A still life of my messy writing desk

Lately I’ve seen so many beautifully arranged pictures on social media of authors showing their picture perfect writing spaces, so I thought I’d show you the reality of mine. Here it is, in all its messy glory. This isn’t to denigrate those writers out there with their aesthetically pleasing laptop and coffee arrangements, maybe with a photogenic dog in the picture, or a serene fireplace. It’s purely to confess that I’m messy.

Yep, I’m messy, disorganised and forgetful. There, I said it. I keep multiple notebooks and sticky notes of lists to remember all the things I need to do on any given day. I could have tidied up the desk above; chucked the notebooks and stationery organisers on the floor simply to take an artistically displayed photo of my writing space. But that wouldn’t have reflected the reality. I had a productive writing morning on this day; I’m up to 29k words in my current manuscript, novel WIP#5. It’s more important to get drafting than arrange a perfect photo.

I draw the line at a writing selfie, however. You really don’t need to see a photo of me in my PJs and dressing gown with greasy hair and pink eye. Reading about that reality is quite enough!