By Lisa Black
This is my home office in which I write. It looks messier than it really is…most of the time.
The desk is a solid, incredibly heavy behemoth of wood that I bought at a scratch n’ dent sale with my first advance (which was, for many reasons, disproportionately large and the likes of which I will almost certainly never see again). It’s a project to move if and when we have to get to the phone jack in the wall behind it, or plug or unplug any new component into the equally behemoth-like computer tower. And watch the top of the hutch at the same time so it doesn’t hit the ceiling fan.
You may have noticed that the chair is not in a position to be used. Because, of course, sitting is the new smoking and the eternal battle of the bulge (which started in my teens and has only gotten more difficult with time) dictates that I stay in constant motion. As in twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five constant motion would not even be sufficient, because I’d still gain two pounds every time I eat ice cream. Even the ‘lite’ kind.
But I try.
So I bought the most low-tech, cheap treadmill I could find and constructed a keyboard shelf out of a plank of wood with a ledge bolted to the lower edge. The treadmill, conveniently, had a long bolt at the top of each handle, so I simply unscrewed them, drilled two holes through the shelf, and rebolted. The secret is using an exercise band looped over the handles and behind your hips to hold you in place in front of the keyboard as you walk. Yes, you can actually buy a treadmill built for just this purpose, but anyone could do it that way.
The most important part of being a writer, everyone will tell you, is getting your butt in the chair and writing. It’s nice to know the chair part is optional, even if the writing part isn’t.
Lisa will be presenting two session on Sunday 18th July:
9:00 am AEST Rejections, you only fail when you let them stop you. 9:30 am AEST Forensics 101 for your novel
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