Are your writing habits portable?

Let’s get this show on the road.

Is your writing setup something like this:

1. Morning at 8:15. Check.
2. Coffee mug next to keyboard. Check.
3. No email yet! Check.
4. Dog snuggled at feet. Check.
5. First sip of coffee. Check.
6. Go.

What if you wake up late? The coffee is finished. “I really need to just check that one email.” The dog is asleep. Got my coffee. Check.

One out of five isn’t bad, right? Can you work with that? Will you write anyway? Or is your whole rhythm off?

Mobilize Your Habits

I realize this might seem extreme to some (Shield your eyes!), but here’s what I need to write each day:

1. A blank space.

If my laptop isn’t available, it might be a (gasp!) piece of paper and a pen. It might not even be my laptop. It might be a desktop. I sometimes, in dire situations, record onto the simple voice recorder on my phone or dictate to Siri and watch her (slowly but surely) spell out what I want to write.

Right now, I’m in Harzé, Belgium on my son’s Chromebook. I have 15 minutes before we need to wake them up or miss breakfast and go to that adventure park nearby. I might not have time in the afternoon and by evening, I’m hoping my creative juices are flowing into a Westmalle Dubbel.

Let’s recap:

1. I have 15 minutes.
2. I have a different laptop.
3. My wife is in the shower.
4. My kids are fast asleep and need to be woken up (now).
5. I have excuses galore.
6. But I’m doing it anyway.

Did you catch that #5 and #6? They’re crucial.

In fact, those are all you need. If you have those two, you have everything.

But time’s up. The shower’s turning off. Kids aren’t waking up on their own.

How mobile is your writing environment?