What do you have in your office?

You're looking to decorate for inspiration? I have a ton of books, a picture a friend gave me because she said it reminded her of the feel of my stories, a poster some of my grad students portraying me as an anthropoligist in a pith helmet sleuthing around on the savanna (you had to be there), and a bunch of stickies with advice about writing that I like (Resist the urge to explain, Everybody arcs, stuff like that).

Photos, and a nice vase of flowers (fake or real) does wonders to brighten up a room.

I have two think that never get old. One is a hand carved statuette of the protagonist of one of my novels. It was sent o me by a fan. Likewise, another is a carved wall plaque of the cover of a different novel, also sent by a fan. How can these not be inspirational?

Of course, I also have a leprechaun that's about a foot or so tall. If the carvings ever fail, I figure I can grab his beard and get a little magic, rather than gold.

satyesu said:

Well, it's a dorm room and I'm looking for things inspirational or interesting enough not to get old.

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A life size inflatable replica of Ernest Hemingway that really drinks whisky.

A life size inflatable replica of the Oxford English Dictionary (full print edition).

Fifty fake chatty letters from famous contemporary writers to pin carelessly on your wall.

My first story featured a boat called the 'Wicked Twist.' A former student made me a replica of the boat and it hangs where I can see it.

Other than that I've got a ton of junk. Books and more books. About 1,000 CDs of Trance music (yeah, I am an electronica junkie), and did I say books? Yeah, got lots of books.

I have a calendar of San Francisco. My goal is to move there in a few years so I keep the calendar to inspire me. I record how much I write and when I get to 50K (I'm at 23 K now) I'm rewarding myself with a small vacation to the city.

Pictures of porn stars...

thothguard51 said:

Pictures of porn stars...

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And I believe you.

I mostly write in the living room right now, but in my room I have a few things set out. A Magic 8 Ball, a little ceramic pig that I insert into a lot of stories, a picture of me and Jodi Picoult. I have a card a couple of my beta readers sent me when one was visiting the other. They are both big fans of one of my novels, and the card they sent is supposed to be a picture of my MC when he was a kid. It's adorable. I also have a picture of the two readers next to it. Not that I'll forget who sent me the card, but so when people ask me about the card, I can point to their picture when I explain. I also have a couple of plastic plot ninjas that I got at NaNoWriMo events.

A small selection of books (hardcovers as they stand better), pictures of my children when they were little (so I never forget what they were like at that age) and a few ornamental figurines given to me by my children and husband years ago.

my inspiration is in my head and in my world; I write at home, at the office, and occasionally while riding shotgun in the van; I can't keep "inspirational artifacts" in all 3.

My office is the living room. I have a framed poster from attack of the 50ft woman and one from the day the earth stood still. I have all my books and photoframes and my ever growing sailor moon figurine collection.

Two-ply and clean towels.

My desk faces a blank wall peppered with tack holes from where I hang my continuity charts. The only things on my desk are my laptop, my three ring binder with my notes/world building/character sheets, a thesaurus, a dictionary and the Chicago Manual of Style. I don't want to look *at* anything when I'm writing; I want to look *beyond* my surroundings.

Oh. And cats. Always at least one. Sometimes up to six. At the moment, four and the kitten is swinging off the back of my chair.

Now, behind my chair, I have three walls that are floor to ceiling bookshelves (full), a comfy chair to read/edit in, my Wall of Shame/Wall of Fame bulletin boards (rejection letters and fan letters, respectively) and a good reading lamp. The only decorative things are candles and my mom's naturalization flag.

Oh. And cats. The ones that aren't on my desk are usually perched somewhere on the bookshelves, usually right where I don't want them to be or where I need to go next.

If I had a writing room, it would no doubt be decorated.

Alas, my laptop is the only continuity in the environs in which I write. Right now, I work shift doing security detail at a subway station under renovation and construction, so I sit at a desk on a draughty platform with subway trains passing by on both sides every few minutes and passengers embarking and disembarking, while the PA overhead blathers public announcements.

The weeks before that I sat in a security loge filled to the brim with camera monitors, which is pretty usual. Except that the company can be anything, with different threat risks I have to pay attention to while I write.

However, it has honed my powers of concentration to the point where I can write a dialogue while having a different dialogue.

Books books books!

And...

Old maps - found a beautiful book of prints of antique maps which I cut out to decorate a wall with. They're amazing to look at.

Photos that make me smile.

Fabric wall hangings - they make it feel cosier.

Plants - I have a dragon tree and a christmas cactus that have both travelled about with me for quite a while. It's nice to have something to look after!

An old stereo, occasionally a cat or two and assorted piles of things I haven't got round to sorting out.

I don't really have an office... Just a desk in the corner of my bedroom. It's pretty bare.

There's the computer stuff (mouse, monitor, speakers, keyboard down on a pull-out shelf thing), a box of tissues (achoo!), some receipts for some reason that are pretty dusty, 2 USB sticks, a little plastic bobble-head Chihuahua I got free with a hot dog and Coke meal deal, a post-it and a business card, and then the main section is: My drink, and my copy of Australian Writer's Marketplace, to inspire me to conquer my fear of rejection and actually submit somewhere.

Apart from the chihuahua, I have no decorations here.

You know what would be fun? A thread where we post pics of our writing-places. Do we have one of those threads?

Uh, I saw a thread like that about a year or so ago, in Novels I think...

No idea what it was called, so I don't know how you'd go about searching for it.

Cliff Face said:

Uh, I saw a thread like that about a year or so ago, in Novels I think...

No idea what it was called, so I don't know how you'd go about searching for it.

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*sigh* You just live to tantalize, don't you, Cliff?

Yup. It's my superpower.

For my next trick, I'm going to drag a piece of bacon in front of a dog.

For my next trick, I'm going to drag a piece of bacon in front of a dog.

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Not in front of my dog, you don't. Sure, he's got the cute and benign thing happening,

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but that's just for photographs. In real life, he'd take your arm off as soon as look at you.


*chortle*

Yeah, I've known dogs like that. Their problem is low self-esteem. Be sure to say, "Good dog, that's an excellent attack maneouvre!" next time he rips off someone's limbs.