It’s too COLD to Write

Writing

The above picture with the oh-so-sad, winter trees is from our yard yesterday. Today the sky is heavy with dark clouds, and it’s raining, a cold, vampiric rain that sucks the warmth right out of your blood. We usually get spring by the end of March, so I expect several more weeks of chilly weather. Sigh.

This is my writing office:

My “office.”

It’s simply a desk in the corner of our spare room. It’s also on the cold side of our house (wonderful in the summer, goose-bumpy in the winter). Dear Husband suggested I take a portable space heater in there, which was sweet of him, but I don’t want to waste electricity.

That corner is my most productive writing area. No phone, no TV, and neither the dog nor the husband will follow me in there. It’s also got my “envision board” (an inspirational vision board with action items). I want to keep writing there without freezing my fingers off.

And my fingers do get cold:

These were my fingers yesterday. They look like corpse fingers!

What to do?

I keep touch with my productive writing space by speed typing at my desk for six minutes every day. I can handle typing in a cold room for six minutes, and that still tells my brain, “This is where we get down to work.” I’ll bump up the six minutes to ten then twenty as the weather warms up.

This is where we get down to work.

I’m not the only writer complaining about cold keyboards. Lately I’ve come across others’ toasty typing tactics:

  • A USB-connected pair of electric gloves that have no fingertips (you can still type).
  • An electric mug warmer to keep your coffee hot.
  • Three pairs of socks at once to battle an upper Midwest winter.
  • A blanket and a laptop so you can snuggle into the warm sofa. (This is what I do when I’m not at my desk. It’s okaaay, but it sure doesn’t help my posture.)
  • Layers of outwear so thick you look like the Michelin Man. Than you can survive in a basement office.

Winter is not that bad, really. It makes me more appreciative when spring rolls around!

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45 thoughts on “It’s too COLD to Write”

  1. Oh my gosh. You deserve a space heater, lady! Not only so that you can do what you love, but for your health! Take your husband’s advice. This cold won’t last forever, and you are so worth the blip in the budget!

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  2. I don’t like winter! I wear a scarf around my neck at work and sometime a hat on my head. I would just wright all day under the blanket on the couch.

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    1. Yes! Except for the 6 minutes at my desk, I basically snuggle under a warm blanket on the sofa to write (with frequent trips to the coffee pot for refills) and dream of spring. Thanks for popping in, SarahC!

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  3. OMgosh, the pic of your fingers made me feel bad for grumbling about snow.That is some serious cold surroundings you’ve got going on there!
    At the same time, I absolutely love your writing space and the board where you can scribble notes.Talk about motivation and inspiration, I have my fingers crossed that warm weather will be here soon!

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  4. Your writing space is so cute. And clean! I like that you don’t have a bunch of distractions around. I’ve heard that writing gloves are good when it’s cold, but you still need to get some writing done. Also they are all super cute. Hope it warms up for you soon!

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  5. Thank you for the kind words re my writing space. I do tend to keep stuff off my desk so I can just focus on writing, thus the “clean” look. I am writing, honest. It’s just mostly done while under a warm blanket on the sofa until the weather turns warmer. I’m glad you commented, Alicia!

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  7. I think your fingers, plus your words, remind me how cold our Virginia is. The looks too much like real cold. We have an expletive deleted heat pump that blows cold air from the ceiling. I keep taking a jacket on and off as I get too chilled and then warm up. Never thought I’d actually miss a hot flash…. Spring is coming, I promise. Supposed to be almost 70 tomorrow.

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  8. It certainly sounds very cold to me, Priscilla. I would use the space heater. I nearly die of cold here and it is usually not lower than 9 degrees Celsius on a very bad day. Our temps do drop to below freezing on the odd night but it isn’t very often.

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    1. I don’t know if it’s all that cold or if I’m just sensitive to cold. Dear Husband doesn’t get zombie hands. 9C degrees isn’t very cold, but I wonder if that means your SA summers are really hot, or if it’s pleasantly mild all year round. I’m glad you stopped by, Roberta!

