This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Welcome to my office. I’ve been here for five months now. Let me give you a tour.
1. Desk. Actually a cheap IKEA table raised on wooden blocks. Just after I’d completed my debut novel The Distance I suffered a back injury, and for months afterwards I could only work standing up. My tiny kitchen was the one room with surfaces at the right height, so that was where I did all the edits on the book. Finally I got this desk rigged up. My back’s much better now (thanks) and I can work sitting down, but there’s no way I’d go back to a regular-height desk.
2. Chair. In this case, a John Lewis kitchen stool. Weirdly comfy, probably because it enables me to sit with my knees lower than my pelvis. (That back injury again.)
3. Laptop. Neurotic, elderly Dell machine with a cracked case. Its battery has died, so if I unplug it, it falls over. It also finds Facebook a bit overwhelming. In a few months I’m going to have to change it. I love the keyboard, so am expecting traumas.4. Printer (on cupboard, by left hand wall). Also elderly, also neurotic. Hasn’t stream-fed for years so I have to feed it paper one sheet at a time.
5. In cardboard trays, on desk: scrap paper. I love scrap paper. Great for scribbling random ideas on, in a way that stops you getting precious about them. Also infinitely flexible: scraps of paper can be paperclipped together by theme, sellotaped together to make a narrative, or if you’re not quite sure of your story order, laid out on any flat surface and moved around for hours.
6. In another cardboard tray: random stationery, Post-Its and pens. Everything’s supposed to end up in there every night, but the scissors always walk.
7. Shot glass with bright pink 2B pencil stubs in it. For scribbling on manuscript pages.
8. On desk surface: big A4 hardback notebook. This is where I map my progress, let off steam, succumb to impostor syndrome or give myself a good talking to. Essential.
9. Mug. My working day has to start with coffee: Taylor’s Rich Italian, hot milk, one teaspoon of demerera. Occasionally there’s a glass of water too, when I remember, which isn’t often enough.
10. Kitchen timer. Small, white, hardly visible in photo, but at the same time vital so must get a mention. I work in one-hour stints, with ten minutes off in between.
11. Flowers. Because I’ve just had a birthday. Jo, whom I’ve known since I was 11, gave me two dozen yellow roses. Here are half of them.
12. Sofa. Best place for reading chunks of manuscript, when I need to get away from my desk.
13. Books. Or rather, absence of books. Books live downstairs, so they can’t distract me. If I need one, the exercise will do me good.
14. The view. Church car park. Also garden wall where neighbour’s cat plans entirely unsuccessful raids on the local wildlife. Dull, but dull is good. Minimises distractions so I can focus on the important thing, which is (of course) the writing …
The Distance by Helen Giltrow is out now.