Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Work Spaces

My current writing space is composed of a very low coffee-table. This is actually a kotatsu - a special table that you put a blanket over and plug into an outlet to turn into a mini human oven, in which you sit all toasty during winter and watch tv. However, I've gotten rid of the blanket, pulled out the electricity connection and turned it into an ordinary coffee table, which I use to hold papers, cups of tea, remotes, files, dictionaries and my laptop.

It sounds odd but the whole arrangement's not too bad. Because my sofa is also very low, the table is at precisely the right height for typing. Which is good given that I spend a lot of time doing exactly that. And, all my necessary stuff is on the table so I don't have to reach far to find a thesaurus, or a file holding my notes on a project. The confined working space also has the side-effect of making me stay fairly tidy - the second the creep begins, I start not having enough space for my laptop or books and have to clean up.

Of course, all this doesn't mean I don't dream of a huge wooden desk where I can sprawl to my heart's content!

What's your writing/work space look like?

7 comments :

Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...

Hi again Nalini,
Your work space sounds divine and highly organised, unlike mine! I write on the keyboard mostly and no longer with a pen. So I carry the laptop about my surroundings and the pair of us - we are good friends - could appear at any one time engrossed in a television corner, on a roomy sofa or lost in absolute concentration while at the dining table. It's all about me and my laptop. Oh, and I must have a mug of strong milky coffee & also a favourite cd for my music. Sometimes, a floppy or two may want to follow us about. Terrible, isn't it. But it all makes a scatterbrained-me happy indeed!
cheers

Nalini Singh said...

I'm not that organized Susan - I just like to pretend I am *g* I'm totally with you on the whole laptop thing. I love being able to take it and go wherever. It travels with me on my bicycle to work every day would you believe? It's a bit dented but otherwise okay.

And I love working to music too, esp when I'm writing the first draft of something. What's your favorite working music?

Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...

Hiya Nalini,
You beat me with the bicycle bit! Now that really is something.
I'm writing a poignant story which will be my first adult novel and also a children's book. But because the former commands a whimsical plot, I find it really colours and shapes my thoughts when I listen to Marianne Faithfull (the old songs), Enya and also British bands like Simple Minds, Depeche Mode. But my passions for music are so vast. And you?

Nalini Singh said...

Susan - I'm really eclectic in my music tastes. I'll even listen to music in languages I don't understand if I like the sound of it. Right now, I'm listening to a beautiful Korean song over and over, and a Russian album I borrowed off a friend, neither of which I comprehend in terms of words - but the emotional intensity of those songs is huge.

Nalini Singh said...

Milady - I'm looking forward to joining that interesting collection of stuff. *g* Cosmetics? Now that's something I've never had in my own workspace. How did that happen?!!

Nalini Singh said...

Lol, Heather. It gets a bit like that with me sometimes, but my deeply hidden inner neat-freak comes out at the most unexpected times!!

Nalini Singh said...

Pink - that's so cute! And yet you write such red-hot stuff on it! ;)