Please give a warm welcome to Emma Bennet who’s popped on to tell us all about her writing cave, or rather the lack of. Read on though – it just goes to prove any space can be highly productive and the lack of an office is no barrier to creativity!

Emma’s new book is out on the 17th January and here’s the gorgeous cover:

Thank you very much, Georgia, for inviting me to be on your blog.  

I think the term ‘writing cave’ is very enticing. I love the idea of a warm, cosy space set aside just for me and my writing. A place where I could shut myself away from our busy, noisy household full of machines beeping, teenagers and dogs, and focus solely on being creative… There would be a fire cracking in a little fireplace with beautiful tiles on the surround. A huge, squishy armchair would be ready in the corner for whenever I felt the need to climb into it with a book and the blanket that lays folded neatly over its back. The walls are full of bookshelves, and a window looks out over the garden. Oh, there’s a kettle and an open packet of hobnobs in the corner…  

The fact is, though, I’ve never actually had a space devoted to my writing. The closest I got was a computer table in a room used mainly for books and to contain an evil hamster named Zeus who liked to terrorise everyone in the house.   

The reason this space didn’t ‘stick’ (aside from me not wishing to turn my back on the killer rodent) was that I’m essentially nosy. I hate to be tucked away out of the action and to feel that I might be missing out on something. The post could arrive, and I wouldn’t know!   

And so, I work at the dining room table. This works, at least for now, because I’m in the centre of things. I can move the washing from the machine into the dryer when I hear the cycle end in the utility room. I can chat to my husband as he walks past. My boys can come to me with any questions. And I’m close to the kettle. I’ve got my writing craft books close by should I need them as well as the notebooks I keep for each of my manuscripts, and there’s plenty of space under the table for my two chocolate Labradors to curl up on my feet. It also serves as a good place to write when I’m doing live writing sprints on my YouTube channel as the lighting’s good.   

Of course, this arrangement does mean that I have to clean up my work gear every evening so that we can eat supper, but I can’t help but think this is a good thing, it keeps the inevitable mess of being a busy, creative person under control! And it must be working, with my new book, ‘Falling in Love at Nightingale Farm’, just released, I’ve written 5 novels, 2 novellas and a children’s picture book so far at our dining room table. Last November, I took part in my first ever NaNoWriMo and managed to write more than 55,000 words in 30 days.  

Maybe one day I’ll have a more traditional writing cave, but, for now, our dining room table is working out just fine. 

Linky things:

https://linktr.ee/emmabennetromance

Thank you so much for coming on the blog and sharing how and where you write, Emma. Huge luck with the new book!

Love,

Georgia x