For those die hard fantasy fans, our ‘D.I.Y. Castle Theme Desk’ instructions are included DIY, at the end of this article.
A creative space is a place where fantasy is unleashed, limitless, where we can best express our talent as a creative writers.
An author’s desk can be a sacred place, where writers an participate in the creative process. I call it my “creative space”; a special enchanted bubble to create.
How to build a perfect creative space in your home? The dream of most creative writers is a room. A private room. Only they can enter and only they can exit.
Whether you are a poet, fantasy writer or just tweets on Twitter or any other site, in order to make your work a big hit you need to add a bit of creativity in it. There are times when your mind is just flowing with words and new ideas. Writing 1000 words take no time for you, but contrary to it some time you won’t be able to find a single word to write. Writing a sentence, deleting it again and this continues for hours without bearing any fruit.
I’ll give you the solution to this, but first, you need to understand why this is happening to you and most other writers.
1. CREATIVITY NEEDS ROOM TO BREATH LIFE
Creativity is defined as ‘ the process of discovering new words and ideas or using different words to create a newer version of your own’. In order to mold your brain to develop a creative version of it, the most important thing is to remove stress, so that it can open up to think out of the box. It has been found that, stress is the ultimate killer of a person’s creativeness. I wonder why, we were more creative as a child and less innovative as adults?
But, still, we need creativity in many parts of our life even when we have reached our adulthood. This is the reason, why we need to revive our childhood creative mind.
In order to find your lost imagination, you need to set up a creative space that can help your mind relax and think, as working in a dirty and boring environment can prevent you from thinking properly. Here are few tips on how you can set up the perfect environment for you to excel in creating.
2. CHOOSE A STRESS FREE LOCATION
Avoiding these exaggerations, the room is the best, the holy grail of the creative. In this room, you can set what you want, the author desk, a computer, books, comics, everything that inspires you. If you want maximum silence lined the walls of the room with sound absorbing material, even the foam is fine.
You need to find a location that is well lit and provide with some fresh air to think. The location is very important, especially if you are working on any fantasy works, as it will help your mind to free itself from the stress and help think faster and think clearer. So, when making your working space always spend time on choosing a good location.
3. WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE A ROOM AVAILABLE?
Things get more complicated without any shadow of a doubt. Try to find a corner, a place where you can be isolated, and work with a portable PC or tablet. With a Wi-Fi connection, you can work anywhere. Use a variety of cloud services, such as Google Drive and Dropbox, to avoid spreading the material in your home (you will not find it at the time of need, as Murphy’s law teaches). If you are looking for silence you can use a Bluetooth headset but do not overdo it, otherwise you will get only a big headache.
A good set of earphones and relaxing music would be a good investment if you take the ‘writer’s corner’option.
4. DI.Y. TABLES TO WORK
If your anything like me, you cannot produce your writing flow while standing. Therefore you need to get yourself a table and a chair to sit on. Any table can work, but as we are trying to enhance your innovative thinking, so you need to find a good author desk. You can even decorate it to make it more appealing to your eyes. In this way, you will not only like your table but also love working on it. There are many ways how you can do that. I have a great idea on how you can decorate your table in a castle theme. Follow these simple DI.Y. building or decorating tips at the end of this article.
5. DESIGNING YOUR SPACE
Once you are done with selecting the location and fundamentals, now you need to move towards decorating it. It’s a lot better to decorate it with your ideas, for who else in this world will be more aware of your own likes and dislikes. This is important because anything in your room that you don’t like will distract you and you don’t want that.
I tend to burn a centered candle for three purposes.
- The aroma usually relaxes me
- Helps me tune into my creative zone
- Helps me keep track of time when the candle burns low.
6. KEEP IT CLEAN AND ORGANIZED
Keep your room or space where you are working clean and organized. If your room will be dirty and messed up, obviously it won’t stop you from working, but it can interrupt with your cognitive thinking which is very important if you want to be creative. That is why you need to de-clutter your room.
Think of it like a painter, blank canvas = room for new creations.
7. AVOID DISTRACTIONS
There are many things that can distract you like your cell phone. Every time it beeps, it means you are going to waste your time, as well you will lose the flow with which you are working. Thus, you need to keep your cell phone at a maximum distance from you, especially when you are working. Not only this, you need to remove every unimportant thing that you think is diverting your attention when you are working.
These are the simple things that you can do to create a creative space around you where you can work without any kind of distractions. Although these were only the external factors in order to become a good creative writer, you need to start brainstorming and make your mind habitual of imagining new ideas.
8. EDITING HEAD-SPACE REQUIRES DIFFERENT WORKSPACE
As editing is a different process. I find it helps to edit atg different location in the house. In that case, you’ll have to read what you wrote, to overcome the temptation to set fire to the manuscript and correct errors.
The creative room or corner is excellent, but for this work, the “create space” (I find) does not work. The fantasy scope has already been used and now is the time for proofreading hat.
Read the novel or your work several times and let it read to so many other people. Neil Gaiman said that the best editing is done by reading the same thing to several people at the same time. Involve staff or family members, unmount the fingerprint device, and let them into your “create space”. Their comments will be your best editing.
Deep-down the most important thing is not the workplace or the equipment, but your imagination. Of course these are only my shared tips of what I have found works for me.
9. DI.Y. THEME CASTLE DESK
For those extremely creative souls out there who are looking to bring their imagination to the 3rd dimension, why not try building your own creative desk by following our tips?
SOURCES
Getzels, J. W., & Jackson, P. W. (1962). Creativity and intelligence: Explorations with gifted students.
Doorley, S., & Witthoft, S. (2011). Make space: How to set the stage for creative collaboration. John Wiley & Sons.
Kent, T. (2007). Creative space: design and the retail environment. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 35(9), 734-745.
Vygotsky, L. S. (2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 42(1), 7-97.
Roelands, M., Claeys, L., Godon, M., Geerts, M., Feki, M. A., & Trappeniers, L. (2011). Enabling the masses to become creative in smart spaces. In Architecting the Internet of things (pp. 37-64). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. John Wiley & Sons.
Sharples, M. (1999). How we write: Writing as creative design. Psychology Press.
Please note: all hand painted designs are for personal ideas only, strictly not for retail selling.
