They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how about sharing a picture of where you write your daily thousand-plus words?
They also say that the state of one’s desk is indicative of the mind of its owner. I’ve never found that to be particularly true. For me, a messy desk = ordered mind, or at least as far as writing is concerned. Writers are supposed to be surrounded by rough drafts, notes scribbled on bus tickets, pens uncapped and leaking ink, a cluster of coffee cups and piles of reference material. Does this sound like you, or are you one of those neat and tidy writers?
For your entertainment, here’s my desk:
Yes, that large pile of crap does sometimes shift seismically when the delicate balance I’ve perfected goes slightly wrong. It’s my equivalent of an executive toy.
1. Pile of crap #1, balanced on top of ex-boyfriend’s old stereo. Daily word-count notebook on top. Sometimes I am anal about things. Keeping my desk tidy is not one of them.
2. Flowers from OH. They’re in a tea glass, though, which means I have to wash up rather than do my usual habit of accumulating glasses throughout the day.
3. I actually drew a map of the setting for my latest project and stuck it on the wall rather then leave it on the back of an envelope to get lost in the pile of crap.
4. My laptop. I’ve had it for three months now since the PC blew up. It doesn’t have internet access. This is probably a good thing.
5. A wheat-bag doubling up as a wrist guard to stop me from getting RSI.
6. A chunk of rose quartz. It’s supposed to absorb the electro-magnetic vibes from computers and make the workspace calmer. Given that I once managed to fry the entire departmental phone system one day when I was in a ferociously bad mood, the rose quartz probably spends most of its time absorbing my electro-magnetic vibes.
7. A Cantonese TV series that I’m watching when I’ve done the daily word-count, or when I get bored, whichever comes first.
8. Character notes on Post-Its and random bits of paper, along with references so obscure that I’m sure I had no idea what I meant when I wrote them.
9. Jasmine tea. I always start the day with a litre of this stuff.
10. The Oxford English Dictionary, the only book I refer to on an almost daily basis.
11. Pile of crap #2, the contents of which have more relevance to my current project than pile of crap #1, with Justin Timberlake’s album on the top. Justin is always relevant 
So, that’s my desk. I’m always nosey fascinated by the way other writers work and where they work. If you can, take a photo of your workspace and post or link to it in the comments. If you can’t take a pic, describe some of the things you absolutely have to have beside you when you’re writing, be it some sort of mascot, an alarm clock or a bottle of gin. Do you use a laptop or a PC? Coffee, tea, water or wine? Piles of crap or nicely organised notes?
Share your workspace secrets!
(btw I’m away for a few days so will reply when I return!)
- Olivia
http://www.triqueta.net/olivialorenz
Interesting post, Olivia. My own workspace is in one of the spare bedrooms where I’ve got a desk and computer. I am linked to the Internet (eek!) so have to be very disciplined about getting the writing done.
I’ve got loads of inspirational quotes on post-its on the wall – pens, highlighters, bits of crystal and other good-vibe paraphernalia scattered around my desk. Usually have a small vase of fresh flowers, too.
Every now and again I get desperate … I mean, inspired, to clear everything and become minimalist. But too tidy makes me antsy, so I prefer a bit of disorganised clutter. Like you, that messy desk somehow clears my mind!
Uh, oh. I can’t write when my office is cluttered. Whenever I’m struggling with my daily word count, I have a look at my office. It’s a mess.
By the way I can’t manage to add a photo (Angela will testify to that). I write in the third bedroom which is converted to an office—no bed. There’s a nonfunctional TV, a functional flat panel TV I use as a CD player—have to have light classical music in background. My desk has the PC, a couple of stacks of paper (files—ha ha). The table holding the flat screen also holds two stacks of CDs.
To my left, is a piece of office furniture—a long desk with one of those upper storage bins—we won’t go into the crap in those. There’s an floor plan of my current heroine’s loft apartment. The corner table holds my PC tower, printer, lamp and a huge stack of scrap paper from hard copy edits. I print out my work page by page as its written, since I’m paranoid about losing my work. Yes, I also back it up on a flash and and external hard drive. But that’s what paranoia’s about, isn’t it.
I also have an old external zip drive, my ebook reader and two digital cameras on the long desk to my left. And on the floor—two piles of papers which need to be shredded.
No wonder I’m struggling.
PS I used to work with a nurse who had the messiest office in creation—and she did NOT have an orderly mind. LOL
Your “pile of craps” had me laughing. I used to be like that. I used to have mountains of crap and then one day I just snapped and cleaned my desk down to the wires connecting my computer. From that moment on I couldn’t never write in a clutter again.
My house may fall into the realm of “disgusting” sometimes but my desk is always neat and clean. lol
I like your picture of your workspace. It looks better than mine.
I won’t attempt to add a photo of my study where I have my computer and write because I’m sure I won’t be able to do it. But it’s just as well since my work area has stacks of papers, folders, scraps of paper, post-it notes, and clutter all over the desk. I’m afraid the rest of the room isn’t any better. Part of the problem is when my daughter and I cleaned the house, she threw many items in the study when she had guests here last week-end. We kept the door closed.
