Ambience

Blogging Insights #45: Ambience

Some people can write anytime and anywhere. Others require certain pre-requisites such as the appropriate setting before they can get their creativity going. In today’s Blogging Insights we discuss the necessity or otherwise of the right ambience for blogging.

TODAY’S QUESTIONS:

What, in your opinion, is the perfect ambience for blogging / writing?

Are you able to work in this setting on a daily basis?

Do you feel that the ambience has any particular effect on the quality or quantity of your output?

I’m one of those people who can write anytime, anywhere. The mood and the atmosphere are mostly in my head. A little invisible bubble forms around me shutting out distractions and my stream of consciousness takes over and the words just flow.

Of course they are not always great words, or even good ones, and can form a rocky relationship with each other trying to make sense out of themselves, and cry out for some serious editing. But I WROTE them. Because real writers write stuff. And then something pops the bubble and I have to click the SAVE button so that I can come back later and wonder what the hell my point was, or if I even had one.

Easy peasy. Anyone can write.

In a perfect writing world I imagine having a desk and a comfy chair in a quiet room, a window with a view, a warm breeze, a single serve coffee maker, an endless supply of pods, a little cooler for my cream, books on shelves on every wall, a scented candle or two, a cot with a pillow and a blanket because this is making me sleepy just thinking about it.

Where I normally write is in our living room, sitting on the couch, with my iPad (which has an attached keyboard) on the arm rest, my upper body twisted sort of sideways, facing the two windows that look out over the neighbours cars in their driveway. Here, I’ll show you.

All the necessities of life are at my fingertips. Tissues, coffee, pen, some kind of list and my phone. Truly not inspirational. But stimulating enough, along with the bad posture, to keep me awake. Always a bonus if you’re trying to be creative.

Yes, I am able to work in this setting on a daily basis. And also NOT work, if my head ambience is off. Or if the neighbours are doing something interesting like walking out of their house and going off in one of their cars. Or there are sirens in the distance or it’s raining hard or somebody is trying to leash train their puppy in front of our house. Well I HAD to watch that.

A change in ambience (physical or virtual) is probably conducive to both quality and quantity as well. If nothing ever changed there would simply be no new stories to tell. If I didn’t have strong feelings or get in a weird mood about stuff you’d never hear from me again. Thank God for my mood swings, hey? The world is a better place when I’m all pissy about something.

You did say “in your opinion”. I took that part to heart. And this productive output is the dubiously brilliant result. Thanks for the questions. Hope you’re not sorry you asked.