Writer Sanctum

Writer's Haven => Writer's Workshop [Public] => Topic started by: guest819 on October 25, 2018, 06:59:25 PM

Title: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: guest819 on October 25, 2018, 06:59:25 PM
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15697668_1048076275315094_7733336171580341798_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=7e65cdaa1caa228efdf7c3d9809b0946&oe=5C46922E)

The cardboard box is to disguise the fact I'm actually working and it cuts out the glare from the sunshine.

My winter studio isn't so cool, but nice and cosy
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15622035_1048267935295928_1827206269087912378_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=60238130045fe268171f09384c708992&oe=5C461057)
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Robin on October 25, 2018, 07:39:45 PM
Oh wow, what an incredible view  :eek:

I'm very jealous! 
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Mark Gardner on October 25, 2018, 10:35:22 PM
Hey Tobias! It's amazing how the view can really effect your writing, huh? A few years and houses ago, I would write in my screened-in patio, and watch the kids play in the pool.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: guest819 on October 25, 2018, 10:43:31 PM
Quote from: Grim Gardner on October 25, 2018, 10:35:22 PM
Hey Tobias! It's amazing how the view can really effect your writing, huh? A few years and houses ago, I would write in my screened-in patio, and watch the kids play in the pool.

Yes, you have it right. The view stops me from writing, the sea (I've just been swimming) keeps me distracted and the weather keeps me outside. Then there are the olives that need picking, the fruit and veg... the list goes on. However, I wouldn't have had any of this without my books.

This is my 'First Coffee of the Day' view..... early morning.... those are my olive trees, about 100 of them.

(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23167516_1332384063550979_5639040470393430060_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=fc9a5ff71fb59fa816a6f2d89ef39941&oe=5C4A18DA)
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Ghost5 on October 26, 2018, 02:35:43 AM
This is just stunning. Good on you!
 :banana-riding-llama-smiley-em
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: dgcasey on October 26, 2018, 04:37:56 AM
My spot when it's not 110 degrees outside.
(https://scontent.flas1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/q81/p206x206/30739161_2118923838134674_2056281939601556955_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent.flas1-2.fna&oh=812294d705979fe72558e70643991825&oe=5C4AB30A)

Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Robin on October 26, 2018, 06:04:01 AM
Pretty! I can't work outside, birdsong makes me sleepy...
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Vijaya on October 26, 2018, 06:21:50 AM
Oh how beautiful!!! I like to write out on my back porch but sometimes I get too distracted by the birds and squirrels in the canopy.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: aboyandhisbooks on November 01, 2018, 08:21:21 AM
Stunning!

The location really does make all the difference, doesn't it? Writing from home all the time got so stuffy in the summer, I started heading out to a nearby park to work from a picnic table under some trees. What a boost in productivity! It's much colder now, so I'm trying to find ways to change the look of my little writing corner at home, haha.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Al Stevens on November 01, 2018, 10:13:20 AM
I understand how the view can distract us from our work. I often take my Surface Pro to Hooters to get some writing done without interruptions.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: dgcasey on November 01, 2018, 11:10:48 AM
Quote from: Al Stevens on November 01, 2018, 10:13:20 AM
I understand how the view can distract us from our work. I often take my Surface Pro to Hooters to get some writing done without interruptions.

I guess that could work if I was working on a script for Twin Peaks.   grint
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Joseph Malik on November 01, 2018, 01:32:38 PM
Amazing view. If I'd had a view like that, I'd definitely be staring at it when I write.

Personally, lacking such a view, I did the opposite. We built this in a space behind the garage, and made the whole place up so that, aside from the computer, it could be a time machine / dimensional portal. Antique furniture and knickknacks, swords on the walls, a wall-sized map of the world in my series, and everything in muted tones. No clock, nothing modern to throw me out of a creative impulse. When I step in here, I could be anywhere.

I dunno. It helps. Immensely.

