Had to do my Morning Ink in a different place to normal, as there are teenagers sleeping in the living room. So, I brought it up to my desk, which felt weird and different. And not as comfortable as the sofa. Plus I had to put headphones on (as the desk is also in our bedroom and Chris is still asleep). So, I didn’t have the peaceful background noise of the birdsong to accompany the start of my day. I do always listen to something at the same time as drawing my Morning Ink, but not with headphones. I definitely appreciate the added background of the birds. And being at my desk made it feel more like work instead of creative freedom. I went quicker (so much quicker that I missed a letter out in Monday and had to add the D after. That has almost never happened with these! Of course, if it was an actual work illustration there would have been sketch to start with, so that wouldn’t have happened.
Mostly, this is me realising that I am very fussy about this Morning Ink practice. It works differently when I’m away, too. Not that I’ve done much of it while away - one week in Mallorca, an overnight at my sister’s and an overnight in Manchester for the Olivia Rodrigo concert. I think that’s it. I haven’t been away on a solo break while I’ve been doing this, so I don’t fully know how it would work in that situation. (Quick! Better book a trip away immediately, so I can find that out!)
The bit that is easier at my desk, if this writing part. Because, usually I write these on my phone, in the browser because you still can’t write directly into the Substack app (what is up with that?). Typing at my keyboard is, well, my comfort space. Typing on the laptop is OK, too, but my desk keyboard? Feels like home.
I think, if I ever manage to finish writing a novel, it will be there, rather than in a café or in a hotel room, on a laptop, like I imagine. (I always think that I’m somehow going to write a whole novel when I go away somewhere!) Of course, maybe I just haven’t found the right laptop. Maybe when I do find it, that will be it. I will write the novel. The fact that I haven’t written more than a handful of fiction paragraphs in the past decade or so because I’ve been busy drawing is irrelevant. The fact that I haven’t made myself a daily fiction writing practice, like I have my daily drawing practice is irrelevant. I just need the right laptop. The right laptop will make all the difference.
