To make any kind of writing – even the most dreaded – a pleasure, the setting is important to me. A good writing session (by hand) includes a peaceful place. The place is preferably equipped with a lovely view – how I’d like to have a desk placed by a window facing the open sea. I have a nice desk, but not even the tiniest window facing the sea, which is (lake) a few  kilometres away or (sea) over 50 km away. But, the view from my study is facing a pretty nice yard with threes, flowers and bushes and a big lawn – in the summer. Now the trees branches are bare and the rest is in various shades of brownish-greyish-green.

But, even if one has a room of one’s own – to quote Virginia Woolf  – I love writing at cafés. A corner table by a window at a nice, not-too-crowded café. Preferably a café with the opportunity to bump into friends in an un-scheduled spontaneous way. Chat a little, write a and chat some more. Sipping on a nice cup of coffee – strong with (warm) milk, please! Write a little more, waving goodbye and continue writing. Simple ways to enjoy life. When the place is chosen and the coffee in place I’ll pick up my pen case and choose the weapon for this session, open the notebook, take a sip, look out the window and start to write. When writing something as a paper for my studies the writing is often interrupted by brief reading, checking facts. When done like this even this dreaded paper-writing can be pleasant. Not always, but it is a way of adding a little bit of everyday pleasure even to the boring tasks.

One pen that I use everyday and which has brought me a lot of additional joy is my Lamy Vista with a broad italic nib. I load it with a sunshine yellow ink and use it as a highlighter and the happiness of that colour makes me doodle small suns in the margins. Here is me and my dear and most faithful servant the Pilot Vanishing Point. It is often my weapon of choice. The texture of the carbonesque finish is very nice and adds pleasure to the writing.

To write at home is rather tricky – it is easy to find so many things that needs to be done – clean the bath tub, fold laundry, polish shoes… To succeed I need to get outdoors for a while. Either just a walk  + short photo session to clear the mind, or a walk +café – get the writing started at the café.  Everyone has to find what works for them, but these tricks usually work for me. But. It is never so clean in my home as when I’m getting nearer a dead line…