My quest for a writing shed continues. I have been looking at a few “barn-style” sheds that might convert very well into a small writing office in my backyard. (I like the gambrel roof on the mini-barn models because it allows me enough room for a loft).
I have measured out a possible spot for the thing. My kids love the idea and my wife is coming around. Now all I need is the guts to commit to it. I am worried about several things, especially climate control for my books and cost.
I recently started Michael Pollan’s A Place of My Own. I thought I was obsessing a bit about the shed until I picked up this book. I have made it through about 100 pages and Pollan has not yet started building his little writing hut in the woods! He spent hours visualizing his shed, picking out a spot on his property, making sure the spot had the proper views of his house and pond, and assessing the structure’s “chi.” Then he consulted with an architect. From what I have been able to glean from the book, Pollan lived at the time somewhere in western Connecticut and the architect lived in Cambridge, Mass. Both of them took trips back and forth to discuss how this building would be constructed. (I am guessing that is several hours each way, but I could be wrong).
Pollan’s book is inspiring (so far), but I do not have the time or the resources to build the kind of shed he eventually constructed.
I will keep reading and perhaps throw out a few more posts on this very engaging book.
Oh yes, I will also keep you updated on my own shed plans.
This is the first post I've seen about your writing shed. Sounds great. Walter Wangerin lives not too far from us, and he has written somewhere about his writing barn. I think it was an existing structure, and he just remodeled it to suit his desires.
I must add just a little note about my reaction to the photo on your post. The picture made me think of the shed in the movie Beautiful Mind where the character Nash has been working for hours and hours on his secret math projects for the imaginary CIA guy, and the place is filled with little sheets of paper… So don't change your field to mathematics John 🙂