New place, new writing space

We’re preparing to move out of our two bedroom flat in Broomhill, Sheffield. Already boxes are being made-up, books and DVDs are being packed and the magnitude of clearing up four years worth of dust from behind our behemoth-like wardrobe is only beginning to dawn on the wife and I.

After the continuing debacle that is house-buying, we’ve decided to consolidate and move into another rented property – something with more than one floor and a garden. It’s going to cost more in rent than we’re paying now, but only half as much as we’d be paying if we went ahead and bought a place. House-prices are too ludicrous for words – so unless a miracle happens or conversely a disaster for house owners in the UK, then we’re resigned to never buying a house. It’s annoying, but not as much if we’d bought a house that was stretching and then got clobbered on the rising interest rates.

So I’m spreading my free-time thinly in order to find a new home over the next two weeks – and with a new home, comes a new place to write.

At the moment my study shares the spare-room, the Chinese laundry and the dumping ground for exercise toys, my DVDs, books and bedding – as well as the behemoth-like wardrobe that I swear is a doorway to Narnia for all the things we lose inside it; white stuff is growing on a couple of coats too, that could be passed off as snow in Spring (though it is more likely to be mould from the damp conditions of the flat).

What I dream of is a study in the attic, with a decent view, some natural light – bookshelves running the walls and perhaps a futon to sit and watch “big telly” and continue my obsession with films.
Nice.
It will be the perfect writing space. Large, uncluttered, surrounded with inspiration, visually, in audio, and of course the written word. It will also have that den-quality to it – a getaway upstairs from everything else – including family when it begins to expand…

Other Workspaces

Thinking about my working space got me thinking about the best places to work. In the day-job I share an open-plan office with my team and a few other business areas. There is no view, a crap air-conditioning unit, and our employers have seen fit to remove bins from the desks (so picture twenty or so people with carrier bags full of rubbish hanging from drawers etc!!). The desk isn’t too small, but it is cluttered – though not to the same degree as Sam Lowry's desk in Brazil.

During my lunch break I happened across the antithesis of my day-job workplace. And it is here.

ILM is perhaps the coolest place to work. Where else could you sit and create with a chunk of the Enterprise over your head, or be greeted each day by Yoda and his amazing techni-coloured fountain? Or be threatened by Stormtroopers, goggle at fish-headed pirates… The list and distractions go on.
And I thought Pixar’s workplace looked cool.

But I’m digressing. If I get my cool writing space in the new house, I can live with my decidedly un-cool-day-job-workspace. It’s a fair trade off.

Until then, moving will be disruptive. It’s to be expected. It might also mean being without t’internet for a while. So if I disappear over the next few weeks, don’t worry, I’m still here. I won’t have been kidnapped by Kafala-like individuals trying to sell me to the circus, nor will I have fallen through that behemoth-like wardrobe-entrance in the spare room - to a world of snow, fauns and Turkish Delight.

Which actually sounds like fun, unless of course, George Lucas invites me to work for ILM.