To have or not to have a grand writing space…

A little over a year ago, a friend who just happens to be both a writer and a builder, offered to build me a writing room. He came up with a fabulous design for a gorgeous room and for about two days I was really excited.

And then I began to worry… what would happen to my writing while I sat in this beautiful room? Would I feel that I needed to suddenly write The Great Australian novel? Would I feel dreadfully inadequate and freeze with fear? After all, I’m not a candidate for the Man Booker prize.

And somehow, out of this original plan, came our decision to build and extra bedroom and bathroom instead, with a tiny cubby hole at the back for my writing space. See this post for details…

And I’m quite happy in my little nook, honestly. If I want to get up very early while E’s still asleep, which I often do, I simply take my laptop through to the dining room. There, I have a lovely view of the dawn light creeping over the hills and the mist rising from the valleys, but after breakfast, I’m happy to return to my viewless den.

I thought, perhaps, that I was especially weird and insecure in shying away from the idea of a grand office (although nearly every writer I know is a little bit weird and insecure). Then I came across this passage in Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

‘I have watched friends who’ve made perfect spaces and then couldn’t bear to go into them. They felt more comfortable writing at the kitchen table. It’s hard to sit in an exquisite space and rub up against our imperfections which writing brings up.’

Well, thank you, Natalie Goldberg. I don’t feel quite so weird, after all.

But what about you? What’s your idea of a perfect writing space?