Saturday, September 11, 2010

Quote of the Week: Writing at Home



I think the thing people idealize most about freelancing is what they would like the least: the idea of working at home. Every single interview with Periscope Studio, our members are asked, "Why did you recreate an office situation?" Like we're insane. Everyone pictures themselves in a massive study with tall windows looking out on the forest or the cliffs over the water. But usually you're in an attic or moldy basement, somewhere by the washer and dryer. Getting office space is great if you can make it happen, I promise.
--Jeff Parker.

5 comments:

Wings1295 said...

Great pic. :)

J.R. LeMar said...

Is the reason because working @ home is too distracting? You get side-tracked more easily, start watching TV, or looking up something on the net, just basically procrastinating more when you're in your comfortable room @ home? So you try to make your writing area look more like an office, in order to stress to your brain that you are "working," and need to get stuff done?

Michael May said...

I'm not speaking for Parker, but if I'm reading him correctly he's saying that the opposite is actually true in a lot of cases. Home offices are often ill-suited to working because they're cramped and uncomfortable.

I'm fortunate enough to live in a four-bedroom house with only three people in it (and two of us share a room), so I've got a decent working space. No forest or ocean view, unfortunately, but I'm very familiar with the temptations you mentioned.

J.R. LeMar said...

Oh well, I was going by the opening comment about how the thing people idealize is what they also like the least. I figure that, the idea of working @ home sounds great. Get up whenever you want, eat whenever you want, don't even have to get dressed if you don't want to. Can just spend all day writing in your underwear if you want, with no boss standing over your shoulder. But then, on the other hand, that sort of "freedom" can be a curse, as it leads to more opportunities to procrastinate. So I've heard about a lot of writers and artists (specifically comic-book artists), who say they try to set a work schedule, like a regular job. Say 8-5, with a 1-hour lunchbreak. By sticking to that, it keeps them productive.

Michael May said...

That's very true.

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