# What is your work space like?



## Lisselle (Apr 19, 2017)

My work space is my sacred corner, for writing and gaming. The children know not to touch anything there, and yet it's an annexed room in our lounge room so I am not isolated from the family.

Next to my desk is another table with my 11 year old son's Windows 95 PC, and a bookshelf filled with nineteenth century books from my Mother. 








I'd love to see everyone's spaces.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Apr 19, 2017)

Awesome! 

Mine is in a corner of my room at a desk, with a desk chair draped in a fluffy throw blanket. I wouldn't show everyone...it's far too messy!!
I have like four empty water bottles and three empty Gatorade bottles on my desk...

I have a character motivations chart, a world map and a key for my highlighter ink colors (all for the current WIP) on the wall above it. As well as pictures of dragons and forests and fantasy artwork I find inspiring. 

My room is a mess. I haven't cleaned it in over a year. O_O


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## Insolent Lad (Apr 19, 2017)

I have a nicely set up space...so instead of using it, I wrote the last novel sitting propped up in bed with a laptop.


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## Lisselle (Apr 19, 2017)

Ha, that's great!


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## Michael K. Eidson (Apr 19, 2017)

My "work space" is a laptop and a table on wheels. The tabletop just fits the laptop, with enough space on one side for a mouse. I wheel the thing around to wherever I want to be in the house, which is typically either in the "computer room," where a desktop PC and printer are stationed, or in the living room, where I park my butt on the couch and watch TV with the wife and dog while I eek out a few sentences, do some research, read emails, check social media, catch up on writing blogs and other interesting sites online, or do some online gaming to help clear my head. Focused writing happens in the "computer room" with the door closed.


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## pmmg (Apr 19, 2017)

I'll take a picture and post it. I have a desk with a PC setup, and a lot of clutter. When I write, I usually turn off the lights and have some headphones in. I try to cut out extraneous distractions. There is a hall light, that when on, drives me nuts. It’s a bare bulb in my periphery. I tend to close the door because of this, but closing the door seems to send out a signal to the rest of the house that they should come find reasons to bug me.

Truth is, I had a great writing place once, but I gave it up so my son could have his own room. I've not really had a writing place since.


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## Ban (Apr 19, 2017)

Black computer on a white desk with a guinness mug holding my writing/drawing stuff on it.

Usually the big mug is joined by a smaller coffee mug. Almost all the time I have some book laying on the botom-left corner. Right now it's the 5 families by Selwyn Raab.


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## Insolent Lad (Apr 19, 2017)

[/url]the desk by Stephen Brooke, on Flickr[/IMG]

Okay, here's my space, which I also use for song writing as evidenced by the speakers and all (and graphics work too). I like having the wide screen so I can have notes and manuscript open side-by-side, and the mechanical keyboard for typing.

It looks like linking from Flickr works. I haven't used my account there in like ten years!


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## Lisselle (Apr 19, 2017)

Looks like a Razer Black widow keyboard... nice!


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## Demesnedenoir (Apr 19, 2017)

Wherever I plop my ass with a laptop or iPad Pro.


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## Tom (Apr 19, 2017)

My writing space is whatever corner I can tuck myself away in, whether at home, at school, or otherwise out and about. At school my favorite spot is the art studio--it's usually quiet and mostly empty there, and the desks are nice. The room is also very large and open, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and I've found that the natural light helps me concentrate better. When I'm at home, however, I like to sit on the floor. For some reason. 

When I'm writing I like to have my sketchpad and folder of notes/references handy, as well as my Howe Caverns mug. Normally I listen to music on my headphones, but when I'm in the art studio I like to leave them off and listen to the ambient noise of the people working around me instead. It's peaceful.


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## pmmg (Apr 20, 2017)

Okay, As promised. Here is my writing space when lit.







Yes, a lot of clutter.


And when the room is dark, which is how I usually do the writing








See, you can ignore a lot of clutter just by turning out the light.


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## ThinkerX (Apr 22, 2017)

My work space: two old line office desks arranged to make an 'L' in my bedroom, plus bookshelves packed to overflowing. One live PC, one dead PC, a printer, and clutter about two inches deep in most places.  Looks like a bomb went off.


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## Lisselle (Apr 22, 2017)

PMMG, You write on a black page with white writing! I have Astigmatism, black and white are so stark my vision flashes in a way which would make LSD jealous! 