I just saw an author’s picture of her work area on her site. It looks so serene with white walls and built-in bookcases. Everything is uncluttered and perfect. My goal is to clean my work area and get my daughters to retrieve their junk out of the study.
Or buy a laptop and escape to a room that is clean!
LOL Great post, Olivia! I’ve been thinking about taking a picture of my work space and posting it to my blog or website. I have a corner of the livingroom. The space is small, about 4’ x 3’. I can’t afford for it to be too messy or there would’t be room for me!
I have an office but don’t write in it. I write in the lounge in the midst of chaos. I do intend to clean out my office uptairs though so I can start to use it again. It’s just the rest of the family think it’s the perfect place to dump all their junk. lol. There’s a post over on the Pink heart society blog today too on offices which is fun to see. http://pinkheartsociety.blogspot.com
I also, finally have a house with a designated office. But where am I most of the time? Sitting in the recliner with my feet up. At least my office stays clean!
Olivia, flourite is another good stone for absorbing negative energy from computers. I often wear a crystal around my neck and keep chunks scattered around the house.
What a fun post!
Here’s an impromptu shot of my computer, a newish Gateway desktop. The area is a bit cluttered but not out of control. When I write I listen to YAHOO Music Net, to whatever category of music inspires me at the moment. Sometimes I may listen to one song over and over again to get through a scene.
I take breaks for housework, puppy walks and brain food. I very rarely will drink red wine. Once I almost nodded out at three in the morning, my finger was on ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. It was the funniest thing.
click here
(I hope the above tag translates).
There’s a picture of RICHARD III over my computer but it didn’t come out clearly at all.
So there it is.
Gloria
My office is completed with teddies everywhere, I don’t have a camera to photo it for you but like yours it is a mess. I always declared I would never have a complete mess, but times change. I have book shelves in every spare place. Funk & Wagnals Encyclopedias. Dictionarys, Thesauruses, how to books on every subject. Lap top connected to the net. Curtains are MG motor car engraved
I’d have a hard time taking a picture of my space, since I tend to write at various spots throughout my house. Sometimes it’s the kitchen table, or my scrapbooking desk. Most of the time I’m planted on the sofa in the living room. I actually seem to get more done this way because it always seems that if I’m out of the room where my kids play they start to fight. If I’m sitting in the same room with them, they get along well and I don’t have to keep getting up to break up fights.
Wires wires everywhere, but a dedicated room to myself! Mmmmm, luxury! I had to add a 4-port USB PCMCIA card to my laptop just so I could plug in extra devices!
Attached to laptop: one 19” flat screen, a DVD player, 40GB external hard drive, 10GB external hard drive, 512MB USB stick, wireless mouse, sync cable for my iPAQ, laser printer.
Not attached: one fax machine, one shredder, another laptop (this one running Linux, which has a whole other lot of guff attached), three headsets used for different things.
Underneath: next to the printer, Chambers’ dictionary and the Penguin College Thesaurus.
I work third shift at a women’s shelter and I do a bulk of my writing there. Then there are these really comfortable couches at school so when I don’t have a ton of school work, I can veg on one of them and let the muse run off. No pics though (couldn’t post them if I did)
Thanks everyone for commenting! It’s been really interesting reading about your workspaces.
Tricia – inspirational quotes, that’s a good idea. Although mine would probably turn into a shopping list or something irrelevant!
Marie-Nicole – you’re lucky to have an office, even if it does sound rather full! I used to have an old TV in my room too, but it picked up two channels (and we only have five in the UK), and so it had to go… And I used to print out my work at the end of every day, too, but I got out of that habit. But it’s a good one to have. You also reminded me about the importance of back-ups, I just don’t do that enough, eek!
Rene – LOL I live in hope that one day I’ll have a desk as tidy as yours, don’t think it’ll happen though!
Diane – I saw a similar picture of an author’s workspace, all serene and perfect… it would never happen in my house LOL. It must be difficult with children storing their stuff in ‘your’ space. It’s bad enough with pets roaming!
NJ, Nell, Michelle – How do you do it?? Write in the living room, I mean. Especially with kids roaming around, your powers of concentration must be awesome!
Carolan – thanks for the tip about flourite, I’ll have to buy a chunk and see if it helps. I think my rose quartz is due a good clean anyway!
Glo – thanks for posting your pic! LMAO at the ‘ZZZZZZ’ thing, that’s too funny! And now I’m intrigued by why you have a picture of Richard III above your desk…
Robhap – I have some teddies as well, but they sit on the bed. MG curtains? Sweet! My uncle drove an MG, lovely car.
KS – whoa, you have some serious hardware! All those external hard drives. My OH just bought one but so far it just has old episodes of House on it LOL.
Barbara – I used to write during lunch break at school in the staffroom, back in the days when I could switch off everything external (i.e. other teachers), but sadly I can’t do that any more, so I do envy you that ability…