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If one takes Woolf’s statement only in the literal (material sense) then I would have to disagree. JK Rowling would probably also disagree–she certainly didn’t have money or a room to herself when she began writing the Harry Potter books! (Nor do I think she is the exception which proves the rule.) Writing is one of few arts which doesn’t really require investment–in terms of expensive materials. A pen, paper, and your imagination are the minimum requirements. What seems more relevant to me are the issues of time and places to write. What is your investment in these areas? Is writing a priority for you? Or is it at the very bottom of your “to do” list? After you’ve taken care of everything else? If this is your situation then money and a room of your own won’t change anything. It won’t make you a writer (or any other kind of artist). So, for me, the important questions are: if I want to write, do I give myself priority time in which to write? (Even as little as half an hour can work.) Then do I have a place to write–as free from interruptions as possible? Beyond a degree of quiet, I don’t have many requirements about place. I write indoors and outdoors, at tables, on the couch, etc. In the evening, during the afternoon, whatever fits my schedule or an unannounced visit from the Muse. Writing has a flexibilty & portability that many other arts do not have. I don’t have fantasies about “the perfect writer’s room” or “what I would do if only I had the money”. I’m too busy doing the writing I want to be doing! However, there are special places I like to write, and the photo below shows one of them.
(Click for larger image. Photo by Cheshire D.)
This is a place in the park near my house. I visit as often as possible. To write or just to sit and think or day dream. “Writing time” includes periods of not writing–so that ideas can percolate and gather strength. I’ve discovered that rivers and waterfalls are good environments for me as a writer. What about you? Oceans? Lakes? What natural places inspire your Muse?
October 26, 2007
In 1929, Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own. In it, she wrote the now famous line, “…a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. Let’s expand that to “create her own art of any kind”. Do you find this to be true? Besides your room here at Riversleigh (and if you don’t have one, why not?), do you have a room or at least a space of your own to create in? If you don’t, do you think you really need one? How essential is it? If you could create your own space, what would it look like? And how about having the money? Please post your answer and pictures of your space under the category “BS 26.10.07 Room of One’s Own”
1. What are you reading right now?
2. What books or authors made such an impression on you that they virtually changed your life (or at least the way you think about life)?
3. What book(s) do you want to read or think you should read but haven’t? And why not?
4. That book that you have inside of you, the one that’s just screaming for you to write it- what is it’s title?
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