My approach to a writing routine can be divided into two distinct eras.  The time when I wrote for fun, and the time when I studied my MA and wrote to make a living.

In the old days, when I didn’t spend every waking moment writing, I had this notion that there was a perfect setting to produce the best writing.  The conditions had to be:

• Quiet
• Calm
• Uncluttered
• Comfortable
• Inspirational

Well, deadlines and kids and MAs have put paid to all that fluff.  Now the only things I need for a perfect writing place are:

• Oxygen
• Laptop
• Fingers

Gone is the working up to writing where I clear my head and think deeply.   It’s all about rolling up the sleeve and turning up to the screen.  So – here are just a few recent locations for writing:

A lido

The BBC canteen

A hair salon

A writing retreat

A garden

A train

A climbing centre

And it’s actually very liberating.  Whether I’m hurtling on the train to Paddington or trying to avoid my laptop getting splashed by the pool, with practice I can drop out of the world and get right into my script.  And it’s only limited by a plug socket.