Hi Kat, A few truths that have worked for me, when they have worked. I haven't found anywhere big enough to store my writer's blocks yet:
1) You need a separate space, preferably in another place, or another room. The ritual of going there separates you psychologically and you know what you are there for.

2) You need to get rid of all the file folders, stray books, whatever. They take your energy because your eyes stray to them, and some little part of your brain will say, "I didn't do that" or "I should be doing that," etc. It is unconsciously tiring, even if you don't consciously notice it.

3) You need to have some oldfashioned tools of the writer's trade around. Hardcover books including: The Concise Oxford, Rogets Thesaurus, Fowler's Modern English Usage; an Atlas. There are others, but you get the idea. They are great comforts, and they bespeak seriousness. Not too many, they distract. But the working tools.

4) If you are going to write on a computer, try one or two other Word Processing programmes, unless you really like the one you use. You can be quite surprised at how congenial another one can be. I have tried lots. In my opinion, Word is not a writer's software, but a report writer's software. It needs to be stripped right down for simplicity. WordPerfect is still the best for writers, but it is harder to get. About laptops, I don't know. I am a Mac person, but I find the Imac keyboard to be very tiring for a writer, I would never recommend it. I would opt for a second hand older PowerMac, you can get good ones for under $750. A friend swears by -- not at -- her Dell laptop for Windows. I am unconvinced that a laptop is a good thing for a writer. If it is going to be in your house, I would say get an ordinary computer, they are so cheap now. Of course it is all personal taste. But laptops do not say: I am here, here I write.

5) Where is your light fixture? What kind of light do you get on your printed pages? Natural light, natural light type bulbs, or the usual 60watt bulb.

6) Secret tip I learned from famous Canadian writer: Make sure that you find a shelf for your previous work. Articles, etc., should be in bound or looseleaf binders, so that you can see the expanding fruits of your work, and remind yourself that you have done it before, and can do it again. Don't treat the stuff you have done as if it were expendable, or cram it in a drawer somewhere.

7) Above all, you need someone to take you out and buy you dinner and tell you what a wonderful writer you are, and is there more coming, I don't know how you writers do it, it is so amazing, I can hardly wait, and so on.

yours, Peter T.