I’ve moved a lot, while I was in the Army and afterwards. I wrote my first novel living in ChunChon, South Korea, as an unsponsored military dependent. They would turn the power off every so often just for the heck of it, I guess. I was writing on the original Mac. 512K, no hard drive, one floppy for the writing program, another floppy for the manuscript. The largest file you could have was a long chapter, so a book was a list of chapter files.
From there I went to Ft Campbell. My first book came out in 1991, and I was living in a one-room unheated apartment above a garage. Still working on that original Mac, which frankly was the best computer I ever owned.
Then, Boulder CO where I worked in a variety of rooms, from one with a great view of the Rockies to a room in the basement with no window.
From Boulder, it was to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I had a great office facing the Intracoastal Waterway. I could see dolphins swim by. Boats. I’d take a break and walk out the deepwater dock, get in my kayak and paddle away.
Then, in the midst of grief, we moved to Whidbey Island, WA. The first year was pretty grim and dark. Well, all four years were dark. Lots of writers there. It seems it’s easier to stay inside and write when the dolphins aren’t calling.
Then, two months ago, after moving west in death, we moved east in new life as our grandson, Riley Karen Cavanaugh, was born. He’s named after the protagonist in that first novel so many years ago in 1991. We moved here to Chapel Hill, NC, with no idea where we were going to live. We drove around for days looking at rentals until we found the house we’re in now. It’s got a great built in office on the lowest 
level. I can see trees forever down a hillside. Once they leaf out, it will be all green. However, I will be buying a simple desk this weekend and put it in a room on the other side of the bottom floor. That will be my writing room with no internet. This office with the Internet, the printers, the shelves, the files, etc will be my business office. Because I have two jobs– writer and publisher. I really need to separate the two. I don’t believe you can write with the Internet on the same computer you’re using to write.
I get a lot of work done while traveling, but little creative writing. I can edit really well on a plane or in an airport or a hotel room.
I think the key is not the space, it’s the attitude. It’s focusing.
I write on a computer because the most important course I took in high school was typing. However, I only use six fingers for some weird reason. The rhythm of the keys is important to me. My handwriting is awful as I write curved left, which means I smear whatever I’ve already written.
I do believe in printing out a manuscript every 50 pages or so and going through it on the page with my red pen.
I like quiet. I occasionally listen to music, but not often. I’m a morning person so I like to create in the morning and do the drudge work later in the day.
Oh yeah– today only, 8 February, my newest release, The Green Berets: Eternity Base, is FREE on Kindle.
I believe in being organized. And there is a sense of alignment needed for the desk, the computer screen, the keyboard etc.
I go back to the point though– it’s not about the place, it’s about the focus.
Write It Forward
PS: Hot off the presses next week will be The ShelfLess Book: The Complete Digital Author was just published. It is all we learned at Who Dares Wins Publishing that allowed us to go from selling 347 eBooks in January 2011 to 100,000 in July.
It will be available on all platforms and I’ll re-announce it here.
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I love all the cabinets and the window in your writing space. It’s fabulous. But you are absolutely correct when you state it’s the attitude, not the space. The proof is you writing your first novel in S. Korea with the power flickering on and off. That old computer was top technology back in the day! Way to slip in the free book deep in your post.
Thanks for the free download. I’ll be reading it on an upcoming trip. I always enjoy your posts, Bob.
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Love the office. I know what you mean about the attitude. Thing is, these days, I walk in my office and my mind goes to spreadsheets, number crunching, marketing, branding….not the writing. So, I pick up my laptop and head on over to another room in the house and write. I use the sun room (it now has heat so nice in the winter). I like it because its completely open and at night I can see the snow flakes falling. Something about the setting in the room that gives me creativity. I can edit in my business office and write non-fiction, but if I’m going to work on a fiction project, I’ve got to get out of the office. I suppose that is my way of tricking my mind and going from left brain to right brain activities.
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Good post, and I agree, but I’d just like to say genreality that when you send a post by email it doesn’t say which author posted it, which is a bugger because you can’t tell who is writing it. I’ve had three good posts in the last few by email, but since there is no author specified its just kind of annoying. Just saying genreality, that would be a helpful addition
Oh, and I love your blog and I eagerly anticipate it every day. 
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Enjoyed the post. We’re definitely strange characters, we writers. I must write in my office, but I edit while sitting on a couch in the living room. Both rooms give me a different view and a different feel, so yeah, I guess they provide the focus I need. Interesting.
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I also use 2 computers, one without internet to write without distractions, and the other to keep up with the worldwide web.
Both are pc’s sorry to say, my first computer Apple SE30 loved that little thing!
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wow… looks like a great office/writing space. Love that window. That alone would inspire me big time. I have a bay window next to my recliner but I’m sure we dont have the same view.
By the way, I too, type with 6 fingers. If I use the others, the typos come flying. In my case, typing was not the best course I took in high school. In fact, I hated it, and switch classes. I took Spanish instead. Loved learning languages.
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Wow you use 6 fingers, I keep telling myself I should have taken typing in school, I only use 2 fingers
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It totally amazes me how people can type at high speed with only 2 fingers. My mother was a newspaper reporter and I remember her saying that some of the men in her office typed faster with 2 fingers than she and others did with all fingers. She could never get over it, and honestly, neither can I.
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What’s weird about it is, I don’t have the keys memorized, but when I know exactly what I want to write, how a sentence is supposed to go or what I want to say in a paragraph, my brain seems to take over and it zips right along, but if I’m not sure what I want to type, I spend time looking for the right keys. Now where is that “Q” again?
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Sorry to leave an unrelated comment, but I couldn’t find any contact info for you. I’m wondering if you’d be interested in a guest post. Please drop me an e-mail.
Thanks!
Brittany
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I believe if you click on my name, it takes you to my blog at Write It Forward
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I do the same thing Karen. I think it’s just that our brains know where the keys are (even though we don’t) so we just need to trust our brains and let our fingers do the work. Seems odd but that’s how it seems to work with me.