I have black writing on the palest blue page to minimise contrast.

Love your cleaning tip!


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## pmmg (Apr 22, 2017)

I am good at cleaning 

Actually, that is black background with Red letters. The picture does not capture the Red very well. Its kind of a melony red. I call it night vision colors (something held over from my army days ). My Computer is mostly dark with Red and Green as the primary character colors. And some purple to make it a little more interesting. I find I really do not like white. It makes my eyes tired if I look at it too long. So...I struck out and turned it black.


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## Russ (Apr 26, 2017)

So while I am capable of writing just about anywhere on my laptop, my best work gets done in my small home office.  But, to be honest I am particular about my writing space.  So here is my desk etc:







I don't do well with clutter.  And yup it has a strong Africa theme.  My wife grew up there and I have been a few times.  We have both been profoundly impacted by that continent and I am always in a better mood when surrounded by some of our African collection.

And my favourite piece of furniture in the world is in my office.  This is a book display case that was previously owned by the Spencer family, at Althorp.  







I use it to store hardcovers published by friends that I really like, and certain key reference texts that I think are classics or close to them.  The book in the display case is a museum quality facsimile of the I 33 Manual of the Royal Armouries in England.  I have a few "fechtbuch" facsimiles that I love and rotate through the top spot.

When I can make the time to sit in that chair the words just pour out of me.


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## Chessie (Apr 26, 2017)

Is that a real zebra skin?!?! Your home office is AWESOME. (LOVE the elephant pic in the background.)


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## Russ (Apr 26, 2017)

Chessie said:


> Is that a real zebra skin?!?! Your home office is AWESOME. (LOVE the elephant pic in the background.)



Yup it is real.  My father-in-law brought it back from Kenya in 1968.  The painting is by an artist we met in South Africa.  Really nice guy.  I like personal stuff like that. 

If you like my office, you should see my wife's!


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## pmmg (Apr 26, 2017)

Russ, that is a very nice workspace. it is simply awesome, but I fear far too orderly for me. I'd be afraid I would ruin the Zebra pelt if I was there too much.


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## Incanus (Apr 27, 2017)

I don't have much money, so nothing fancy or exotic.  A table behind some folding screens draped with black fabric, a smaller (but taller) table with wheels pushed to one side to form an 'L'.  Colored lights and tea lights for minimal illumination when the surrounding lights are all out.  Various pictures on the walls including some beautiful landscapes taken by my brother and some cross-hatch sketches by an artist friend.  A few quotes and odds and ends hanging up, a skull with one jeweled eye sitting on a short silver pedestal, other strange paraphernalia.  Reference books, of course, including my two-volume Oxford English Dictionary, between fleur-de-lis bookends.  Stacks of notebooks and other scraps of notes and papers.  Dark, dusty, dingy, no windows in sight, just the way I like it.


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## Reaver (Apr 27, 2017)

A rare look into *The House of Reaver:*


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## Russ (Apr 27, 2017)

Reaver said:


> A rare look into *The House of Reaver:*



Love the view!


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Apr 28, 2017)

My desk is very randomly accessorized. It has, among the heaps of paper and empty Gatorade bottles. a masquerade mask from a masquerade ball event I attended, lots of pottery I made in art class forever ago that now holds pencils and pens, some nose-themed party cups my friends found at Goodwill and gave to me, and my cactus, Snuggles.


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## Malik (Apr 28, 2017)

Our house is an old barn that we converted into a living space. I built a den in one corner upstairs. I wish I'd made it bigger; I had no idea how much time I'd be spending in this room.

That's one of my Boxes O' Worldbuilding on the left. The leather-bound journals are series bibles.


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## Chessie (Apr 28, 2017)

^Totally digging the sword on the wall that you can behead anyone intruding in on your work. (Joke, right? Because we all know that beheading someone with a sword is nigh impossible...)


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## Russ (Apr 28, 2017)

Malik said:


> Our house is an old barn that we converted into a living space. I built a den in one corner upstairs. I wish I'd made it bigger; I had no idea how much time I'd be spending in this room.
> 
> That's one of my Boxes O' Worldbuilding on the left. The leather-bound journals are series bibles.




I love maps on the wall, something about a nice map says "adventure and exploration."  I have a blank wall in my home office and am seeking just the perfect map to put on it.