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  9. For your health and comfort. I’d do as your husband suggests and use a small space heater. Your fingers look so cold! Not being mean but it’s warm and muggy here. Ac is running and spring is approaching the southern coast. I’ll take sweltering heat over cold any day. Though the snow on those trees looks gorgeous:)

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  10. Your writing space looks great, but I agree with the folks who said the space heater is a good idea. Your post reminds me of my old workplace. At times the heat pump would misbehave and we’d get out the Scrooge gloves and lap blankets. I still prefer that over too hot, though. Hoping it will warm up soon!

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  11. Your poor fingers! It hurts me just to look at them. I get cold really easily and my fingers and toes are the worst. My hands looked blue the other day because I was so cold. I would be getting that space heater going right away. I do love your writing corner 🙂

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    1. Thanks for the kind words about my writing corner. THE SUN came out today, so I actually worked at the dining table with the sunlight streaming through the window. It was warm and awesome.:-) I’m glad you stopped by, Carole!

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  12. So many commenters! 🙂 I would argue that a space heater is NOT a waste of electricity as you’re heating a space while it’s occupied. Now, if you were heating that space even when you weren’t in it, then I might agree that you were wasting electricity.
    Heavy with dark clouds and vampiric rain – I’m excited to read your first novel!!! 🙂

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    1. The sun came out and melted everything yesterday. It was nice. But then the WIND came and knocked out power (in spots, not ours, strangely) and knocked down trees. It’s just been the weirdest weather! Thanks for the compliment on my writing spot, and thanks for commenting!

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    1. Nah, no such heroics here. I write when I’m warm and stop when my hands are cold. Then I heat them up either by holding them over the fireplace or wrapping them around the mug of a hot drink. I prefer the latter.:-) TODAY, the weather was gloriously warm and reached 61 degrees. Warm hands, happy writer! I’m glad you stopped by and commented, Daniela!

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  15. It’s great you have privacy to write (and your desk is so neat!), but you’re right – your fingers look like a corpse’s! Sounds like you’ve have more than your share of snow, Priscilla, but we’ve had an unusually warm winter. Just a lot of rain. I’d have to consider taking the laptop and finding heat. Stay warm!

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    1. 1) Hahahahaha, no it’s real. I minimalize the stuff around my writing area so I won’t get distracted by shiny objects.
      2) My zombie fingers say you don’t have to because it’s almost spring. But they thank you profusely for thinking of them.

      Thanks for stopping by, Bryan!

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  18. You are one determined writer! I read “vampiric rain” and I couldn’t help but smile at the apt description. I have found thick “reading socks” to be helpful in keeping warm but you might need to give in and accept the space heater. Take good care!

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    1. It’s the strangest thing. Yesterday I was chilled and had to bundle up inside the house. Dear Husband was fine while wearing holey jeans and a thinning sweatshirt. What the heck! I think my ancestors must have been from warmer climes.

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      1. It can be so unfair, I agree! Oh…it just occurred to me. Maybe try drinking some ginger tea. It’s known for keeping the body warm. If you don’t mind the taste, that is.

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      2. Ginger tea . . . I didn’t know. That’s probably a lot smarter than drinking whatever spirits were in those tiny barrels the St. Bernard dogs carried to freezing victims! (You know, in the old cartoons?)

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  19. I can identify…. usually frigid cold in winter and scorching hot in summer… my writing room has a window that falls out in high winds and no climate control… I am surrounded by storage boxes and restless cats that want in, but I write in solitude! It is where I am happiest…

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    1. Oh dear, a window that falls out in high winds. That belongs in a story somehow. I am LOVING the warmer temperatures right now. I’m also doing tai chi. I’ve heard it can help with cold hands/feet. Eh, even if tai chi doesn’t help my cold hands going into next winter, it’s still a good, relax-and-recharge exercise. Thanks for commenting!

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