Hotel Chelsea: The World’s Most Infamous Writer’s Retreat

by Neil Fitzgerald

Henry Miller famously said that most writing is done "away from the typewriter, away from the desk. I'd say it occurs in the quiet, silent moments, while you're walking or shaving or playing a game."

But while creative thoughts may ferment during the mundane chores of everyday life, eventually one must put these thoughts down on the blank page. Eventually, even the most roaming writers need "to get black on white," as short story specialist Guy de Maupassant put it.

How and where writers write has long provoked curiosity and fascination. A writer has several options...