Book Club Where do you write?

You may not have ‘a room of one’s own’ as Virginia Woolf recommends, but you do need somewhere specific to call your writing space It can be a ‘shed’, a spare bedroom, part of a living room or an extension It can even be a café seat or a nook in a library or, in good weather, the garden Even if it’s a ‘portable’ office, you can organise it so it can be easily set up whenever you want Multi-tiered trolleys are excellent mobile storage spaces for the latter (IKEA does a great one )

Writing is deeply personal, as well as individual, so you need a place to work in that’s comfortable, light and not subject to interruptions Whether you write the first draft in pencil in a school exercise book or use coloured ink in a gold foiled notebook, you will need a computer with appropriate software and Internet connection, a supportive chair and some bench or desk space for notes and reference books

I still use print reference books such as Roget’s Thesaurus, style guides and specialist history books But mostly, I use the Internet for language dictionaries, odd topics like how to stage a coup d’etat and as the first place for looking up dates and places It’s worth remembering that when researching a topic online, you must be extra careful to assess the source of the information on the screen and cross-check everything The real treasure online is the space at the end of articles where you find a list of sources and reference books that expand the post you’ve just been reading

My ‘office’ is full of paper, books, notes, pens, files, cup of coffee, lights, phone, noticeboard, etc Our super-tough birchwood workstations came over to France with us thirteen years ago, along with the IKEA office cupboards which used to adorn my UK office when I ran my translation business

We converted part of the spacious basement into an office to fit the furniture, et voilà! My IT engineer husband fitted network cabling, Wi-Fi, regular routers, a second wireless access point and all those techie things you need We have two HP printers, one colour, one black & white laser, the latter inherited from the UK business

Sometimes, when my back misbehaves and it’s too painful to sit for hours, I use a stand made from on old occasional table – thank you, dear husband – which sits on my normal desk

Each writer has their level of untidiness/tidiness

Some have a minimalist tendency with nothing else, not even a pen or notebook, on the surface to distract them, others love the comfort of bits of paper, three drinks mats, folders of ‘stuff’ a k a research notes, the odd soft toy, pencil rack, box of tissues, etc

Another consideration is whether you write to music or prefer total silence This is a Marmite thing, but if you like to listen, make sure you have enough music on your device so that you’re not jumping up and down changing or shuffling tracks and thus disrupting your writing

Each of us must make our own, dedicated and personalised space so that when our muse feels comfortable enough to come out to play, we’re ready for her

Happy writing!