You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

I would love to have a room dedicated solely to writing, but I prefer reading in random moments when not a lot else is going on. I would love having a reading nook built into one wall, but I do not think that I really need a place dedicated to reading beyond that.

If you’ve read or seen The Dark Half by Stephen King, it was very much inspired by the writing room in the cabin in that story. Hidden away in a secret room behind a bookshelf, invisible from the outside, and impossible to disturb unless you know its exact location.

I would want some of my favorite quotes from literature and by authors around the room, as well as a bookshelf full of things that I find inspire me to write – and those would not all necessarily be books.

When I get into the headspace to write, I rarely ever read. When I feel that I am having difficulty getting words down onto a page, I turn to reading to help me find the words that I need. This system works well for me, so it’s unlikely I would take up too much space in my ideal writing room by lining it with books.

I would want a reliable computer with an ergonomic keyboard and mouse. As a person with hypermobility and arthritis in my hands, this is crucial to doing a lot of writing in one sitting. It’s something that I’m currently lacking, and it’s definitely a barrier to me getting as much work done as I would like to.

I’d love to have a couch and some stress balls in my writing room. Being able to relax and get lost in thought as I fidget is a pretty important part of the imagining process when it comes to my writing.

Even though I quit smoking over a year ago, I think I’d have cigarettes in there. Better to have something that you don’t need than be distracted by a craving when you’re trying to create.

I also think I’d have a bluetooth speaker. I can hardly exist without music in the background of my life. You can forget producing anything of value without an excellent soundtrack.