#IWSG: Writing environments
It's the first Wednesday of the month again already, and time for my IWSG post! I'm honored to be a co-host this month and will be visiting as many of you as possible!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to the IWSG page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for
April 1 posting of the IWSG are Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and yours truly!
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional
April 1 question - If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?
First, my writing updates:
Revisions on the novel are coming along, and actually going pretty well, though never as smoothly as I'd like--last month, I thought I'd be ready for beta readers by now. As usual, everything is taking longer than intended.
Submissions: I've made 3 short story submissions this month, with another ready to go tomorrow, and logged 2 rejections and 2 presumed rejections (stories that have been on submission for way too long; I have to assume an email went astray somewhere).
Now for the question:
I'm not a playlist kind of person, and in fact prefer to work without music (in part because I'm easily distracted. So instead of talking about playlists, I thought I'd ask about your preferred work environments--either the best you have, or what you would have in a perfect world.
For me, I mostly like writing in my own quiet office (the half of my bedroom that has a view into my back yard, a very green space). I seldom put on music, and if I do it will be classical, because anything with lyrics is too distracting. I'm good with total quiet.
Sometimes, though, I like to mix it up. I enjoy taking a notebook or a laptop to a cafe, preferably sitting where I can't distinctly hear individual conversations (that kind of thing is reserved for when I'm collecting material, not actually writing), but where there's a pleasant background buzz. Mostly I suspect I do this because I like coffee, though I'm only allowed a cup once in a while as a treat.
In the best of all worlds, my desk would be free of visual clutter as well as auditory clutter. For that to actually be the case, I think I'd have to be hatched again and hatched different. Oh, and I'd figure out how to keep the temperature back there consistent. Otherwise, I've got about the perfect work space.
Your turn! What's your ideal writing environment? What would it take to have it?
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
Don't miss a post--Follow me!
I, too, prefer to write in the quiet. But hey, it made an interesting prompt!
ReplyDeleteApril is the ideal time to refresh goals and turn small daily actions into major wins, utilizing the season's new energy for growth.
“Every day is a chance to begin again. Don’t focus on the failures of yesterday, start today with positive thoughts and expectations.” ― Catherine Pulsifer
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge international blog hop
For me, in my climate, April alternates between days to pull out the hot chocolate and a good book, and days to spend outdoors, or in planning the summer's adventures.
DeleteI definitely need to write in my office. With music though. Sometimes the television is on as well. (Muted of course!) I couldn't write anywhere other people are though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for co-hosting today.
Happy to co-host! Thanks as ever for being the presiding genius of this group!
DeleteI either write in my office, which is a spare bedroom with office furniture in it, or kicked back in my recliner with a wireless keyboard in my lap and my laptop connected to my flatscreen TV as the monitor. I put on brown noise to keep me focused (link on my blog). Thanks for co-hosting!
ReplyDeleteI was going to move my office to the guest room when my daughter moved out last year, but realized then I'd not have it available to me when I have company. Besides, I have this big space that I can't figure out what else to do with...
DeleteI don't do music either. If anything, I'll have the TV on with something mindless. Given I used to work in a coffee shop that is the last place I would personally go for writing. I definitely couldn't have done that when I worked at the shop because my former boss would always come talk to me when I went there on my days off for food!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see where going to your place of work in off hours would be a bad idea! I don't do coffee shops as much anymore because I can't have coffee very much.
DeleteHappy IWSG Day and thanks for co-hosting this month. Glad to hear your revisions are going well. I like writing near windows. If the muse strikes, I'll write anywhere, but I focus better when I have a view to stare at from time to time when I'm comtemplating. Staring at walls sucks away my creativity.
ReplyDeleteI hate staring at walls in any case. If I could, I would have a house that was all windows (preferably looking out at mountains and/or water).
DeleteYep, unfortunately, the process always takes longer than I want or expect it to. I prefer quiet for writing. Besides noise, distractions also come in the form of an unfinished to-do list, so I make sure all chores are done before I start writing.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of us want quiet--more than I expected, in this world where everyone and everything has to come with a sound track.
DeleteThank you for co-hosting IWSG this month. I prefer to write in the quiet. I had a time when a particular play list was very inspiring, but as a rule I find music can be distracting.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Clutter--visual or auditory--just saps my energy as I have to work to block it out and concentrate.
DeleteLike many of you here, I need quiet to write, too. Fortunately, I have it. I live alone these days, so any distraction is usually self-inflicted. As an excuse to procrastinate, maybe ...
ReplyDeleteLike you, I live alone. That means no one else has done the chores, so they are always there!
DeleteI can't believe I failed to mention two big things coming up in a couple of weeks: I'll be interviewed for a (local access) TV show (don't know when it will air), and I'll be selling books at the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon, WA!
ReplyDeleteIf not music softly playing in the background, I love birdsong. Or rain on the roof. Scented candles and/or the smell of desert rain. I think atmosphere has a lot to do with creativity. I heard an excellent quote the other day: "Inspiration exists but it has to find you working," Isn't that the truth?
ReplyDeleteThank you for co-hosting!
Great quote! The smell of desert rain is the BEST smell ever! I don't do anything artificially scented, because too many of them set me to sniffling.
DeleteYou're a busy writer. Just keep submitting. My writing space is either in my office or at my dining room table. I even like to write at the kitchen countertop, but it's not exactly comfortable. However, I write after lunch, so it's convenient to load the dishes in the dishwasher, then sit down and write! Thank you for co-hosting!
ReplyDeleteI kind of go by bursts with submitting, and it's been a while since I finished anything new to add to the queue. I'm not 100% sure writing short is really my thing, but it seems worth keeping on.
DeleteI have to write with pink noise in the background to avoid getting distracted by lyrics! Classical music is also a thing, if it's tame and not too crazy. Some gentle Bach or Mozart. Where? I can write at home, in the car, or at a coffee shop, as long as there aren't crazy distractions ( and I can block out sounds!). Thanks so much for co-hosting and sharing today! Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteI can write in noisy environments--for a while--as long as their aren't individual conversations or lyrics that I can follow, because if there are, I will. After a while, any noisy space wears me down, though.
DeleteI've never written in a public place. Now that you mention it, Starbucks might be an interesting place to give it a try. Thanks for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteI used to bribe myself: You can have a cup of coffee and a muffin if you work for 45 minutes, or whatever.
DeleteThanks for co-hosting this month. I like to write in the quiet too. It's great that your revisions are coming along well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by! I'm not surprised you're another one for the quiet!
DeleteThanks for co-hosting this month!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your revisions. Glad to hear that they’re coming along.
I’m the same. Thought I was ready for beta readers but nope.
Listening to a playlist helps me better focus on my WIP. It doesn’t easily distracted. What makes me distracted are Thing 1 and Thing 2 at home. So in a perfect world, I’d have my own writing den/room. Where I can lock it from the inside and soundproof. So they can’t get in and I won’t have to hear their noisiness.
I've had to learn to adapt and write in a lot of different environments, but I, too, do best in quiet solitude. @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
I like to write at the library. I like to think the books all around inspire me or maybe even soak some of their published goodness into my skin.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really a "writer" per-se, but I do an awful lot of writing, so I guess I can have an opinion. I like to have quiet instrumental music when I'm trying to get a lot done, just because it helps to drown out the life noises going on around me (I listen with headphones). On the other hand, my whole writing environment/system is mostly derived from one Charles Brown who famously said "I work best under pressure and there'll be plenty of pressure if I wait 'til tomorrow...".
ReplyDelete