My Writing Room by Eve Bourton

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

I don’t have a garden shed, or a cubby hole, a desk or a favourite chair. If I could find a place to swing it, I'd probably have a hammock with a 'Hazardous Area: Author at Work' sign attached. I hate sitting in chairs, to tell the truth – I've had rheumatoid arthritis since my twenties, and my knees really dislike prolonged periods of sitting down. I do have an office, but I can't write in it. It's for filing and business paperwork and going cross-eyed over accounts and spreadsheets. So my writing space – wherever I happen to be, home or abroad – is my bed or the sofa. Legs stretched out, laptop switched on, and (when I am at home in the country) a cat or two curled up beside keeping an eye on things while ensuring I am still fully functioning as their personal central heating system.

Naturally one needs essential items within easy reach – coffee, the telephone, and a pad and pen etc. but the fewer distractions the better. This is why it would be a very good idea to use my office, where the WIFI struggles to work (it has to get from the router through a very thick wall). I used to be able to write with music playing, but I can't anymore, usually because I start singing along or go off in a daydream.

The beauty of not having a single 'writing space' is that I am not dependent on it to get me in the writing mood. So long as I have a computer or a pad and pen and can be relatively horizontal, I can write anywhere! I usually carry a notebook with me when I am out and about, so I can jot down ideas or inspiration. And I once wrote the whole chapter of a story in longhand while sitting out a thunderstorm on holiday in a beachside bar (deciphering my scrawl when trying to type it up back home was not the easiest thing to do).

Love in Vogue by Eve Bourton is out now.