Behind the Magic of Gail’s Work Space: Professional Author Desk Set Up

Thought you might enjoy seeing the “place where the magic happens,” Gentle Reader.

After much sorting of furniture and rearranging of stuff the AB and I decided it was possible for me to take the tiny little front room (the second bedroom for what, a cat?) of our little victorian apartment as my office. This was (and still is) very exciting to me.

For the first time since I first got a computer (an Apple LC II in high school ~ parents, probably not a good idea to give your writer child the choice between a computer and braces then end up with cooked teeth and a Mac addiction) I am not sleeping in the same room as my computer!

I know, amazing!

So in my little office, I have a standing desk for most of my writing and internet puttering.

gail desk set up standing write writign computer

Let me see, from mid left clockwise on top of desk (actually a CB2 Mini Bar): little silver drawers, Ross (for binder clips, paperclips, white out, tape, postit tags, erasers, hole punch, and the like); West Elm S shelves on their backs and used to raise computer up to eye level; my baby “Helen the Fair” MacBook Air; some pretties; globe Ikea light; laminated Ross box filled with vintage books; story bibles and notebooks; 4 alarm clock; cat paperweight; always troublesome wireless keyboard and mouse set up; back up drive; Sharper Image egg timer, photos of my parents).
Bellow the desk: CB2 Lucite bar stool (for the times when I am very lazy, usually late at night); Ross storage boxes (one for packing tape, pens, glue, that kind of thing and the other for computer related cords); writing books and constantly used secondary research books; contract binders; cardholder, hole punch, pencil sharpener; filing cabinet with life’s paperwork crammed inside).

Desk Standing CB2 Wet Bar Gail Carriger

And I have a sitting desk, currently spread with my mind map for Finishing School series where I do copy editing, accounts, and research.

Upper left to right: Ross pen holder (meant to be a remote control holder but I knew better); Ross box full of postal stuff; Orchid Ne Years gift (still alive!); to file and sort items including my daily planners; best leaning desk lamp ever “borrowed” form the AB; my water bottle, West Elm red chair that I love an unreasonable amount.
On the pull out keyboard self are all my current open writing projects and a few reading ones, currently a short story I hope to get up in ebook form, three more for me to reread to see if they are good enough, and Secret Project Audio.)

Two desks is a very exciting thing but pretty much fill up the entirety of my little office (yes, I cleaned them up a bit for the photos). The rest of it is crammed with shoes, a spine shelf of research books, event attire, and boxes of mailing stuff, sewing equipment and the like. I’m contemplating another filing cabinet but not certain how I will fit it in. But the puffy envelopes and extra editions of the books seem to be taking over what little space is left.

Here’s a research set up:

Copy Edit Desk Research Timeline Prudence Custard Protocol Author Process Gail Carriger

Here’s my current copy editing and research and I need to sprawl set up:

And here’s one of my writing on the go set ups?

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Quote of the Day:

I divide all readers into two classes; those who read to remember and those who read to forget.

~ William Lyon Phelps
(I choose the second option.)

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Sunny said:Mar 22, 2012 at 2:37 pm

So fun! And CUTE!

And what, pray tell, is a "mind map?" Sounds terribly exciting!

Gail Carriger said:Mar 22, 2012 at 2:46 pm

Here's a close up of what it looks like. It's from academia and non-fiction. http://gailcarriger.livejournal.com/191194.htmlMine is kind of blot outline and map together, but the idea is you kind of draw out your story, starting with basic premise or plot and feeding scenes off it in an organic way. For some it works better than an outline because it is more visual. I found I needed it for this books because of the complexities of writing with spies. http://img.dare.co.uk/wp/feature-81-mind-map.gif

Sunny said:Mar 22, 2012 at 2:53 pm

Very interesting! Almost kind of like a flow-chart. Thanks for sharing!

Behind the Magic of Gail’s Work Space: Professional Author Desk Set Up

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