OFFICE LOCATIONS
Virginia Woolf famously called for a ‘room of her own’ in which to write. Simon Whaley chats to three wordsmiths about where they work and why.
Simon Whaley
A year ago, the Royal Society for Literature released the results of a survey in which 80% of writers said they needed a room of their own in which to work.
Entitled A Room of My Own, it also highlighted that 78% of respondents who weren’t currently writers, but planned a writing career, also felt having a dedicated room in which to work was important.
Therefore, when it comes to the business of writing, a room of our own is vital. But where should that space be, and does it actually need to be an office?
Having a dedicated room at home is a luxury many writers would love to have, although some get by with a laptop on the kitchen table, or a desk crammed into the corner of a bedroom.
But our current writing space is just that – our current writing space. As our writing business develops (and when Covid-19 pandemic restrictions are relaxed), it’s important to review whether our writing space is still up to the job.
Garden bound
Joanne Harris
Joanne Harris (www.joanne-harris. co.uk), author of fifteen novels and two novellas, famously tweets about her writing space – the shed in her garden. For her, having a dedicated room to write enables her to avoid distractions and focus on her work.
‘I think it’s important to have a designated work space, which doesn’t double as a family or entertainment room,’ she explains. ‘In my experience, families have a habit of wandering in and out of rooms that are not otherwise out of bounds, and TVs, Playstations, etc. can be fatally distracting. I like to read aloud as I work, so I need to be alone. My shed gives me the privacy I need – especially if things aren’t going well, and I feel the urge to vent a bit.’