
Writers' Writing Sheds - llambda
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/famous-small-offthegrid-worksp-140587
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begriffs
I love shacks, too. Here are more good ones.

Willard Van Orman Quine - "Dad built himself a small "shack" as he called it
to be as far away from the family noise as possible. That way he could work to
his heart's content and not interfere with the noisy comings and goings of the
likes of my brother and me and our friends. It was not wired for electricity,
so when it was late or dark or stormy, he would light his kerosene lanterns
and keep pounding away on his typewriter."

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger - Wrote warm, lyrical piano songs called Frösöblomster
in a rustic house called "Sommarhagen" that he built on the island of Frösö.

Birgit Friggebo - In 1979 this Swedish Housing Minister changed the building
codes to exempt structures under 15 square meters. Minimalist cabins ensued
and are called "friggebods."

Gustav Mahler - Built a tiny composition house or "Komponierhäuschen" at the
edge of a lake.

Cave Monasteries of Byzantine Cappadocia - VERY rudimentary, created by
orthodox monks seeking Hesychasm.

Skellig Michael clocháns - beehive dwellings made of piled stones used by
monks on cliffs on an island off of Ireland.

Ludwig Wittgenstein - built a cabin in Skjolden Norway in which to do his
uncompromising philosophy. There are pictures and details of this cabin in the
book "Ludwig Wittenstein: There where you are not."

Toru Takemitsu - Wrote haiku-like music blending Eastern sensibilities with
Western instruments. He lived in a barn for a time to better focus on
composition.

пустынь - In English, poustinia. A small, sparsely furnished cabin for
solitary (generally religious) retreats.

Dick Proenneke - Filmed himself building a cabin in Alaska in the movie "Alone
in the Wilderness." He's pretty amazing.

Ryōkan Taigu - A buddhist monk who left the monastery to live in a hut outside
of town. He wrote poems about his daily life and his shack.

Ted Kaczynski - Aka The Unabomber. Before he snapped he was a mathematician
studying complex analysis. Built a tiny cabin in Montana which he filled with
books and supplies.

~~~
draven
The movies about Dick Proenneke are amazing. He filmed himself building his
"house" and then proceeded to film and document his surroundings. When
watching him build the house in "Alone in the wilderness" I thought that was
what "flow" must be like. He has excellent woodworking skills, seeing the
house rise from the ground was amazing.

Also, thanks for the other examples!

I think Paul Lutus is on HN, he wrote Apple Writer in a cottage somewhere in
Oregon during the 80s: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus>

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peterarmstrong
If you are a coder or writer (or both!) who is lucky enough to have a backyard
and likes building things, why not build your own:

<https://leanpub.com/diygardenoffice>

Disclaimer: this book is a work in-progress [there are currently 65 pages],
and I'm the cofounder of Leanpub, where it is published...

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startupfounder
I recently did this for my girlfriend, for about $200 and two weekends we
converted an old garden tool shed into her film scoring and sound design
studio. I can see her productivity skyrocket when she went from working in the
house to working out in the studio. I really think it is about a single focus
in a cozy space that has a single purpose.

~~~
pavel_lishin
My theory was that it's about interruptions - it's easier to work someplace
where there are barriers to interruptions. If you're doing something at the
dinner table, someone walking by and casually asking you a question can break
you out of flow. If you're in a shed in the backyard, casual visitors are less
of a problem.

~~~
wpietri
Probably depends on the person.

My current issue is self-interruptions. Even with nobody around and the phone
turned off, I'll be working away and with no conscious intent I'll suddenly
have spent 10 minutes checking Facebook or something.

Sadly, I don't have a shed, so my project this weekend was to rehab my old
laptop to be the "fun" laptop and my main one to be the "productive" laptop.
I've set up LeechBlock, removed the personal mail account, and deleted a bunch
of other distractions. I hope keeping the fun-capable computer physically
separate (and probably switched off and in a drawer) will have some of the
same context-setting power as a shed.

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rwmj
By coincidence I just visited George Bernard Shaw's "writing hut" today. His
house is now a National Trust museum called Shaw's Corner. I noticed that his
hut had electricity, heating, a bed and a telephone -- pretty modern!

<http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/shaws-corner/>

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Tichy
That would be my ideal setup, unfortunately I am quite far away from being
able to afford a house with a garden.

~~~
keithpeter
My solution is to find a University library, and find a desk in the remotest
stacks (Celestial Mechanics seems to work well). Not customisable, but quiet.

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hkmurakami
Wallace Stegner's writing hut: [http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Stegner-s-
studio-won-t-b...](http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Stegner-s-studio-won-t-
be-open-to-public-3824687.php#photo-3379479)

------
unicornporn
I ♥ Heidegger’s Hutte [https://quoadsubjectum.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/place-
making...](https://quoadsubjectum.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/place-making-
placing-self/)

------
donniezazen
It is surprising that people were able to write legendary works with simple
paper and pencil. There must be something wrong with my quest to find a
perfect productivity technique.

------
taofu
Any advice for city dwellers to build their own writing havens?

~~~
intellegacy
I wonder if there is a business idea in this? There are a lot of writers in
NYC. So you buy a warehouse, and divide the space up into really small, sound-
proof rooms. Charge customers $250 a month to rent the space.

Just have to make sure customers are not sleeping in the room.

~~~
sivers
Love it. I wanted to do this in Singapore. There are lots of co-working spaces
but they're all so damn social, and what I really want is solitude.

I thought it'd be great to make a co-working space called "Solitude" with lots
of little 1-person rooms, and make it clear to any new customers that we're
not here to chat and hang out.

But alas it seemed that not many people were into this idea, and Singapore is
so insanely expensive that it makes more sense to just find a quiet place at
the library or something.

~~~
intellegacy
Yea the threat of free substitutes is really strong. Plus prices of real
estate in NYC and Singapore are insanely expensive.

Where are you based now?

~~~
sivers
Still in Singapore. Rented a private office at <http://smartspace.sg/>

~~~
intellegacy
dang, i was just there! Next time I'm in town let me pitch you?