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## Malik (Apr 28, 2017)

Russ said:


> I love maps on the wall, something about a nice map says "adventure and exploration."  I have a blank wall in my home office and am seeking just the perfect map to put on it.



I love this map. It's a Winkel Tripel Projection from Nat Geo, with a pretty accurate representation of major landforms until you get to the poles. It has polar region subs in the top corners to remediate this, and the bottom corners are land cover and altitude/depth projections. And it's a recent map, so it's up to date. It has South Sudan, for instance. I have an identical one in my office.


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## Malik (Apr 28, 2017)

Russ said:


> So while I am capable of writing just about anywhere on my laptop, my best work gets done in my small home office.  But, to be honest I am particular about my writing space.  So here is my desk etc:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My God. I would never leave that room.


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## Malik (Apr 28, 2017)

I still have an entire room behind a garage downstairs, about 12X15', with nothing in it except construction detritus and some old furniture, with 70's crap thin carpet over concrete. It needs double-paned windows, a floor, and new drapes. I dream about putting in hardwood and moving in an antique desk, a couch, several bookcases, and a stand-up bar, going with Russ's vibe, above -- dark wood, muted tones, austere feel. It's fairly removed from the rest of the house; it would be a total artist shack in the back of the barn. Looks out into a garden, even.

I need to get my shit together.


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## Malik (Apr 28, 2017)

pmmg said:


>


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## Noxius (Jun 10, 2017)

My workplace is for both (nurse)school and (hobby)writing, so... there are endless stacks of papers and books lying around, some with notes on dementia, some with notes on elves, and a lot of scribbles. The only free space on my dest is where my keyboard lies. 
I spend most of the time in my computer, so on top said staples there is somewhere a cup or a pack of chips sometimes.

I really don't know how I am able to find the stuff I am looking for (in the rare cases I do find it)


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## CF WELBURN (Aug 31, 2017)

I'm a bit of a vagabond writer, moving between London and Madrid, it's really a case of 'where I lay my laptop is home...' 

For a long while I wrote mostly in A4 pads with a trusty bic. The beauty was you could go for a walk, sit with your back against an old oak... get all Bombadil. I actually wrote a tavern scene in a very old pub, soaking up the ... erm, atmosphere. The downside is later digitalising it. I feel much more productive using a word processor from the start, and it makes editing so much easier. 

I think having an uncluttered workspace is the key for me. Try leaving your phone / internet tabs closed to avoid procrastination, and leave room for strong coffee.


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## Malik (Oct 6, 2017)

I had a wall map printed. I'm contemplating selling these on my website.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Oct 7, 2017)

Malik said:


> I had a wall map printed. I'm contemplating selling these on my website.



Ooo! That's fantastic.


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## Aerielle Max (Oct 30, 2017)

pmmg said:


> Okay, As promised. Here is my writing space when lit.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




This is what my table looks like. hahaha. I fix it everytime but after a few minutes, it's chaos again.


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## pmmg (Oct 31, 2017)

ill call that a win. 

The clutter has moved a little and seems to have collected more of the same, but i can still ignore it in the dark. 

Tomorrow i may give a lesson for ignoring clutter on a desk at work.


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Nov 9, 2017)

Someday I hope to have a great work space. I hope to have a log cabin-style house with a small, cozy office for writing, stuffed with books, inspiring artwork, etc. Also big windows looking out toward the forest. 

Right now the clutter is much more awful than anything anybody showed here. I have no organization system for my notes.


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## Malik (Nov 9, 2017)

Behold: The Beast.

I inherited a desk. It was delivered today.

It has a walnut top and carved cherry pedestals concealing three drawers on each side. (And yes, it has a hidden compartment.) This baby is 68" wide and has sliding leaves on each end that expand to 100" across.







This weekend I'll be putting new floors in the room behind the garage and turning it into my Fortress of Solitude. Pics to follow.


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## Malik (Nov 21, 2017)




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## Russ (Nov 22, 2017)

That room is coming along nicely and the desk is a nice piece.  Funny I also call my office the Fortress of Solitude.


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## Malik (Nov 22, 2017)

Russ said:


> That room is coming along nicely and the desk is a nice piece.  Funny I also call my office the Fortress of Solitude.



Seeing your space inspired me to make serious plans for mine, frankly. 

