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 take a peek inside the writing room of Sheila O' Flanagan. Sheila's latest novel All For You is one of our top picks for July.
My Writing Room by Sheila O' Flanagan
I wrote my first novel, Dreaming of a Stranger, in the garage of my house in Clontarf. The conversion job on the garage (done by the previous owners) was very basic, and the temperature never seemed to rise to a few degrees above zero. It was also on the gloomy side, because it faced the north east and didn’t get much sun.
When I eventually gave up the day job to become a full-time writer I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stick the cold garage all day. So I decided to build up over it and relocate my writing room to upstairs.
Now, my desk is right beside a full-length window and it overlooks the garden, which means I can watch the birds, the squirrels and the occasional hedgehog that wander in. There’s another window behind me so that I can see downstairs, into my living-room. Even though authors are supposed to work in splendid isolation it’s good to be able to see what’s going on in the house sometimes.
My desk is big. I like having room to spread out my manuscripts and whatever reference material I might need. I also have a scanner, modem and my Time Machine wireless back-up drive on the desk – having once lost 2 chapters of the book I was working on I’m a big believer in backing up! I also have a container of Muji coloured pens which I use for editing. I usually pick a different colour for each book.
There are two bookcases nearby and they contain a selection of reference books as well as some non-fiction. Another cupboard holds all of my paper and envelopes and other ‘office’ stuff.
Under the desk is a big box for recycling. When my cat, Djin, was alive, he used to sleep in it, if he wasn’t sitting on a manuscript, eyeing it balefully. Even now, 3 years later, cat hairs can still end up on my desk and I know he’s sending his critical opinion from wherever he is…