See ya, babe! I’m off to the office.

A full day of work looms ahead of me – eight hours with the WIP, full steam ahead. No interruptions, just me and my muse, the computer, a few research books and a gallon of coffee (with half-n-half and splenda, of course).

Yeah, right. In my dreams.

My ‘office’ is a spot on the living room couch with my laptop perched on my knees, research books scattered across the coffee table and floor, and my half-empty cup of cold coffee on a coaster (okay, generally NOT on a coaster) on the table in front of me. More often than not, the older two kids are bopping in and out or screaming in a nearby room, and the baby is at my feet playing on the floor.

Eight full hours of writing, uninterrupted???? I don’t know what I would do with myself!!!

I have learned to be quite prolific amidst general chaos. So much so that in the evenings when the kids have finally gone to sleep and the DH is in the great room watching his gigantosaurus TV, I’m sometimes at a loss. I can write 5 pgs during the day here and there, but give me a couple hours of complete silence and I freeze up. (IM doesn’t always help. LOL Although it’s great for brainstorming!)

I often wonder if I would be more productive if I had my own “space”. We have an office, but it’s DH’s office. And he has his own unique filing system where his work is generally laid out in feverish piles all over his desk. Do I want to move his laptop, clear a space and work in there? Uh…not. You never know what could crawl out from underneath that pile of clinicals. I find sitting on the couch is more comfortable, and it’s easier for me to get up and down to deal with the next big trauma in the house if I’m actually IN the house and not hiding in the corner office. Of course, when I’m printing, working on queries or need to feel “official”, I do work in there, but not all that much.

Do you have a set office where you write? Or are you like me…kinda all over the place and more? I sat in a workshop at Nationals – Writing Unforgettable Love Scenes with Christine Skye – and she addressed workspace briefly. She had a good trick for getting into her characters’ heads…headphones. And not just any headphones, but those great big orange ones you can get at Home Depot to block out sound – the ones you see controllers wearing on the tarmack at the airport. Now there’s an idea…I could block out my kids screaming. Oh wait….might not be the best idea. That could get me in some serious trouble.

Then she went on to talk about office space and got into a bunch of stuff I’m not sure I’m all that into. Like don’t put your desk between the window and door because your creative energy will flow right out of the room. (huh?) Or don’t put your desk in a place where your back is to the door because people can sneak up on you and you won’t ever feel comfortable. Hmmm….not so sure about these. In Nora’s chat she said her desk is against a window, she has a view of the woods…and yeah, her back is the to door. And I’d say that hasn’t hampered her creative juices.

So where do you write? If you have an office, where’s your desk? What time of the day are you most productive?