I keep telling myself I'm going to add more stuff to it, but when I sit down behind this desk, I realize how soothing I find blank walls. I'm getting a rug this weekend, and other than a 21" monitor that's coming today, I think that's going to be it. Eventually I'm going to hang a fancier door and triple-pane the windows. i'll get my wife to take some photos with a decent camera this weekend.


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## Ban (Nov 22, 2017)

Fancy. Just needs a booze cabinet, a bear rug, a fridge, a couch and some miscellaneous wall decorations and you've made my dream office.


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## A. E. Lowan (Mar 12, 2018)

Just found this and it reminded me of the thread I started way back when. I've moved my office since then.













20171213_085751



__ A. E. Lowan
__ Mar 12, 2018





This is my desk, looking like a tornado hit it, as always. I have Skype up on one side so I can communicate with our co-author in Texas.













20180312_211443_001



__ A. E. Lowan
__ Mar 12, 2018
__ 2





This is my wife's desk, notably much neater than mine. She handles all our marketing and public appearances, and usually stuff like this as you can see by my inability to get the picture upright. >.< Note the sexy gaming computer on her desk. I have such grabby hands! lol


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## Ban (Mar 13, 2018)

A. E. Lowan said:


> and usually stuff like this as you can see by my inability to get the picture upright.



Before you upload the image simple right click it and click on 'turn right', or something like that. On my french system it is 'faire pivoter à droite'.

(and you can also upload images directly to a thread by clicking on upload file  )


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## A. E. Lowan (Mar 13, 2018)

Thank you so much! I'll give that a try next time.


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## raygungoth (Mar 14, 2018)

Random stacks of paper, dice, candy wrappers, wacom, lots of coins, wood-burning kit, 900 cc plastic cup from the hospital.


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## A. E. Lowan (Mar 14, 2018)

raygungoth said:


> Random stacks of paper, dice, candy wrappers, wacom, lots of coins, wood-burning kit, 900 cc plastic cup from the hospital.


Thought you were describing my desk for a second, there.


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## Malik (Nov 22, 2018)

Posted this in another thread, but here's the Fortress of Solitude as it stands, today.


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## Ban (Nov 22, 2018)

Malik stop being so stylish and organized, you're making me look bad.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 22, 2018)

Well, gosh darn it, now I have to go to the pub. To take a picture, of course.


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## Malik (Nov 22, 2018)

Ban said:


> View attachment 2076



I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.

- Coffee
- Swiss Army knife
- Good beer
- Aspirin
- Pens
- Random sticky note
- Cover in case you need to run out unexpectedly; bonus points for what looks like a beaten-in Ranger roll.


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## Ban (Nov 22, 2018)

Malik said:


> I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.
> 
> - Coffee
> - Swiss Army knife
> ...



And a tiny little pencil sharpener in the shape of a guitar  If you like this, I bet you'd love all the other memorabilia (junk) I have scattered around the place. Hats, mugs, posters, mini rugby balls, a 1980s globe that lights up, more bottles some full, a load of instruments...I may or may not be in the early stages of becoming a hoarder. 

I also really need that little table you have, including the typewriter and the bottles.


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## Malik (Nov 22, 2018)

Ban said:


> I also really need that little table you have, including the typewriter and the bottles.



That table is a weird thing. It's a hammered metal disc with a raised edge, completely rusted. I don't know what it originally was or where it came from. My wife's family were art and antiquities dealers (hence the desk), and the trust recently disbursed a whole bunch of odds and ends throughout the family that have no provenance and are therefore unsellable. For all we know, that table could have been part of the campaign tent of Ogadai Khan against the Jin Dynasty, although it's equally possible that her grandma found it at the Crate & Barrel on Beverly.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 24, 2018)

Okay, bragging time. My apartment is being renovated at the moment (and for the last month and a half). During that time I've done most of my writing at Mr. Bradley's Bar here in Cork. Usually, if I get in early enough, the spot by the fireplace will still be available. On a cold evening, people will come stand next to me and warm their butts by the fire.


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## James Morton (Apr 10, 2019)

so instead of using it, I wrote the last novel sitting propped up in bed with a laptop.


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## Hir i-Chorvath (Jul 13, 2019)

My workspace is called locked in my room on my bed where no one can get to me and surrounded by piles of notebooks, pencils and pens because using a laptop or a computer makes far too much sense and is way easier. Apparently I like to make my life more difficult than it should be.


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