Apart from the occasional visit to a café for a change of scenery, my home office is the place where I do most of my writing. It isn’t a very large space. The room’s original purpose was as a bedroom, and all of the bedrooms on the second floor of our century-old home are small. My office is filled to its limit with bulky furniture creatively tetrised into place – huge U-shaped desk with hutch, four-drawer filing cabinet, tall bookshelf, and large printer with stand – and there’s just about enough room to walk around and get at everything (though you do have to sort of sit on the desk, suck in your stomach, and lean back ever so slightly if you want to retrieve anything from the top file drawer).
More than half of my desk – the left-hand side with the hutch, plus what would be considered the bottom part of the U – is earmarked for my day job (the one that actually pays me!) and holds the office supplies, binders, and files I need for my work.
The right-hand side, though, is my writing space.
Watching over me on my left as I write is a large print – a birthday gift from Peter – featuring Famous Women Writers from Jane Austen to Jhumpa Lahiri.
Over toward my right, above the printer, is a copy of The Holstee Manifesto. The moment I saw it online I knew I had to have a copy for myself, and when we moved here two years ago it was the first thing I ordered to be delivered to our new address. It took me awhile to get it dry-mounted and hung (isn’t that always the way?), but it’s done now and provides daily inspiration.
As far as office accessories go, at any given time there may be one, two, or three cats lounging about on the surface of my desk.
Sometimes staring out the office window is more their speed, though (and come to think of it, it’s often mine as well when I’m facing writer’s block).
And of course, I can always count on the kittens to make sure the printer is functioning properly.
My writing space is small (jammed full of furniture), crowded (usually with cats), and sometimes rather messy (the clutter gets the best of me sometimes) – but it’s mine, and I’m so very grateful I have it.
What’s your writing space like?
Please share!
Inspired by NaBloPoMo writing prompt for Tuesday, November 5, 2013:
Tell us about your writing space. Where do you write your blog posts?
