This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
by Anna Bell
Whenever I tell strangers that I’m a writer, they usually tell me how wonderful it is to have a job, which allows you to daydream and write whenever the mood takes you. There are so many misconceptions about writers, but the funny thing is, even though writing is my full-time job, I still have fantasies about what it could be like.
Top of my ultimate fantasy would be to write at a creative hub office. There are a few chick lit authors I’ve read about recently, who all write at such places. A creative hub where there are home workers who want to work with company, so they hot desk in a designated office. I do love home working, but sometimes I miss that interaction with different people, too. That water cooler chat when you’re making a brew or sharing cake. I don’t eat nearly enough cake since I stopped working in an office. For me writing somewhere like that would be perfect, as I would have the routine of going to work but it would still be on my terms. Unfortunately, I think it will be a while before anywhere like this exists in the corner of rural France that I live in.
Now, if I was in a totally fantasy writing world, I’d also have a writing shed tucked away in my garden. One with glass doors to feel like the garden was encroaching inside. I’d have a lovely wooden desk with the most comfortable swivel chair. On the back wall I’d have one of those old fashioned boards with the black criss cross wire to slot in pictures and notes. There would be a day bed with comfortable cushions for when I’m reading through my work. I’d also have a big fat bookcase showcasing my books and those of my favourite authors.
Of course, I’d also have a strict writing routine. I’d have uninterrupted writing time where I’d have as many hours as I wanted to write or edit as much as I pleased that day. In that world my writing time wouldn’t be squeezed into the nap times of an unpredictable toddler, and they wouldn’t be interrupted by my husband asking me to nip to the shops to pick up some milk or what not. I’d have time to take the afternoon off, to go off on a long walk with my dog and a notepad and sit and watch the world go by as I waited for inspiration; writing when the mood took me, rather than being forced into it when I found that I had five minutes to myself. 
I’d use beautiful notepads, rather than my usual scruffy ones, and I’d write with gel pens, rather than the only biro that I can find. Of course, in a fantasy writing world I’d have the neatest, most beautiful loopy handwriting too. I’d actually start and finish mood boards for all my books, giving me that visual motivation for those moments where I needed extra inspiration.
My books would all be set in glamourous locations, or at least have elements of them in it. Where possible my characters would visit New York, Florence, Costa Rica, the Caribbean – all my favourite places that I’d love to go on multiple tax deductible research trips. My books wouldn’t be set, like my current WIP, in cities like Portsmouth (no offence Portsmouth, but you’re not quite Manhattan).
I can daydream like anyone about what life could be like for a writer, the only difference is that I’m probably a bit more realistic about the fact that I doubt I’ll ever achieve the fantasy.
What would your fantasy writer life be like?
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