(http://josephmalik.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Fortress-of-Solitude-New-Monitor-512-X-402.jpg)
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Maggie Ann on November 02, 2018, 03:56:27 AM
Quote from: dgcasey on November 01, 2018, 11:10:48 AM
Quote from: Al Stevens on November 01, 2018, 10:13:20 AM
I understand how the view can distract us from our work. I often take my Surface Pro to Hooters to get some writing done without interruptions.

I guess that could work if I was working on a script for Twin Peaks.   grint

Thanks both you guys. I just snorted tea up my nose.  :hehe
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: fferyllt on November 03, 2018, 03:14:44 AM
The view and the fireplace are such writer-cliches--and sooo aspirational! This was my favorite of your comments: "However, I wouldn't have had any of this without my books." Equal parts jealous and hopeful...:littleclap
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Rosie Scott on November 03, 2018, 05:30:05 AM
Beautiful photos, sFABi! I love the view of your outdoor pic, but I'd personally prefer the winter set-up. I've never had luck writing outside with distractions like bugs/temperature extremes/sun glare etc., though you seem to have the glare taken care of.  :cool:

I have to admit to being jealous of your collection of olive trees. I love olives and olive oil so much that I really need something like this to feed my addiction. What kinds of olive trees are these? Do you harvest yourself?
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: guest819 on November 03, 2018, 05:36:44 AM
Quote from: Rosie Scott on November 03, 2018, 05:30:05 AM
Beautiful photos, sFABi! I love the view of your outdoor pic, but I'd personally prefer the winter set-up. I've never had luck writing outside with distractions like bugs/temperature extremes/sun glare etc., though you seem to have the glare taken care of.  :cool:

I have to admit to being jealous of your collection of olive trees. I love olives and olive oil so much that I really need something like this to feed my addiction. What kinds of olive trees are these? Do you harvest yourself?

We have a mix of Kalamata (the smaller trees), Koroneiki and Black olives. We won't be bothering to harvest this winter as the dry summer, the scirocco winds, and the olive fly has taken the best. It's a 2-year crop so last year was excellent. Next winter we will hopefully pull up another good crop.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: formerly Sapphire on November 03, 2018, 07:35:58 AM
My summer writing spot is our dock at the lake house. I can choose having my laptop on a table or sitting in the porch swing with it on my lap. Ducks come up and sit by my feet when I am very still. (We feed them all summer.) Geese fly over, a turtle pops its head up from time to time, and a blue heron lands on the corner of the dock once in a while. Combine the gentle breeze, boat motors purring like kittens, and water lapping up against the seawall and I'm in my idea of a writer's heaven. Winter is much more boring.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Rosie Scott on November 03, 2018, 08:47:20 AM
Quote from: sFABi on November 03, 2018, 05:36:44 AM
We have a mix of Kalamata (the smaller trees), Koroneiki and Black olives. We won't be bothering to harvest this winter as the dry summer, the scirocco winds, and the olive fly has taken the best. It's a 2-year crop so last year was excellent. Next winter we will hopefully pull up another good crop.

Oo, Kalamata...  :heart: Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives are my faves (though I always call those Castlevania olives since it's easier, ha). A 2-year crop sounds like quite the investment. No wonder olives are so expensive! I assume canning is a necessity with such a crop. Best of luck with next year's batch!
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Joseph Malik on November 03, 2018, 09:47:55 AM
Quote from: fferyllt on November 03, 2018, 03:14:44 AM
The view and the fireplace are such writer-cliches--and sooo aspirational! This was my favorite of your comments: "However, I wouldn't have had any of this without my books." Equal parts jealous and hopeful...:littleclap

Agreed. I built my Fortress of Solitude entirely from book proceeds. It's motivational as hell to sit down and look around knowing that.

Also, fireplace. Albeit electric. It's still really nice for ambiance.

(http://josephmalik.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IMG_20180325_094046_804.jpg)
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Vijaya on November 03, 2018, 12:01:37 PM
Very nice, Joseph. Are those swords I see?

It's so gratifying being able to use the monies from writing fund these things. One of my first investments was building floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on the largest wall. We've moved since then but still, we enjoyed that home for seven years.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Joseph Malik on November 04, 2018, 12:54:34 PM
Quote from: Vijaya on November 03, 2018, 12:01:37 PM
Very nice, Joseph. Are those swords I see?

