Updated: Oct 25, 2021
The process of writing a book is time and energy-consuming. When most people on weekends stayed in bed, I’m up at six in the morning and do my job as soon as my coffee is ready and sometimes even before that. I can work on my manuscript 6-8-10 hours straight unless somebody lets me know “Hey, don’t you realize you have a family?” Then, attending family dinner I still working on my manuscript. In my head. It’s never over!
I remember my husband’s sad observation: “You know as I look at you, I see that all your life now revolves around this table!” Yes, he was right, and I could not let that life to stop. All of them: Tammy, Marta, Andy, Dustin, Alexander, Hogan, Lidia, and Zoe, begged me to bring them to life. I felt trapped in their problems and I was already not able to leave them alone. Most of the time I wrote my novel at the round dining table. It was another resemblance to the island. There was just something about its shape – no corners. It is solid wood, warm and steady. I evolved a sort of connection with it, thereby when we finally decided to get rid of it and scheduled the delivery of the new table, I could not sleep all night. No, I don’t want corners, and I don’t want the feeling of new. I need to finish my book at this old, round table. The next day my husband chastised me, “You’re killing me! It’s just a table for Christ’s Sake!” And then, noticing my sad eyes he gave up. “I just can’t let it happen – for you to be sad over the stupid table. You can have your island! I call them now to cancel delivery.”
It seems to me that when you work on your project for a long time, it is important to write it in a place where your thoughts are focused on the content the most, where your ideas have already created a certain atmosphere. You can think through your ideas and talk to your characters anywhere else, but to create them mechanically – picking on the keyboard or writing on the paper – it is always better if you sit in the place which you consider your work area.