My Alternate Workspace
Posted on March 23, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 20 Comments
I noted that one of the reasons I wanted a new laptop was not only for travel but for when I felt like getting out of my own office and writing somewhere else in the house. For those curious, that usual “somewhere else” is this recliner, which is to be found in our front room. The recliner is ridiculously cheap (I believe Krissy got it from Odd Lots for about $100, which is cheap enough that she got two), ridiculously overstuffed and actually very comfortable, and it’s between two windows with southern and western views — i.e., lots of natural light. So I take a laptop, put it in my lap, and then recline and type for a bit. This was how parts of several episodes of The Human Division got written.
To be sure, most of my writing and other business activities take place in my office, because my office is also really nice and comfortable. But every once in a while you need to give your brain another environment. This is usually where I end up. In fact, it’s where I am right at this very moment.
omg, you’re INVISIBLE!
I end up at Tim Horton’s when that happens. Everything goes downhill from there.
The move to a comfy chair is just the thing to get the brain unstuck. Just a change of surroundings has helped me numerous times when I get blocked on a problem. The sometimes accidental naps don’t hurt either.
That looks like an amazingly comfortable chair. I’ll admit it…I’m a little jealous. Although to be honest the red wouldn’t work too well with out color scheme.
My boss, many years ago, had an office in our building with no desk. She had a conference table upon which she’d occasionally deal with paper things, and meet with people, but during the day, she sat in an easy chair she brought in herself, with her feet on an overstuffed ottoman.
I always thought that was the most civilized way to work ever.
New Conspiracy- It wasn’t Obama that Clint Eastwood was talking to. It was John Scalzi!
How nice of your cats to let you use their chair on occasion. (At least, that’s the situation with the recliners in MY house.)
Looking at that chair makes me want to take a nap.
I like your chair, I like that custom bookcase in your office. And I’m envious that were the same age and you are an established author and I’m such a hack. One more item and I may develop a healthy man-crush on ya.
How did you manage to get a piece of upholstered furniture to last 8 years in a house with pets?
Probably a great place to fall asleep while writing, too.
I rotate between office, kitchen table, and living room recliner. My office has been unavailable lately due to renovations, but I find when I’ve been working in it too long, I need a “break,” so I hit the recliner or kitchen. When I’ve been recliner-writing too long, it feels good to slip into serious mode in front of a proper desk. Also, if I’m feeling tired or under the weather, writing in a recliner with a fuzzy blanket can be a good substitute for calling in sick.
There’s only one cat in my house, and I still couldn’t combine a laptop with a comfy recliner without resigning myself to having a fluffy tail in my face and paws on my keyboard. Ghlaghghee, Zeus, and the Lopsided Cat must be remarkably well-behaved.
There IS a Spanish Inquisition joke in there somewhere.
I have a spacious, comfortable office with lots of natural light in the new house, and since I’ve only been here 5 months, I’m still enamoured of it, so I’m still in there a lot. But I have a couple of other spots in the house I like to go with my laptop, too… And I have fantasies about creating a laptop-friendly space somewhere in my tiny fenced yard (though probably not this year).
And now I live near a dog-friendly neighborhood bookshop with coffee, free WiFi, and great big tables where people bring their laptops. So I’ll probably try that place when I need to get out of the house.
My porch my my alternate in-home workspace, though it is odd going from my DYI wallscreen monitor to my laptop. My out-and-aboot alt workspace is the Greenbelt.
@ Ben Henick
Nobody expects the alternate workspace?
I’m aghast. Artists are supposed to suffer for their art. How can we expect you to be at your most creative best when you are lounging?
I adore mobile writing. I even have the ShapeWriter app on my iTouch which lets me knock out a few paragraphs while I’m waiting for something. But my Chromebook… that’s the ultimate mobile.
At first glance I thought it was Chairy from PeeWees’s Playhouse!
Speaking of alternate workspaces, have you considered one in California? Perhaps one around a large table, where Wil Wheaton plays board games? I could see that being a productive space for you, and in no way a self-serving means for us to see you on a popular web series that was just renewed for a second season…