Where is the best place to write?

Personally I have written in all sorts of places. OK, so not the toilet or in the bath, because it could get kind of messy, but most places. Reading, well that’s a different story, I have read books, magazines and newspapers pretty much everywhere you could imagine, because if you love reading, well where doesn’t matter, or shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t it matter? Because if what you are reading is truly engrossing and you lose yourself in it, then where you are should melt away into obscurity.

Writing however, can be affected by all sorts of things. Imagine trying to write an emotional piece about the death of an important character, while sat on the tube clattering along while being nudged by others. Imagine trying to write about a peaceful and beautiful place while you’re sat on a bucket at a building site, while Bob the Builder hammers a wall with a pick axe. OK, I’m exaggerating, but you know what I mean.

Naturally if we were so limited in our ability to take flight with our imagination then we would have to be wrapped up in cotton wool or actually have to experience the things we write about, and end up sounding more like we were giving a presentation than creating worlds of the mind, our minds.

It is good to experience things, new places, people and events, because they all add to our knowledge and even our wisdom. However there has to be a space within us to simply create something from nothing, otherwise what is our imagination for? It’s not enough to simply parrot what we have seen or heard, we have to reshape it and bend it into something the reader would hopefully not have experienced before.

The point about where we write, and where we create something, is more important to us as creators than for the reader, viewer or listener, because there does have to be a state of mind where we are open to new ideas and allow our minds to flow with interesting thoughts and ideas. Of course if we are writing a horror story, and we are in a place where something strange or weird occurs, then this can add to what we need to show, it can provoke a sense of something which we can incorporate, but often we just need a quiet moment to be able to tell the story.

Being creative with what we write isn’t enough, unless you’re dealing with absurdism, which might not need a defined narrative. Most readers will want a sense of direction, which requires plot, and character development, and actually going somewhere with it. If we write in a place which affects our ability to concentrate, then we will often miss things, create glaring errors, not to mention the ubiquitous spelling errors, and endless grammatical inadequacies. Readers are very quick to point these out, and of course they have the right to, because they pay for our work, and have a right to expect the best. If for no other reason, that should tell us all we need about the importance of uninterrupted writing.

Which brings me neatly to the original point: where is the best place to write?

For me, I mainly write in a small wooden summer house, windows at side and front, and double doors which open out. Beyond is a small yard which on either side has plants giving it a green and flowery sensation. It is quiet here, apart from a large tree overhanging, often filled with birds.

I find it a good place to be, and a good place to write.

I have written in other places, like my living room, but then there are distractions from letters arriving, and people coming in and out, or someone knocking for something. At least here, in the back, I can pretend I am not in, and perhaps the only person left alive, albeit thankfully for a short time.

I wonder what the real differences are between what kind of place we need in order to be able to enjoy our reading, and just how bad it could be as a writer for me not to be able to write.

I guess I’ll have to go into a war-zone or onto a building site with Bob the Builder and find out!


Sign Up For My Newsletter To See When New Books, Blog posts And Stories Are Released.


DJ Cowdall on Instagram
DJ Cowdall on Twitter
DJ Cowdall on Facebook
DJ Cowdall on Goodreads

Email: djcowdall@gmx.co.uk

New Book Progress

I’m pleased to be able to say I am in the process of writing the third and final part of The Dog Under The Bed, which deals with what happened next after Arthur had found his new home.

I am at a crossroads of sorts, in precisely what to call the book. I am torn between sticking with What Happens Next as a subtitle, but I think there are better options, such as Arthur Finds a Home or similar. I’m sure I will know once it comes to launch time.

My aim is to finish the book and have it on sale by the end of August, but obviously it is typically holiday time and things such as life do tend to get in the way.

The first book dealt with a stray dog, ending up hiding under a little boy’s bed, and how he managed to avoid detection in the pursuit of finding somewhere safe to stay.
Its reception had been hugely rewarding, the sales, library reads, reviews and general appreciation.

The follow up, Arthur On The Streets has likewise been met with great success and appreciation, however naturally it deals with things in a less happy manner. Arthur finds himself on the streets and lost, and learns what it is to be a stray and unwanted dog. Life can be tough, but also a huge experience, as Arthur finds out.

I am pleased to say that the final part of the trilogy finds Arthur in much happier circumstances. Anyone who has taken in or adopted a stray dog will know that both we and our new dog have to adapt to each other. When I got my dog Scooby, on the first day he jumped onto my bed and soiled and wet it, which was a shock! I had a word with him, cleaned it all up, but the next day he did the exact same thing again! After that he wasn’t allowed onto my bed. Of course it is well known dogs like to mark their new territory, and that was what he was doing, but it is part of getting used to a new dog, especially as he was three when we first got him.

So book three will be all about how the family and Arthur adapt to each other, and all the fun and frolics they have. I believe it is going to be tremendous fun to write, and wonderful to read.

It is and has been a great journey, not only having dogs in my home, but writing about them too. Long may it continue.

Of course Dog 3 will not be the last of my escapades in writing about them, no chance. It is only just beginning!


Sign Up For My Newsletter To See When New Books, Blog posts And Stories Are Released.


The Dog Under The Bed

Arthur On The Streets

Two Dogs in Africa

DJ Cowdall on Instagram
DJ Cowdall on Twitter
DJ Cowdall on Facebook
DJ Cowdall on Goodreads

Email: djcowdall@gmx.co.uk