Greetings from the Writing Cave...Now Go Away

I've been sequestered in my writing cave of late, occasionally coming up for air to tweet about scenes that are soft in the middle, or giggle at the internet meme of binders full of women.

But mostly I've been writing my ass off. I've been clocking about 1-1.5k a day. That may not seem like very much, but I only have about 3 hours of writing time a day and part of that time is spent drinking coffee and staring out into space. It's amazing to me that I can write nearly as much a day now, writing a fairly tight first draft, as I did doing NaNoWriMo when I was throwing words up against the wall to see what sticks.

This leads me to two separate but related questions:
1) Are you doing NaNoWriMO? Why/why not? I'm not doing it this year, and probably not ever again. While participating definitely was the springboard for me to get serious about writing, ultimately, I agree with Maggie Stievater (who's RAVEN BOYS audiobook I am OBSESSED with)- what you gain by getting your arse in gear and writing, you lose by having to go back in and heavily alter/edit/rewrite what you didn't have the space to think properly about in the first place. Read Maggie's NaNo thoughts here. Bonus Question: What do you think?

2) What does your writing cave look like? I thought I'd be the kind of person who needed 'things' to get me writing. Like, a lucky pencil, or a special coffee mug. I even bought a pair of silver owl bookends (before I actually started to write, when I thought I might like to write.) But none of those kinds of things help. I write anywhere and everywhere, as long as there's music. Library, Starbucks, screen room, dining room table, bed. Right now, I'm a beggar who can't be choosy. But how about you?

Writing Heaven

What do the Ghostbusters, Charles Dickens' cat paw letter opener and moveable type have in common?

The hallowed place I'm now sitting in.

This is the Rose Reading Room in the NY Public Library. It's called the Schwarzman building now, but it's always the library. Guarded by the lions Patience and Fortitude, it is my favorite place in the world to write.

I don't get to do a lot of writing done here. I don't live or work in NYC anymore so I get maybe a couple of hours twice a year. But I get seriously geeked when I know I'm going to be in NYC for an event and have some down time. You can't have coffee here, you can't eat lunch here. You get wifi, a/c and electricity. What else do you need?

One of the original Gutenberg bibles sits three feet away from me. Somewhere in the archive is Charles Dicken's letter opener (said to be made from the paw of one of his beloved cats). And no one here would be surprised if a chubby green ghost started floating through the book stacks.

Here, anything is possible.

What's your favorite place to write and why?