A Room of My Own

I've never had a writer's nook or office or room of my own.

I write where I can. On the sofa in my living room, standing in the kitchen, in my car while I'm waiting for one of my daughter's, in coffeeshops, at the library.

My time is coming.

One of my daughters is about to go off to college, which is going to mean a room shuffle . . . and, perhaps, a writing space of my own.

I like daydreaming about it, imagining what I'll have in there.

Here's my list, as of today:

I want a dry-erase wall, preferably also magnetic. Without a designated work space, I struggle with
brainstorming and organizational space. I'd love to have a blank wall to write out all my bubble maps and timelines on, to hold snippets I'm not ready to use just yet, to display visual  cues and inspiration.

I recently found out that these don't even have to be white, so I can still have a cool color, too. Maybe a peaceful green or a calming blue. It's chaotic in my head, so it would be good to have the walls be calm.

I'm also going to need an awesome chair. Something wide enough to sit in sideways with my feet tucked up or to share with my dog when one of us needs that.

I don't really want a desk. A wide, flat surface just becomes a junk collector for me, so a chair and a nice folding table will do nicely.

Sometimes, I think it should be a traditional library wingback, other times an overstuffed cushy thing, or maybe something really weird looking, like a giant hand or a spiral shape. I'm looking forward to trying out a bunch of possibilities. I'm 45 years old and I've never really chosen a chair to please only myself.

I like to imagine some plants in there with me. I'm happiest when among trees. My grocery store has been selling indoor palms and ferns and lots of jungly-looking greenery here lately and I like the idea of having a little private jungle feeding me oxygen as I pound out my words.

I won't really need a lot of shelf space or a need to make tea in there, since this is going to be in my house, which is already full of bookshelves and ways to caffeinate, so I should have room for my own private forest near the windows.

I'm not sure how that will go, as I am not known for my green thumb, but this is a dream room right now, so the plants are lush and healthy, fed by the wild imaginings created in their presence.

I'll keep some display shelves up high with copies of my books on them and remembrances of my writing life, like name-tags from cons and pictures and such. Stuff to make me feel successful and re-inspired when I get discouraged.



What do you think? Anything that's a must-have in my writer's garrett? What's in your creative space (real or dream)?