What are your favourite features of the place you work? What is there about it that would tell an outside observer what your job is (or that you're a writer, if you are indeed a writer)?
02 April, 2013
My Writing Room
In the past on this blog I have posted photos of the view from my writing room. It's really rather pretty. I don't want to create a false impression that my writing environment is all clean and crisp and perfect however, so welcome to my writing room...
When my husband got a new desk, I nabbed his old one so I could have one desk for my computer and one for writing by hand. Luxury! My walls/doors have the remnants of past writing project plans on them - I like to keep them around me like old friends. I also use the room for storage, very occasionally playing my violin and for doing some exercise - Pilates being my usual choice.
When my husband got a new screen (spotting a pattern here?), he gave me his old one, set up vertically for optimal text reading. If I'm writing a new draft, I'll put the old one on the laptop and read from that while touch-typing on to the big screen - no switching between tabs for me! Also in shot: two different temperature drinks of water, thesaurus and Moleskine notebook with notes for my current novel (a present from a friend - I'm not usually that posh when it comes to notebooks).
I like to keep a reminder of some wonderful people around me, so on my windowsill are a photo of my parents and siblings at Buckingham Palace in 2005 when Dad got his CBE (I was in an A-level exam that day), and a photo from the late-1940s of my Dad with his parents and a copy of the book Fuzzypeg Goes to School.
A selection of books on my shelf, including several random ones people have found in charity shops and bought for me. Not sure why The Book of Firsts ('the stories behind the outstanding breakthroughs of the modern world') is up here, as the rest of my general reference books are elsewhere, and I should probably get rid of the multiple copies of The Writers' and Artist' Yearbook, but I'm attached to my old copy! The papers and notebooks on the left are old writing projects, rejection letters, idea books and notes from when I taught myself Teeline shorthand.
And finally, for those interested, the view from my writing room today, looks like this. But never fear, living at a height of 200m on the edge of Dartmoor means that pretty often, the view looks like...
...this!
What are your favourite features of the place you work? What is there about it that would tell an outside observer what your job is (or that you're a writer, if you are indeed a writer)?
What are your favourite features of the place you work? What is there about it that would tell an outside observer what your job is (or that you're a writer, if you are indeed a writer)?
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I like that the top photo appears to have this blog post on the computer screen :)
ReplyDeleteI'm now looking around my desk at work wondering what makes it an engineers desk rather than that of any computer based role. I think the answer is: my scientific calculator, the post-it note on the bottom of my monitor reminding me how to translate A-F hex into binary, and the log books detailing the work I've done (when I remember to write in them).
Yup, that sounds pretty engineery to me!
DeleteI was going to do something clever and meta like take a photo of a photo on my screen, or something like that. But I couldn't be bothered. So I just took a photo of this blog post instead! (I'm very impressed you spotted that in that photo!)
Brilliant observation skills - I'll add you to my mental dream team for proofreading!
DeleteThis is the same Jenny who I talked about in a previous post being a superb beta reader - now you can see why!
DeleteOh, great view. I won't show you mine. Not as interesting.
ReplyDeleteCool screens. Are all computer screens vertical like that over there? Ours are horizontal. I've never seen one like that, but it makes sense.
Pretty much all computer screens over here are horizontal too, but if you know what you're doing you can turn them through 90 degrees and then do some clever things in windows so that its set up for your new vertical view. :)
DeleteYeah... what Jenny said. I'd never seen a vertical screen before either, but a lot of screens which are separate from computers can be rotated, so I did that and then I got my husband to sort out all the settings for me!
DeleteMy writing room looks like it's been ransacked by a burglar searching for valuables (in vain)- but I know where every scrap of paper is!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's always order in chaos to the person who created it!
DeleteI have such envy! About to carve out my writing space (I don't have one!) after conversation with wife last night. It will not look like this, though, and now i am sad ;)
ReplyDeleteI am very lucky. It isn't quite the beautiful vintage summer house at the bottom of my country estate overlooking a stream and full of beautiful handmade blankets, paintings and a log fire... but it'll do! I hope you manage to carve out a space you love anyway - even if just involves buying a special cushion for your chair and a mug just for when you're writing!
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