Why take them in the first place??? What is up with that??? I would have fewer piles of random paper on my desk. It’s the equivalent of unsubscribing but why is it so hard?
I wonder if plotters have the same issues with their workspace? Or are they surrounded by plenty of clear spaces on their desk with a tidy stack of post it notes, their highlighters neatly organized by colour, a pen and pencil next to their one notebook which is beside their neatly stacked hard copy of the manuscript they’re currently editing…sigh.
I cast my eye over my cluttered desk and tell myself that making a couple of piles will make it look neater even if it is not organized. I feel better but now worry about object permanence, the old “out of sight, out of mind” chestnut, and whether I should just deal with the insurance now in case it stays buried in a pile for another month.
Aaargh! Time is ticking away, and I still haven’t written a single word. But the lessons learned in the DeadLies writing group come to the rescue as I clear a space and set a timer. The Pavlovian response to start writing as soon as I see the timer counting down kicks in and twenty five minutes whiz by in a flash, the story starting to take shape.
I’d love to hear from the plotters if having a desk that’s neat and bare ever is a barrier to getting going on a story. Do you see all that blank space and feel empty of ideas? Or is it a vast canvas to allow for stories to grow? Let me know!
p.s. I have a space on my desk now that I have set aside for documents that need urgent attention, and that’s where the insurance documents are, until it’s time to pay them. Don’t worry, I set a calendar reminder in my phone as well!