There’s Something about the Library

Shelves of books both calm and energize me. I’m surrounded by the words of other authors. It’s like walking through a forest of stories.

We have two libraries in our home, and yet I rarely write in them. One is fairly open, and the kids will traipse through. Hard to concentrate. The other resides in our guest bedroom, where my wife often works. That means I do my writing in our bedroom, sitting on our bed.

I think I need to change that.

Right now I’m sitting in our nearest public library. My wife and our youngest daughter are in storytime. I don’t usually accompany them. I stay home getting work done. But here, surrounded once again by books but not distracted by the trappings of my own home, I’m getting so much more writing done.

I’m here about once a week. Our oldest son participates in a teen D&D club that meets here. I’ll bring him and set up my laptop in one of the open work areas. Even though it’s often noisier than my bedroom, I concentrate so much better. It shouldn’t be a surprise. I’m surrounded by books. My writing speed will routinely close to double.

And all that tells me that perhaps, if I want to up my output, I need to change where I’ve been writing. There’s something about the library.

It’s kind of amazing to me that I’m still learning ways to do my writing better!

How about you? Have you found certain places are better for your creativity? Do you do better in public or private?