{"id":354,"date":"2009-08-10T19:36:23","date_gmt":"2009-08-10T18:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/?p=354"},"modified":"2009-08-10T19:36:23","modified_gmt":"2009-08-10T18:36:23","slug":"where-i-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/archives\/354","title":{"rendered":"Where I write."},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve seen links all over to the website called Where I Write<\/a>, which features photos of science fiction and fantasy authors in the places where they write. For example:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So, after seeing yet another link to the same website, I thought I’d share a photo of the place I write. I’ve got time to spare at the moment*, so got out the tripod: <\/p>\n

\"Where<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, I travel a lot, and much of my writing (and even more of my re-writing and editing) is accomplished while sitting in the same position but in hotel rooms and cruise ship staterooms around the world. But at home, when I write, I do it lounging in the living room.<\/p>\n

Things in this photo:
\n– Me
\n– My laptop. It’s a MacBook, so often gets quite hot, which is why it isn’t on my lap.
\n– A very large couch. I can sit on this in many positions and orientations.
\n– A lamp. Reflected light off the wall is plenty to light my keyboard.
\n– A big piece of art. Made by Pola.
\n– A mobile. Made from twigs.
\n– A globe. It is very old and dated, but globes are the only way to really get a sense of the shape and size of different places in the world.
\n– A ladder. This leads to the bedroom\/office.
\n– A window. This leads to the kitchen, important for the provision of drinks.
\n– A chandelier. Only turned on during large dinner parties.
\n– A blanket. Nice for if I get chilly.
\n– Three white boxes, stacked. These hold magazines, photo albums and many an atlas.
\n– A large fuzzy mat. This is to make the expanse of wooden floor more friendly.<\/p>\n

Compared to the authors on the Where I Write website, my place is either more comfortable or more tidy than them all. John O’Niell<\/a> looks comfy, but is surrounded by clutter. Nowhere near as much clutter as Samuel R. Delany<\/a>, but it’s still there. John Harrison<\/a> is tidy, but the room doesn’t look that inviting.<\/p>\n

Why no mess for me? And why not sit at a desk?<\/p>\n

First, all my notes are on my laptop, and my laptop is backed up every day. If I need to do research, I usually do it via electronic sources, online or via ebooks. <\/p>\n

Second, I outsource my library\/bookshelf functions to the Another Country<\/a> bookshop, which is only a few hundred meters away, and has about 25,000 books. Any book I want I either borrow from there or buy it new from another shop, and then, to avoid clutter at home, donate the new books so borrowing books is free. <\/p>\n

\"Berlin's<\/p>\n

Third, and this relates to no clutter as well as my comfort, I’m not a professional writer! Why the hell should I sit at a desk as though I’m working? I get paid for my writing, but not for my fiction. Like Ted Chiang<\/a>, I write fiction because I enjoy it, and have a real job to support my hobby. That is, if being a professional juggler can count as a real job.<\/p>\n

Catch you later…<\/p>\n

* Due to recently becoming single for the first time in 4.5 years I’m not really into writing at the moment, nor much of anything. Regular posts will resume shorty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve seen links all over to the website called Where I Write, which features photos of science fiction and fantasy authors in the places where they write. For example: So, after seeing yet another link to the same website, I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,50,10,52],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":357,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeburrage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}