This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Sometimes I write on the computer, at a desk in our front room. More often, I force myself out to a coffee shop or cafe, preferably somewhere without internet, as I'm Very Easily Distracted, which is weird, as once I start writing I love it and don't want to stop.
But mostly at home, especially in the evening, I can be found parked in this corner of the sofa, with my laptop on my … well, lap, feet up on the footstool, opposite the television, which will be on, but with the sound low. Oddly, I don't find this distracting at all. I have the remote by my side and will occasionally change channel, even though I'm not actually watching television.
Please don't judge me.
There's knitting there too, for when I fall down a plot hole and need to do something else to get myself out of it. It's just a simple scarf, in a simple stitch, but clickety-clacking those needles seems to allow my mind to roam freely, and often my plot issues will be resolved after a couple (of hundred) rows.I usually have a cup of tea on the go when I'm writing, but if I'm on a roll it'll go stone cold, and I have to heat it up in the microwave. Our dog, Molly, will follow me through to the kitchen, hopeful of being given a treat.
There's a blanket to hand on the back of the sofa for when it gets chilly, which is often in winter as we have had no central heating for nearly five years (very long and dull story, which I won't bore you with).
I always rest my laptop on its case when I'm writing, as I'm convinced the heat the laptop gives off is somehow radioactive, or electromagnetic – or some other scientifically scary word – and will wither my legs if I don't.
Every now and then, I consider getting a 'proper' writing room like a 'proper' writer – a converted shed, perhaps, or a log cabin up a mountain with no broadband for cake recipe searches – but really, I'm perfectly happy sitting on my little corner of the sofa.
Being Brooke Simmons by Karen Clarke is out now.