This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
When I first started writing Love and Eskimo Snow, I had a sort of Marvin Gaye outlook to the place where I wrote – wherever I lay my laptop, that was its home. I wrote chapters on the sofa, some in coffee shops, and a few in the drawing room of a Lincolnshire spa. However, as time has passed, my big oak dining table has become my writing desk. There’s room on it for a cup of steamy coffee or – some evenings – a glass of red wine. Plus, there’s space for my notebook, which is full of scribbles and smudges about my characters and timelines.
There’s a Robert’s radio on my bookshelf, too. I can’t have it on when I’m writing. I have to work in silence. However, this radio is instrumental in my creative process. For some reason, I have most of my ideas for plot and character development in the bath. I light candles, fill the tub with bubbles, turn my Robert’s radio to Chill FM, and let myself daydream about my next chapter.
From my position at my desk, I can see out of the sliding glass doors that lead out to my balcony. The view looks out over the Thames and Greenwich’s Cutty Sark ship in the distance. There’s a certain something about writing in sight of the water. The river is a story in itself. Hundreds of boats sail through it every day and the strength of its tides make it moody or calm. One day, I’d like to have a cottage by the sea with a writing room that looks out over the beach. Wow – now there's a daydream that didn't take place in the bath!
Sarah Holt’s debut novel, Love and Eskimo Snow, is out now.