where to do it?

I’m a sucker for trivia.

Movie trivia, book trivia: any quirky detail that tells me more about the ‘behind the scenes’ part of the creation process.

One of my favourite trivias concerning writers (and probably one of the most commonly asked questions) is of course: where do you write?

Disappointingly for me, most authors work sitting at an ordinary old desk (which is such a bore, if you are still attempting to hang on to the romantic notion of novelist life). So I’m always interested when I discover writers that break away from the norm and succeed in getting down their daily word count in unusual places – choices perhaps dictated by life circumstances/financial means more than anything else.

Out of curiosity, I started compiling this list of places writers work – by no means exhaustive – that I hope to add to over the coming weeks. Contributions welcome…

-         Cafés (JK Rowling & Hemingway have singlehandedly made famous the cafés that they used to frequent… Both were both stony broke at the time)

-          In bed (Marian Keyes is the only one that I know of that writes from her boudoir – her book ‘Under the Duvet’ a testament to this. I have to admit, I’m also a guilty culprit… there’s just something about the bed…)

-          Basements (Matt Drudge, John Cheever)

-          Motels/Hotels (JK Rowling, Truman Capote)

-          Garden Sheds (Roald Dahl, Louis de Bernières)

Sadly, while I love the idea of working somewhere unique, I’m the kind of writer that can’t get down to work proper unless I am alone and free of distraction.

Having spent a long time thinking about why this is, I have come to the conclusion, it’s because writing is such an intensely personal activity. I can’t truly give myself over to my imaginary worlds (without embarrassment) in a public place. So I usually end up holed in my room, at my desk or on my bed, with the door firmly shut.

Something Stephen King recommends in his book, On Writing:

“The space can be humble (probably should be, as I think I have already suggested), and it really needs only one thing: a door which you are willing to shut. The closed door is your way of telling the world and yourself that you mean business; you have made a serious commitment to write and intend to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.”

So much for scrawling in tatty notebooks à côté de la Seine…

That said, writer’s offices can still be pretty cool – as I recently discovered in The Guardian’s ongoing look at Writer’s Rooms.

All of course, gorgeous treasure troves, crammed with books, writing paraphernalia, lots of anonymous junk… The ultimate treat!

Another trivia gem is The Book Show’s slot, The Write Place: personal office tours, given by authors themselves.

One of my favourite all time writing spaces is one belonging to children’s author, Anthony Horowitz – seen in the clip below – a light loft in central London complete with spiders, skulls and all kinds!

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However, not getting too hung up on always working in a particular spot might just get you out of a rut, suggests author, Nicola Morgan.

“People ask writers things like “Where do you write?” or “When do you write?” and we have answers. We shouldn’t have answers. Whatever your answer is now, why not change it?”