Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘writing spaces’

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A Moveable… Writer's Workshop

by Celeste Ng

Lots of people read on the subway. But how about writing on the subway? The NY Writers Coalition recently offered many the chance to do just that–by transforming a subway car into a free writing workshop! With pens and paper in hand, a group of writers on the #7 train wrote from Times Square to Flushing, reports the New York Times: After leaving Manhattan, the train emerged from its tunnel and rose along elevated tracks into the bright sunlight in western Queens. It was an unconventional writer’s space, with the train rumbling into a new station every few minutes and […]


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A writing space too beautiful to write in

by Celeste Ng

Okay, this might be the writer’s cabin to end all writer’s cabins. In fact, I’m not sure you can even call this amazing flip-down, glass-walled writing retreat with 360-degree views a “cabin.” Says dornob.com: At 500 square feet, it is not a huge retreat but it serves its purpose perfectly: fold-up sides keep it secure when not in use, while doubling as privacy screens, light blocks and thermal barriers as desired. Essentially a glass house on the inside, folding down three of the four exterior walls gives the occupant a nearly 360-degree connection to the surrounding context. With a writing […]


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Heathrow's writer-in-residence

by Celeste Ng

Does the above photo–of London’s Heathrow Airport–inspire you to write? English novelist Tony Parsons is hoping it will inspire him. Earlier this summer, Parsons spent a week in Heathrow as the airport’s writer-in-residence, working on a collection due out this month. Reports the airport’s press release: Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow will be Parsons’ 13th book and his first collection of short stories. Inspired by Airport, the 1960’s bestselling novel about a large metropolitan airport and the personalities of the people who use and rely on its operation, Parsons wants to revive this genre of airport fiction made famous by […]


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Write Place, Write Time

by Celeste Ng

Write Place, Write Time offers a peek into different writers’ workspaces. Above, the writing spot of novelist Heidi Durrow. Here’s the ridiculously cool workspace of writer Alan Heathcock (seriously, I can’t believe this exists–read the whole post; I promise it’s worth it): Heathcock writes: My writing studio is a 1967 Roadrunner travel trailer that for most of its life was an Idaho State Police surveillance vehicle, and is now packed with books and trophies and random oddities. Inside, there’s old beautiful wood paneling, which smells like woods and feels like wood and feels cozy and connects me with reality. […] […]


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The (semi-)mobile workspace

by Celeste Ng

Most writers have special workspaces in their homes, but how many can shift their space to suit their moods? Liu Ming, a feng shui teacher in Oakland, CA, has outfitted his loft apartment with a mobile, 8-foot cube that functions as a mediation area, study, and sleeping area. The New York Times reports: “In feng shui, we talk about the harmony in the place that you live in,” Mr. Liu says. “The cube evolved out of wanting cozy with the option of keeping a big, open space at the same time. And we added wheels for feng shui purposes. Now […]


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Where to Write? Anywhere.

by Celeste Ng

I admit I’m a bit of a prima donna when it comes to writing: I like particular spaces and particular environments. Being at my desk, with everything I need just where I want it, helps me focus. And I’m clearly not alone. But there are benefits to being more flexible, and this essay by Jessica Francis Kane on The Millions points out some of the best reasons to make do when it comes to workspaces: I began to suspect I was too susceptible to the idea of the “writer’s desk” and decided it might be better to do without one. […]


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Less is More

by Celeste Ng

Earlier this year, the New York Times profiled the writing space of novelist Roxana Robinson. Robinson lives on the Upper East Side near Park Avenue and has a study that would seem the ideal lair for a novelist. This room […] combines all the necessities of 21st-century life — computer, printer, fax machine — with immense personality, thanks to dozens of works of art and memorabilia that paint an indelible portrait of Ms. Robinson and the richly textured world she inhabits. Instead, however, she chooses to write “in an 8-by-10 space that faces a tan brick wall and was formerly […]



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