7. Melissa Dominic // darkmachines
I wish I could say I didn't concern myself with the place I create in,
but, I'd be lying if I did.
My bedroom is the space I write in and I've cultivated the entire area with the patience of a museum curator. It's daunting and I tell myself I don't have enough writing to show for all the work I actually get done, but, I've always been a person obsessed with setting and world building, so, it makes sense to me. I'm a creature of routine and over-organization and that shows as well (and is often coming unglued from the wall in the form of dry erase boards denting from the tiled floor). It's a bit cluttered, but I like it though. It's the tiny cottage of my life and the place I feel most comfortable. I think it's important.
My favourite place to write is my bed and maybe it is because the ideas float around better when I'm half asleep, mostly covered by bed sheets and I've lost my glasses under the pillows around me. But my most productive writing comes from the craft table I've set up as a secondary desk because the original desk across the room doesn't have enough room with the large speakers and candles and lamps and pump bottles of hand lotion taking up all the space. I have an obsession with keeping the things I love close at hand: a photograph of me and my girlfriend, the scarf from my first soccer game, all three hundred plus of my books, my Iron Man headphones, neon sneakers and the Napoli soccer jersey I keep artfully hanging off the closet door to remind me of what I am trying to do (and what I am trying to do involves writing a story about soccer and music and cities that can't die, not just yet). There are tiny things everywhere, taking up every free inch. But nothing about it feels cluttered to me.
I don't pretend that I need all this stuff to get anything done though. I know better than that. Really, to write, all I need is either my netbook or my notebook and maybe something playing low in the background. I could be anywhere, outdoors or inside, in transit or killing time while waiting around. Stories come from thoughts and effort, not positions in the world or items around you...
But, I'd really prefer it if I could bring everything else along with me too. You know. Just for good luck. Or good measure.