Virgina Woolf’s writing room at Monk’s House, Rodmell, Sussex.
When I first downsized from a two-bedroom condo to a one-bedroomed one, I was quite happy with my new workspace – the kitchen table.
But it turned out not to be the best space for me – as I also used it for eating, checking email, playing dominoes with my grandson, mixing scones, reading the news, online research…
Like Virginia Woolf and her Room of One’s Own, I needed a designated space that triggered my writing muscle as soon as I sat down in it.
So then I had to go in search of a small table, figure out a space to put it in my living room, and pick up a couple of chairs to go with it. Thanks to Craigslist, that most valuable of online shopping venues, I was able to find what I needed at a great price, and these things are now in place.
Since I moved my writing into the living room, I not only find I am more productive, less-easily distracted, and quite comfortable, I also now have a space to store the clutter of paperwork that somehow still seems an inevitable bi-product of this ‘paperless work world’.
I’d certainly prefer a little house at the end of an English garden, although I do note that Woolf’s room of her own is disconcertingly close to the Ouse River where she took her own life.