This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Taking inspiration from The Guardian's 'Writers' Rooms', Sky Arts' 'The Write Place' and Book Chick City's excellent 'Where Stories Are Made'; My Writing Room is a fabulous fortnightly event, in which some of our favourite authors show us where the writerly magic happens, and tell us a little about their writing life.
This week, we are delighted to take a peek into the writing space of Julia Williams – author of the fabulous Strictly Love and The Bridesmaid Pact
Enjoy!
My Writing Room by Julia Williams
When we first moved into our house, fourteen years ago, I was heavily pregnant and intending to go back to work. The estate agent had wooed us with a five bedroom house, but we quickly realised the fifth bedroom, couldn’t be used as such, given that it required access from our bedroom. So we decided to turn it into a bathroom and walk in wardrobe.
As time went on we realised this was impractical, and then I gave up work to go freelance and start writing, so we converted it into a study. To begin with it was makeshift, and fairly chaotic. But a few years ago my lovely husband kindly put in lots of shelves, and created a decent workspace for me. Mind you, he’s always moaning about how untidy I make it, as I have a tendency to encroach on his half of it…
I love working in this room, as I have a great view overlooking our garden and neighbouring allotments, and it is light and airy. On a shelf above my desk I keep photos of the children, and things they’ve given me from time to time. I’ve also got a great photo of my dad (who sadly died fifteen years ago) in which he’s laughing, which always cheers me up. I also like the postcard of the Shropshire hills my mum sent me. If you’ve read Last Christmas, those hills were a deeply inspirational part of the book!
I'm currently working on a book about gardens, so I’ve got my latest research books out on the desk, together with a copy of Bella – sounds odd, but there’s a true life story I wanted to look at as it is useful research for one of my storylines. I discovered while writing my latest book, The Bridesmaid Pact, I work best writing my first draft by hand, and it’s also helpful for the many hours a week I seem to spend sitting at various activities with my children, as I can write while they do their thing.
I'm still in the early stages of the new book, hence the tidiness of the office. By the time I’ve finished there will be paper spilling everywhere, I won’t be able to find anything , and my husband probably won’t be speaking to me…
Thanks Julia!