Since I work from home (a rather boring, non-writing job that thankfully pays the bills until I become the next J.K. Rowling) with a toddler, I don’t have a lot of writing news these days. I was trying to think of something interesting to put here and realized that something that has taken over my brain for the past year is actually a good topic for writers. And that is the creation of a writing space.
A space to write is very important for a writer. It can be as simple as going to a coffeeshop regularly to write, or it can be as involved as building a writing cottage. I hate coffeeshops (the smell makes me sick and I don’t like crowds or having to haul computer and set it up) and we’re a long ways away from being able to do a writing cottage, so I land squarely in the middle: a designated room for writing. Due to room limitations (we don’t have a mansion, alas!) my writing space has to share a room with my work space and craft space.
When I moved into my husband’s house, I took over his office. That made sense, since I’m the one who works from home. I, however, decided to ignore his advice of fixing the room first and opted to move all my junk in immediately. This resulted in me staring at golf wallpaper for five years (not my husband’s choice, from the previous owners). This was cramped, because I was basically fitting one full-time job, one part-time job, and multiple crafts into one room, but I made it work. When Wyrmling started getting mobile, I realized it was nowhere near childproofed and the time had come for a major overhaul.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be chronicling our journey through office renovation (which is, mercifully, drawing to a close). I should have taken more before pictures, but here are a few. These were all taken May 14, 2012. So yes, this project has taken 9 months and counting. In our defense, we were also doing a couple other outdoor projects that had to be done during good weather, plus this room is directly across the hall from Wyrmling’s room, so work when she’s asleep is completely out.
This was taken after I started packing, so no, I did NOT work with all that stuff on the floor. The desk is about right, though.
This is my organizational system, or lack thereof. That white plastic basket? That’s all “to be filed” things that landed there after Wyrmling was born because my file cabinets were crammed full.
This gives you a slice of my hobbies, including sewing, stained glass (I made the dragon hanging in the window), and even a picture of my husband wearing a Jayne hat that I crocheted for him. Yes, there is a tv and dvd player in there because I LOVE working with the tv on. I’ve had to stop that, though, so Wyrmling doesn’t become a couch potato.
I hope you enjoyed my mess confessional. Tune in next time for a good look at the previous owner’s decor, and my thoughts on decorating your writing space.
ETA: Found one of me at my workspace with Wyrmling when she was less than a month old!
This picture was taken when Wyrmling was less than a month old! Aww! Ahem. In office news, you can see a large whiteboard on the wall. A friend rescued it from his work when they were getting rid of it, so I had a HUGE whiteboard in my office, which was SO nice for writing. I ended up deciding not to put it back in the office (it’s now hanging in the basement for Wyrmling to draw on) and will talk more about what I decided to do instead in a future post.
Amie Rose Rotruck 