Today I want to take you behind-the-scenes into my studio, where I spend my days working with writers and creators. This is a private room filled with the celebration of writing, creating, and connecting with readers. I’ll share how I organize the studio, my creative process, and other details of this inspiring place. Join me, it’s just beyond this door with the multi-colored glass:
This is when I first arrived 7 years ago:
Yes, I got very lucky with the windows. My second son was just born, and it felt like in order to honor the space that my work requires, and the space my family requires, I needed a place outside the home to create and work with writers.
In that time, I have moved things around in the studio 100 times, and filled it with objects that inspire me. Here it is today:
My shelves are filled with a colorful collection of typewriters, books, and other vintage items. I actually developed a plan to hook up that yellow phone so that when my cellphone rings, it gets routed to this old yellow phone! I even have a vintage answering machine I can use for it.
The space has 4 unique zones, even though it isn’t really that big:
- Desk area where I work and record videos for my clients.
- Stretching area where I do my daily stretches and light workouts. I have scoliosis, so in order to keep my back aligned, this daily practice is super important.
- A chaise lounge for my daily nap. Yep, I’m a huge believe in daily naps and have taken one each day for well over a decade.
- Vintage technology storage: a big ugly shelf that has 4 vintage TVs, old stereo systems from the 1980s, a vintage beta movie camcorder and more. Is this stuff silly and outdated? Sure. Do I absolutely love it? Yes!
I have the TVs rigged up so that they can each display the same feed from my camera or computer:
My days here are spent talking with writers and creators, helping them to get creative clarity, develop their platforms, connect with readers, launch books, and craft marketing campaigns.
I work with writers of all genres/topics, publishing paths, and levels of experience. All of this happens via phone, Zoom, and online. I’m in New Jersey, and currently have clients as far away as Canada, England, and Australia. And of course, all over the US. At the moment, my youngest client is 28 and the oldest just turned 90.
I am the luckiest person in the world because my days are spent in conversation with writers and creators. Those who take the risk to share their unique voices.
Every writer is different, and the work I do is highly collaborative. We generally follow the methodology I created in the Creative Success Pyramid, customizing it for each writer every step of the way.
(You can learn more about working with me here.)
Of course, this is also the space where I write and create. I tend to wake up very early, and love getting here when the streets are quiet and the building is dark. Everything seems possible in that moment. It’s where I write my weekly newsletters and work on my next book.
I overdo it a bit with my technology setup, but the goal is to be able to immediately create and share a video with a writer I’m working with, or record something for Substack or a workshop I’m developing.
This is what I use:
- A Mac Studio computer, which I tend to change out every 2 years. I have a backup work laptop, as well as a full home office. I’m a big believe in backups.
- Camera with a wide angle lens housed inside a teleprompter with a small screen below it, all on a heavy duty tripod that used to be used for a large telescope. The camera is a Sony A7C, with a Sigma 14-24mm lens, a Glide Gear teleprompter, and Lilliput 10” monitor.
- Video switcher. I went overboard here, but it not only allows me to record/stream from multiple cameras, but it creates backups of everything. I use this for live online events, and all my audio/video work. It’s an ATEM Mini Extreme ISO.
- Microphone. I bought this years ago for my podcast, and now use it for all Zoom calls too. It’s a Heil PR40.
- Lighting. The one on the left is from an inexpensive kit I bought years ago. Out of frame to the right is a professional Amaran 200x with dome and C-stand.
- Overhead camera. This is difficult to see in the photo, but it’s a Canon camera on a special rig so that it points straight down onto the tabletop. I used this for my recent Clarity Cards Workshop, so I could show people how to use the cards with one camera, and see me with the other one.
- A TV so that I use during recording that allows me to see all video feeds at once, so that I can easily switch between them while live.
- An analog synthesizer (Korg Minilogue XD), Drum Machine (Elektron Digitakt), Guitar, and amplifier. If/when I relaunch my podcast, I may use these for the music.
- A comfy chair to support my back! I literally found this on the side of the road. It was in great shape, and I just changed out the arm rests with new ones because the old ones showed a little wear.
