Who was the author who claimed to lock her office door not to keep the world out but to ensure she stayed inside? I know I'd do well to follow her advice. But my real distractions - if you don’t count food in the kitchen and gunk in the shower stall - aren't outside the room. They're outside the window.
In a black cherry at the bottom of my hill there's a pair of nesting hawks, and to the north – no joke – I can see fifty miles to Mohonk’s Sky Top ridge. But my most recent distractions are the two equine occupants of a small barn on a neighboring eight acres.
When they arrived a few weeks ago, the temperamental pony did her best to evict her full-sized roommate. Ever seen a horse jump backward, hind legs kicking? By now she's adjusted to sharing quarters. When they're let out of the barn every morning, they prance the perimeter of the paddock before settling to graze. There's a black lab working up the nerve to herd them, but so far he's kept a safe distance.
In March the wind sometimes blows like a hurricane on our ridge. The day it whipped a skylight off our roof, the horses were stuck in the barn. I missed them, but resolved to accomplish a fair bit of writing. Until I discovered that by leaning forward in my chair, I could see their noses through the stall windows.
It's hopeless. I’m considering moving my desk to the basement.
I can see why Michael Connelly writes the occasional novel in a windowless room. Why, according to Joanne Palmer in Write Blindfolded, Steven King wrote on a typewriter squeezed between washer and dryer, and Andre Dubus parked his car in a cemetery to write The House of Sand and Fog.
There are certainly alternatives to writing at home. I do like libraries (I recommend Nyack’s). I’ve gotten into the zone on trains, although I once nearly missed my stop at Secaucus Junction. Cafe's sometimes work until I get to know the regulars. (See Best Places to Write/Work in NYC for one writer's recommendations.) But as Clare pointed out, it's spring. The jonquils are ready to bloom. I'm expecting bunnies in the yard any day now.
This time of year, can anyone honestly claim self-discipline? What's your secret? Maybe a sturdy set of window shades.
- Lois
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14 comments:
Lois,
If I had to contend with the views from your windows, I'd never get anything done.
As you and Clare point out, it is Spring and I have enough trouble constantly checking the buds on the branches of the tree outside my kitchen window. Anymore nature and I would have to unplug my computer!
Terrie
P.S. Great My Town Monday post.
I've packed a bag and am on my way up to enjoy the view, um, help you concentrate.
My desk is L-shaped, with the main part facing the wall and the computer arm in front of the window. Since I write on the computer, this can be a problem, but sometimes it also works in my favor. When the sun is really bright--i.e., when it's a gorgeous, sunny day--I have to lower the shades. In general, though, I find the pleasant view outside (not nearly as gorgeous as yours, of course) gives me something to stare at while I think. My problem is my son, who constantly interrupts me. He doesn't understand that Mom is trying to work. Mom? Work? Pshaw!
Gorgeous view you have there! I can see why you would be distracted. Try turning your desk to face into the room?
Lois- My Town Mohonk! Love the pictures, and now I can sympathize with your panoramic problem. Nature's so active now that you can feel like you're missing something every day. However, I haven't seen a single bird at the feeder yet this morning Odd in the extreme, but perhaps they've all got other important work to do and are trying to send a message to other laggards. I get it.
Have fun, Elaine!
Lois, great pics and views. As a former Westchesterite, I prefer the rural north of where I lived to the citi-fied area south of my town.
I designed my current house with a specially built bay-window-framed writing nook, which overlooks the FL hurricane and brush-fire burned woods - peaceful but not a whole lot happens (the owls, bobcats, and the like only come out at night - it's way too hot here during the day for man or beast!)
In discussing my eye strain problem with my eye Dr., he explained I'd gotten the writing desk set-up all wrong - from an eye strain POV, it's better to have the window behind you.
Perhaps this is also best from a focus-on-the-writing POV as well?
My next house and writing space will be set up with this in mind. I also plan on setting up a cork board, or a long piece of butcher paper with my WIP plotted out above my desk - a visual reminder to keep myself on track, as opposed to day dream by gazing out a window.
The view's not as spectacular as these photos imply. Our grass isn't yet a bright green nor the shrubs leafed out (tho the horses are a good match) - and a fifty mile view of Mohonk's Sky Top ridge is hazier for me than is this closer up photo. I should have credited the photos and will in an update. Still, it's gorgeous here.
Terrie, you sound almost as distracted as I. Elaine, come on over...you'll do better with the view than the child (I would never have tried!) Reb, your cat looks like a Maine Coon. I've got one similar, though a mixed breed...gorgeous! (Yet another distraction.) And Clare...you know Mohonk? I'm sure you've got it right about the birds.
Lois
And Josephine...thanks for the warning from your doctor. It might prove the motivation I need to turn the desk to the wall and set a timer for walks to the window (like I'm trying to do for internet forays).
Lois
I have no view from my writing window and that is ggod since I have the attention span of a three year old with ADD.
My diversion is...the internet. My solution: writing on my old laptop that doesn't have internet access. :)
Hubby wants to know if you're near Kingston or Rosendale. (He studied at New Paltz a few centuries ago.)
Although I claim the Adirondacks as mine, I have to admit that the Catskills have the topography I most love. Now I'm told by hubby that it's the Schwangunk Range where the Sky Top Ridge resides. Ah, the details.
With that setting, I would never get past the window. Ideally I'd have a glider nestled in a sheltered oasis and there upon I'd spend my life, gliding through the seasons. (The kids have photos of me all wrapped up, on the porch, during my glider-nap time.
Your description transported me to a utopia - bathroom gunk and all. You need a little dirt to keep the vision real. Thanks for the escape.
You view is fantastic, mine is looking inward at the kitchen!!!
Your views sound wonderfully distracting. Can you not pass it off as "inspiration"?
Beautiful pictures. Out my window now I see hyacinths poking their colorful heads above the weeds in the garden that is in need of some major attention.
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