This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
This week we have the writing room of the delightful Poppy Dolan. Her debut The Bad Boyfriends Bootcamp is out now and it's an absolutely smashing read!
My Writing Room by Poppy Dolan
My previous writing space (because I don't think you can call a dingy corner of the lounge a 'room' in itself) had a big wonky desk facing a wall. It's the mess you can see in the below pic, in fact. The surface was usually cluttered with photos, notes, pens and random bits of important paperwork that I really should have filed but now had coffee rings on them. But the best thing was that it faced the most boring wall in the universe, so I just wrote and wrote. Because that was far more enjoyable than staring at the boring wall. And also because it's something I love doing.
My new writing space in my new flat is the sofa. Our only table is used for dining (if a regular diet of chicken kievs can be described as 'dining') and I don't really fancy blobs of ketchup on my laptop, so I now stick to our very comfy sofa. The light coming in through the living room windows is gorgeous and the occassional chirrups of South London birdsong really lift the spirits. I have my stripey footstool for stretching out and my knitted blanket for chilly moments. The biggest problem is resisting the call of the telly and my box set collection. It's hard to say no to John Hamm on tap in Mad Men. I think you can empathise; if not, you may need to visit Google images and remind yourself about John Hamm. He is the very opposite of a boring wall and that effects my word count quite a bit. 
But as well as setting up camp on the sofa to write, ideas strike me at the weirdest moments so often I find myself scribbling down an idea on the bus, typing up tiny snippets of a character's conversation on my iphone when I'm in the lift at work or writing plot ideas on post its that then get lost or stuck to the sole of my sock. When I'm plotting a novel I use lots of post its to keep track of my characters and what's happening in each chapter – it helps me see the bigger picture.At the moment I'm writing a new novel with a main character who loves to bake; definitely following the rule of writing what you know! So I'm flicking through my favourite cook books to remind myself how difficult a swiss roll really is. And all of a sudden my 'writing process' is taking place in the kitchen, in front of the weighing scales…. oops.
Follow Poppy on Twitter @PoppyDwriter