Choosing a Writing Environment

Do you write better in a coffee shop with a band, or a library smothered in silence? Understand where your creativity flows to better encourage it.

Business writing is as much art as it is technical. Art requires the proper mood, and that mood varies with the artist.

Choosing the Environment

As a writer, it's your responsibility to understand when and where you are best able to write. Do you prefer the low buzz of conversation and clink of crockery? A coffee shop may be the place to tote your laptop. Do you find that the slightest noise derails your train of thought? Perhaps a library would suit you better. You may prefer writing outside, or to have your favorite music playing, or just to have the television on and the kids in bed. Each writer has his or her own perfect storm of writing conditions, that confluence that will make the assignment much easier to complete.

Some Choices Aren't Available

Not all writers have the flexibility to control their writing environments. Employees that are assigned to create business documents probably can't expect to be allowed to blast Metallica or leave the office in search of a wooded glen. If you're a writer whose environment is preselected, it's equally important to know what helps - and hinders - your writing.

If there are particular aspects that you find are a factor in your productivity, find ways to incorporate as many of them as possible. Can you be provided with an office for the assignment, or at least a guarantee that you won't be disturbed while you're working? How about headphones? Balance the importance of each element (such as noise and temperature, among others) against the difficulty as requesting the changes you desire, before you decide to ask for special favors.

You may be an artist, but until your boss realizes that, you're an employee first.