You’ve set aside a block of time in order to write. You’ve got your fingers poised over the keyboard (or piece of paper with pen in hand) and you’re ready for the words to start flowing. So what are the must-have accessories with which you surround yourself? For me, these include:
- A mug of hot tea (or if it’s really warm out, a glass of iced tea will do)
- A bottle of water (you can never be too hydrated)
- A cozy blanket (but if it’s really hot, probably a blowing fan instead)
- A pile of pillows
- A tube of lip balm so I don’t have to get up every twenty minutes to apply it
- Hand cream. I wash my hands a lot.
- Tissues and a trash can (TMI? I blow my nose a lot even without colds or allergies!)
- A wrist support strap, for those times every few months when too much typing makes me my wrist start hurting
- My phone, in case the outside world needs to get in touch (landline phone, so there are no fancy cell phone gimmicks to distract me—the Internet’s enough for that already)
- A flash drive to back up the session’s work
- A cat. But only if she feels like visiting.
At one time I might have said a thesaurus or dictionary, but since I type all of my writing from the get-go, Word’s built-in function or the Internet can do the job for any word look-ups and research.
What are your must-have writing accessories?
Amy McNulty 
Tea and my flash drive are definitely a must. If it’s cold, I like to have a heating pad on my legs. 🙂
All sound like great ideas! Especially the heating pad in winter!
This post made me realize, I don’t have any must-have accessories! I can’t even say music because there are times when I write in silence! I guess the only thing I need is my laptop. 😉 And maybe my notebook nearby, in case I need to look something up.
Oh, music! I forgot about that one. It IS a must for me, so long as there are no lyrics. I’m overly anal about having everything within reach perhaps, ha. But I bet you like having a bird nearby!
No, he’s just a distraction! If he’s behaving, it’s one thing, but when he does his loud, repetitive bird call, I find it hard to concentrate. And if he’s loose? Well, then he’ll run all over the keys, preventing me from typing!
I forgot to say, I DO keep a flash drive within reach! I’m always paranoid my computer will die and I’ll lose everything!
^^ Silly bird. Luna is usually quiet. She can start meowing when she wants to play and she may jump on my lap or computer, but most of the time she’ll just sleep quietly on my legs.
I tend to wash my hands before using the keyboard. A little odd, I know.
No, I understand. I’m a germophobe! But for me, I think of they keyboard as dirty (I know my cat has shed hair near it, ew), so I just wash my hands after using it if I’m going to eat or something.