Write Where? Right There!

Being a full-time RVer and traveling the country means I’ve been able to experience some amazing places, meet fascinating people, and store up enough ideas for my writing for a few lifetimes.

When these sorts of places are right outside the door — it’s hard to sit down to write.

Every town we pass through conjures at least one story idea. Every RV park delivers at least a half-dozen more.

But I’ve been at this writing thing long enough to know that if you don’t give in to them, those ideas will fly away, vanishing into the big wide world around us.

This our Class C rig has four overhead bins along the top of this slide-out where the dinette sits. They’re sort of like the overhead bins in an airplane, hinged at the top but much, much smaller than airplane bins.

One of them is dedicated to my writing stuff. It holds a few books and magazines; a little plastic container with paper clips, staples, and small sticky note pads; printer paper; a pen and pencil case; portable hard drives and other electronic stuff — you get the idea.

Without room for much paperwork, I’ve learned to do as much as possible on the computer: writing, editing, note-taking, even saving research files. Even so, it’s amazing how unfocused I can feel, how many details seem to escape me, and how easily I can misplace my notes!

And the writing part? See this dinette table?

My husband sits on one bench seat and I sit across from him, our dinette serving as our “office” and dining room.

So I power up my laptop and try to put into words what is often a confusion of images and thoughts, snatches of conversations and quirky personalities.

Of course, sitting next to the window means if the shade is up I’m easily distracted by the view.

From watching the birds to spying on the neighbors (an RVer is lying to you if they say they don’t pay attention to another rig trying to park in a narrow spot), it’s hard to focus on the monitor, to get the words out.

As different as my lifestyle is in many ways from other writers, we all share the same struggle: finding the best balance between getting the writing done while living a life that feeds the wellspring of ideas.

(And now… back to that new novel…!)