Today, I cleaned my workspace. It feels like years since I properly cleaned my workspace, judging from the arachnid condominium being constructed between my bureau and the wall. The thick dust, random papers (superannuation letters, excerpts from Dante, an article on gold prices in Turkey in World War II), outmoded girlie stationery (yes, I’m a sucker for Officeworks. Who uses this stuff nowadays?), half-read books, and notebooks testified to my scatter brain and shoddy housekeeping.
Ask me why and I’d tell you I’ve neglected my work. I’ve hardly written a word worth reading since By Violence Unavenged was published back in 2019. Truth be told, a lot of soul-searching was needed, in addition to an enormous and ongoing amount of research. I feel quite overwhelmed by the task I’ve set myself. Part of me just wants to burn every notebook and get on with living in the real world. In the long run, however, I know I’ll never be satisfied until I finish In the Hearts of Kings.
Today was different, really different. For the first time in months of notebooking, reading, scribbling, imagining, Googling, scrolling, and diagramming, something clicked. I know where to start writing. Every past attempt has involved picking up where I left off and proceeding in a linear fashion. That process has been boring, cumbersome, overwhelming, and frustrating. Now I have a set of new and interesting challenges to drive the writing of Outside Heaven’s Sway, the second volume of In the Hearts of Kings.
Correction. Perhaps I haven’t neglected my work. I’ve just worked in a different way, and I gave myself space to do it.
Now that the workspace is cleaned and more or less organised, let me take you on a tour.
The Trophy Shelf
I don’t give myself enough credit for any of my achievements, particularly if I don’t attain success to the measure I desire. I have a habit of allowing the flaws in my work to influence my judgement. Negative criticism tends to outweigh anything positive, particularly if the positive is unsubstantiated. I am more likely to bury my work than display it.
It’s time to stop that. From now on, all work goes on display.
From right to left: PhD Thesis, By Violence Unavenged, A Distant Prospect.
In front: Bronte jug from Haworth, Yorkshire. I’m a big Bronte fan and had the good fortune to work with Bronte authority, Professor Christine Alexander, editing numerous early writings of the Bronte children. Access to those manuscripts and the imaginary worlds of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Bronte gave me a fly-on-the-wall insight into the writing process, and helped me come to terms with my own imaginative fugues. My PhD on Charlotte Bronte honed my understanding of literary structure. I’m still learning; and in every novel I write I set myself new challenges.
The trophy shelf needs some art. One day I’ll dig up some of my old artworks, or maybe display a few recent pieces. I’m itching to get back into painting and drawing.
The Laptop
Waaay too many tabs open. Research in progress. Reading the newpapers of the period is always interesting. There are so many insights, perspectives, and tiny details to be gleaned – entertainment, the cost of living, ideas on current events, social mores, fashions – useful fodder for characters, observations, chance happenings. It’s like an op shop: with regular rummaging, there are gems to be found amidst the junk. This time, my French is getting a workout.
The LaptopThe Laptop
I’m still very adverse to writing anything on my laptop. For a time, even the smell and the sound of it was off-putting. I hate sitting at desks. Which brings me to…
The Notebook Collection
The best place to write is wherever – particularly, lying on the bed; scribbling in coffee shops; tucked away in the corner of a library; under a tree; at the kitchen bench while cooking is in progress. Notebooks are necessary. Need I mention the satisfaction of writing by hand?
I piled all the notebooks – well, most of the notebooks (there are notebooks all over the house and in nearly every bag I possess) – and put them in the cupboard at the bottom of the bureau.
I’ve gone through a few different styles of notebook since the 128 quad ruled exercise books became difficult to find, and the paper quality diminished. All the plotting goes in notebooks. Confession: my notebook system is a mess.
Recently I’ve found some lovely notebooks at Kmart. They are hardcover, in pretty colours which match my decor (trigger colour OCD), the ‘stone paper’ is a pleasure to write on, and the lines are feint. They even have ribbon markers. And at AU$7, they’re relatively cheap. In the past, I’ve paid $20 for a notebook. Not good when you use a notebook a month. More on notebooks at a later date.
The Library Cabinet
This picture give you a better idea of my bureau layout: trophy shelf, writing desk, and library cabinet. The notebook cabinet is under the desk, which is the old-fashioned drop down variety. The desk is never closed. Speaking of the bureau and op shops, I bought the bureau from an op shop more than twenty years ago.
The books I’m reading in relation to the work in progress go here. At the moment, my home is littered with World War II literature. The recent tidy up involved moving the books piled in the bedroom, the loungeroom, and on the coffee table in the living room back to their home in the library cabinet.
I am running out of space. Time for a cull.
I have read every single one of the books in this library. So, I guess, I haven’t entirely wasted my time. I still feel like an imbecile. Writing historical fiction always exposes how little you know.
The Other Desk
Turn 180 degrees from the bureau and you bump into the piano, where I take a break from the quiet and isolation of writing and annoy everyone by making a massive noise – usually Beethoven or Mozart, sometimes Chopin, and Schubert recently got a look-in. At present, it’s Beethoven Sonata in F major, Opus 10, no. 2. I’ve thrashed the first movement to death. It’s a bit of a flirtation – an assertive masculine voice, a coy feminine reply, lots of chasing around furniture, and a fantastic lovers’ quarrel in the development. Fun. Time to move on to the rest of the sonata, which means digging out the music. Stay tuned for a post on music and writing.
Finally, here’s the space, including Daisy Dog and family paraphernalia. I better fix the curtains.