A pair of French foils and a greatsword of war. I also have a rungu stick, a knapped obsidian knife, and a rifle on the wall that's had the firing pin removed and locked in my gun safe. Hell, for that matter, my pens are F-701s; they should probably count as weapons.

(http://josephmalik.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FoS-Crop-sm.jpg)

Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Jeff Tanyard on November 04, 2018, 01:39:49 PM
Quote from: Joseph Malik on November 04, 2018, 12:54:34 PM
a rifle on the wall that's had the firing pin removed


What kind of rifle?
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: dgcasey on November 04, 2018, 08:19:41 PM
I was thinking i wanted a house and a small piece of land in middle American somewhere. Then, a couple of days ago I happened on some videos on Youtube and I am completely smitten with these. Would just have to move to England.

(https://www.brookline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/brookline-home-1a.jpg)
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: guest819 on November 04, 2018, 08:29:42 PM
Quote from: dgcasey on November 04, 2018, 08:19:41 PM
I was thinking i wanted a house and a small piece of land in middle American somewhere. Then, a couple of days ago I happened on some videos on Youtube and I am completely smitten with these. Would just have to move to England.

(https://www.brookline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/brookline-home-1a.jpg)

These are great houseboats and they travel the length and breadth of Britain. The views they have can often be breathtaking and in summer, lazing down the rivers and canal systems is sublime.  grint
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Joseph Malik on November 06, 2018, 11:39:36 AM
Quote from: Jeff Tanyard on November 04, 2018, 01:39:49 PM
Quote from: Joseph Malik on November 04, 2018, 12:54:34 PM
a rifle on the wall that's had the firing pin removed
What kind of rifle?

It's what we refer to as an SBR--a Scary Black Rifle--a Russian SKS with a folding stock that a previous owner added long before the ban. I found it at an estate sale. Pretty sure it was someone's Vietnam souvenir at one point.

The SKS is one of those overlooked weapons from history. It's effectively a fixed-mag AK-47 with superior minute-of-angle (it has a longer barrel and more rigid construction, so it's much more accurate). It's a neat little junkyard dog of a rifle, and one of the most reliable firearms ever built. Unlike the modern AK-47, which is constructed from stamped sheet metal (and is still a ridiculously tough weapon), the Russian military-issue SKS's had receivers that were milled from a heavy block of steel and outfitted with a chromed barrel that was threaded into the receiver instead of pinned. The tolerances in the bolt carrier group are so loose they're almost laughable, but that's what makes it such a great little piece; you can drop an SKS in a puddle, pick it up and squeeze the trigger with mud still dripping out of it, and it will go bang and put rounds on target. My issue M4, as well as we get along, might as well be cast from blown glass by comparison.

Mostly, though, it looks great on the wall. I've shot it exactly twice.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Gerri Attrick on November 07, 2018, 02:21:03 AM
Quote from: The Forum Leper :) on November 04, 2018, 08:29:42 PM
Quote from: dgcasey on November 04, 2018, 08:19:41 PM
I was thinking i wanted a house and a small piece of land in middle American somewhere. Then, a couple of days ago I happened on some videos on Youtube and I am completely smitten with these. Would just have to move to England.

(https://www.brookline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/brookline-home-1a.jpg)

These are great houseboats and they travel the length and breadth of Britain. The views they have can often be breathtaking and in summer, lazing down the rivers and canal systems is sublime.  grint

Indeed. I don’t live on a canal boat (narrowboat) but I’ve done my fair share of pootling around on them. See my avatar - taken while still in my nightdress/negligee, enjoying my first coffee of the day.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: Vijaya on November 07, 2018, 11:04:26 AM
Floating down a river sounds so peaceful.

Joseph, this summer I saw one of the college kids showing off his new pen and inside there was a little sword. It could definitely poke a few holes. I should ask him where to get one. It was pretty nifty.
Title: Re: My Writing Area in Summer
Post by: TinkSaid on November 08, 2018, 02:34:56 AM
I'm adopting the cardboard box idea, and wondering why I've never thought of this before!