Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop (www.elizabethwinthropalsop.com) is the author of over 50 works of fiction for adults and children under the pen name Elizabeth Winthrop.  These include the award-winning fantasy series, The Castle in the Attic and The Battle for the Castle as well as the short story, The Golden Darters, read on the nationwide radio program, Selected Shorts, and included in Best American Short Story anthology, and Island Justice and In My Mother’s House, two novels now available as eBooks.  She is the daughter of the acclaimed journalist, Stewart Alsop. Daughter of Spies: Wartime Secrets, Family Lies, a family history about her parents’ love affair during World War II and their marriage lived in the spotlight of Washington during the 1950s was published by Regal House, October 25, 2022.

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This post is from Elizabeth’s Substack January 25th newsletter,:

When I speak at writer’s conferences, I often get the same questions from beginning writers. Do you write with a pen or a computer? Do you write in a journal? Do you write at the same time every day? Where do you write? I know people in the audience are hoping to uncover some secret method, some trick I’ve discovered or invented that would unlock their unconscious so that the words flow and the characters dance off the page beckoning to them to follow.

Every writer be they published or just starting out would answer these questions in a different way. My writing day and schedule has changed over time, but I’ve discovered that committing to writing every day is the most important “trick.” So, for now, here’s my schedule. I wake up and play a number of word games to prime my brain. Then breakfast and a ten minute drawing practice with Wendy McNaughton to push me in different directions. Drawing helps me to see more clearly what is right in front of me and that can only help my descriptive powers.

Although I don’t live in a large apartment, I am lucky enough to have two separate spaces for my work life. The first, a desk 10 inches from my bed, is where I do the administrative work that a published writer must not neglect. It is here that I check royalty statements, answer appearance requests, develop marketing and publicity materials, read through contracts, answer emails from fans, my entertainment lawyer, my editors, etc. My second space is a 6 X 10 foot nook where I keep all my research books, art that inspires me, my journals and an extra card table to spread out file cards on characters, plot twists, settings. I try to keep that as my pure writing space.

The painting above my desk is of an island and I’ve written more than one book about islands. Part of the novel I’m working on is set on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, a mystical place on the northeast coast of England that I’ve visited to do research. Beneath that, a picture of two characters who showed up in one of my books and who keep coming back. Upper right you’ll see a charcoal drawing of my father, a journalist and memoir writer, who was my first inspiration.

Upper left is a cartoon by James Stevenson, the celebrated New Yorker artist who was inspired by my father and uncle . The bookshelf holds my daily handwritten journals and books that inspire and instruct me. And yes, knitting supplies. I’ve found that when my fingers work the needles, my brain works on plot.

Lately I’ve been hearing the term, third space. First your home, then your work and one other. Since both my home and my office are under the same roof, I often go out to my favorite coffee shop which I call my third space. I put on noise deadening headphones, hook into my Gregorian Chant playlist (my current novel is set in the 14th century), write first in my journal and then turn to the half finished sentence, the last thing I wrote the day before. In that crowded, noisy place, my characters meet me and carry me away to their world.

This is the schedule and rhythm that works for me. What is yours?

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