Virginia Woolf said that to be a successful writer, a woman needed a room of one's own, and money to support herself.

Here are a few other things we need.

First, a half-decent chair. Mine is all wrong, but I like it because it lets me tip backwards really far before falling over. But if you're spending hours and hours screaming at the same sentence, you're gonna start hurtin'. You should get up, stretch, exercise. But, as we all know, writers are lazy. And poor. So here's a cheap and easy way to improve your posture.

Next, music. You should have a constant soundtrack while you bang out those beautiful adjectives. If you think you prefer quiet, it's because you haven't found the right write band. Don't tell me you can't write and rock; even Shakespeare had rhythm. Try Peter Bjorn and John's "Writer's Block"

Finally, for sanity's sake you need distractions. Blogging is one way, but who really wants to write MORE then they have to? A room with a view is not ideal; windows are a tease--you're not going anywhere for a while. What a writer needs is something simple, something that a short attention span can quickly tire of, a quick break from the computer screen. So, the logical conclusion is that every writer should own a cat. They don't demand much, just wave a string at them--you'll find it just as entertaining as the cat does. Here's one writer whose work was largely influenced by his cat.

happy writing