My Writing Room by Nina de la Mer

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.

Nina de la Mer’s latest book, Layla, about seven days in the life of a reluctant lap dancer is published this month. Today, Nina has invited us to have a look inside her writing room.

The space where I write is a world apart from the fictional topics I write about. Looking out of my study window at a tree-lined street and nearby school playing field, I travel within my own mind to the grimier settings of my books and stories, such as lap dancing clubs, British army bases and sweaty dance floors, among others.

The room itself is quite generous, big enough for a desk, armchair and shelves. Health and Safety would have a field day over my so-called work station. The desk is our too-high-up old kitchen table, the office chair the cheapest I could find. Despite the discomfort, as soon as I’m sitting meerkat-like at my laptop, that’s me, totally absorbed, obsessing over words, paragraphs, full stops, commas and ellipses. There are lots of the latter in my writing, possibly too many …

In one corner of the room is a box containing three rolls of wallpaper, which should have been opened months ago. Time, responsibilities and a bigger desire to paste words on the page than to wallpaper paste have seen to that. Above eye level are various morale-boosting pictures, and to my right, a calendar where I’ve added dates of short story writing competitions which, time permitting, I hope to enter this year.

I think I’m pretty lucky to have this space. Space to think. Space to write. Space for dictionaries, a thesaurus, favourite books and, currently, copies of my latest novel, Layla. That said, I don’t think having a writer’s room is essential to my creative process. I wrote my first novel 4a.m. at Brighton’s Jubilee Library and tapping away at the kitchen table. The important thing is to clear your head, clear enough room for a laptop or notebook – and write.