I purchased all of this slowly, usually one item per year. I also have a nice pair of speakers on stands directly opposite my desk so that I can listen to music for hours a day.
As noted earlier, I’m a huge believer in backups, and have multiple online and offline backups so that if anything breaks, my files are safe, and I can continue working on other hardware.
When I first signed the lease on this space it felt scary — it was a big commitment. But in time I realized that it wasn’t the commitment to those I rent from that scared me, it was the commitment to myself.
This was a place to double-down on my creative vision and the writers I work with. To invest in what is possible. What difference has a private studio made in my life? I create more consistently, I create for longer periods of time, and I feel more focused.
Do you need a private studio? Of course not. I have created in a wide range of places over the years. If I consider the goals of a creative space, they would include:
- Provide clarity on what you need to do. For years, I would write at cafes or libraries. There are many times that I would ensure I had clarity by turning my laptop into a machine with a single purpose. I would remove all other files from the desktop of the computer except for the one document I was currently writing. In my mind, this machine had a single purpose. It was no longer a computer that could do 1,000 things, it was now only a tool to work on a single piece of writing.
- Remove you from distraction. Even at home, I still keep a home office. This space has a door that not only closes, but locks! Of course, my studio has the same thing. But when I wrote in public, at cafes and libraries, I would choose my seat carefully. Sometimes I liked the white noise of being right in the middle of a busy space. Other times, I would go to a library two towns away, and sit in a corner facing the wall. I would also wear headphones while writing, listening to music. The music would remove me from my physical context, and focus me on the task at hand. Headphones are also a wonderful signal to others that you shouldn’t be disturbed. Don’t just use earbuds, go and buy those big headphones that cover your ears! Author Tim Ferriss has said that he would wear headphones when working out at a public gym, but won’t be listening to anything. He wears them as a signal to others that he is concentrating and shouldn’t be disturbed.
- Incentivize you to create. You want to feel a sense of accomplishment when you create, right? I try to set small but specific goals/expectations when I create, so that I can feel a sense of satisfaction when my day needs to move on to other responsibilities. Some writing programs will have a little meter so that you can choose a goal for a writing session by word count, and the meter will change from red to orange to green as you come closer to the goal. If you are ideating or editing, it may be more difficult to quantify results. Consider hanging a simple calendar in your creative space where you get to mark a big bold X on every day that you create. When I wrote at cafes, I would sometimes buy myself a treat if I reached a certain writing goal, such as writing for an hour. Brownies an be wonderful creative tools!
- Remove all barriers to entry for getting started. Do you write on a laptop that takes 7 minutes to boot up, has a desktop filled with 100 files, and it sits on a crowded desk with all of your bills, recipes, and mail? If so, that means that just to get to your writing means you are forcing yourself to wade through all of that distraction first. Honor your creative time as best you can by making it easy to create. Sometimes this is with a clean desk or desktop, or a private space to write (again I’ll mention libraries here), or simply scheduling time to create. Block off that time in your calendar so that it is as unmovable as an important doctor’s appointment. Make your creative work an obligation that is as important as any other in your life.
- Have all of the tools you need at the ready. When I spoke to author Dani Shapiro she talked about how the tool that most writers use is also the source of their greatest distraction: the computer. People struggle to not be distracted by email, social media, or the news. Consider buying a used laptop that is just for writing. I remember I was once working with a group of writers, and three of them admitted that they wrote on an old-fashioned word processor! Why? Because it didn’t have a web browser, and didn’t even connect to the internet. Consider all of the tools you need to create invest in them. For the first few months in my studio, it was largely empty. It took awhile to give myself permission to invest in books, supplies, other materials that I can use in my creative process. Each expense felt like a debate in my mind about whether it would have a return on investment. But then, I would look at a photo of Calder’s studio and see raw materials scattered across his floor; I would look at photos of Ray Eames’ studio and all of the shelves of materials that she kept in case she needed them; I would look at Kate Bush in the studio, with thousands of dollars of gear ready at a moments notice.
Please let me know in the comments: what would your perfect creative space be like? Where would it be, or what would you include in it, or how would it feel? Describe it any way you like.
Thank you for being here with me.
-Dan