Last week my husband and I renewed the lease on our apartment, then two days later found out about a bigger, inexpensive, closer to work townhouse for rent. Three bedrooms. My sister in law claimed one. I started daydreaming about baby rooms and writer space, a dedicated place to keep reference, notebooks, files. A head organization space, more or less. My things get a little overwhelmed in the current one-bedroom apartment as my husband’s comic and toy and book collection grows. I really started to think dedicated space might be a way for me to successfully manage multiple things, instead of forgetting about some while nose to nose with others. My computer doesn’t do it for me. Files and folders are all tucked away behind other files and folders, out of sight and out of mind.
So I was excited, by the possible baby room (for the baby that doesn’t exist yet, but maybe next year) and the possible writing space room. Then I called to ask about getting out of our lease renewal (we just signed last week and the current lease doesn’t end until June 15) and…no dice. Not without spending at least half the $$ we would have saved on lower rent, over the course of a year, to buy out of our lease with an early termination fee. Bye-bye writer space…
…or maybe not. I have a dining room table that’s a big, very pretty junk drawer. I have a bookcase full of paperbacks I’ve already read or don’t intend to read. There’s space beside the bookcase that’s just piled up with my husband’s board games. Why can’t I USE that space? I could make a list of things I want in it, and create a little office there. Not necessarily on the dining room table, but in that general area.
I’m trying to be less of a thinker, more of a doer, in life and in writing (actual word production, not just the talking-about-writing part) and while some would say that organizing is another way to procrastinate and not write, I tend to disagree.
Inez, you couldn’t write without your box, could you? (Say no so I have justification for my “office” project)
What do the rest of you office-less, spare room-less folks do to keeping all the stuff in your head in order, so you have enough brain space for creating and don’t end up spending months trying to figure out where you put the anthology contract you signed last year?
Tales from the Crit 
No, I NEED my box. Do not touch it, do not move it, and for Gawd’s sake do not stand on it. It is mine, ALL MINE! Now back away from the box slooooooooowly and no one will get hurt.
My bedroom is my office, my library, my tv room, and my sleeping space. It’s not big either, so it’s also a bit of disaster. My biggest dream right now is to save up enough money to be able to buy a house with 2 bedrooms. Me, have a dedicated office/library? Oh, the dream just keeps getting better and better.
And, hopefully, by the time June arrives and your contract is up, that space will still be available and you can move. 🙂 Dream big! 😀
I came upon your site after I posted a post about creating a space of my own. I don’t have a spare room to use either (I have 3 girls, me and dh and only 3 bedrooms). My personal space has migrated all over the house over the past 7 years (we live in a relatively small older home 18oo square feet bi-level). My space of my own now is a little writing desk in my room. I have been frustrated not having one for a while, and now that I have, I’m going to be guarding it with my life (especially from the clutter monster).
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