This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Sarah Rayner's latest book is The Two Week Wait, which Amanda loved.
My Writing Room by Sarah Rayner
This is it; unstyled, untidied, replete with three cats. Very obliging of them to get in the shot. But then I quite often end up with one on my lap, one on my mousemat and one sunbathing under the lamp, as here. It can make writing hard, peering round a pair of ears to view my work, but recently I treated myself to a bigger screen so now it’s a more like being at the cinema with someone wearing a hat in front of you – annoying, but not impossible.
As you can see, minimalism isn’t my style. Part of me admires people who do clean white walls and shelves where one classy object strikes a deliberate pose, like a supermodel in the snow. But I’ve got far too many nick nacks that please me to limit myself to one. (Just like I haven’t got only one cat.) Sneaking into the shot on the left are my bookcases – every inch of this room is as smothered as the wall you see here.
Above my desk are my work-in-progress boards. I went to Staples six months ago and treated myself to them. (I love Staples. Forget Harvey Nicks, I reckon. Staples is where it’s at – it’s far cheaper and way more practical.) On the left is a pinboard, here I have (in no particular order) a voucher for a facial I’ve yet to find time to have, various book jacket designs in progress (which have to tie in with the lovely teacups cover of my novel One Moment, One Morning, hence why that is there too), some bills that need paying, and a drawing by one niece and a postcard from another (and her Puffin, Muffin. I gave her a subscription to the Puffin Club for her birthday – she got Muffin with her welcome pack).
To the right is a wipeboard, for lists. Lists are a good thing – I keep encouraging my partner, Tom, to give them a go, but he’s yet to appreciate their value. As a result my life is made up of tasks to be wiped off, his is more of a spaghetti tangle, though perhaps this something I should share with a marriage guidance counsellor rather than on here. At the moment I’m focused on publicity and writing articles, as I’ve a new book – The Two Week Wait – out this month, so the list says ‘Sunday Times article’, ‘P.O.S. for Waterstones’, ‘send book to Rachel’ and it did say ‘Novelicious piece’ but I wiped that off as I started writing this.
When I was in the process of novel creation, the wipeboard was a mind map with arrows and ringed words and different colours everywhere. I had the timeline going from left to right, but I also needed to see the links between themes and characters. I’m a bit odd that way, for a writer my mind works pictorially. Indeed, I draw too, and the sunflower picture is one of my own.
Finally, on the far right, there’s a glimpse of French windows; these lead to a little wrought iron balcony with pots on. It’s not the best view in the world – there are a lot of rooftops involved, but it’s got a certain charm. And our patio is like this office: full to bursting.
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