What's on your desk?

[AnnMarie]

When you write, what do you feel you have to keep handy?

I have an American dictionary, a British dictionary, a Spanish-English dictionary, an Irish-English dictonary, Roget's Thesaurus, several books on mythology, several books on warfare through the ages, and one on costumes, two books on animals, two on plants, a few self-sufficentcy (spelling?) and usually a LARGE bottle of Coca~Cola!

[ladyholdermara]

ooo yikes lol ummm when I DO write lol which I don't have much time for anymore, I ussually set myself up with a hot chocolate and/or coka cola (2 liter bottle :) ), my ciggies and on the odd occassion I'll run over to the puter for reference materials.


I don't really have a desk to write on tho :) lol I find it much better to write by hand in a quiet place in my house on the widow seat in my front room ussually, all curled up with a blanket and my notebook on my knee :)

Or if I'm writing songs MAYBE near the piano lol and my guitar.

[Anneli]

A UK English dictionary, several pens and - preferably ;) - a bottle of wine :D

I write long-hand in exercise books, so typing it up a couple of days or even more later can be something of a challenge, depending on the amount written, the amount drunk while writing it, and the amount of cramp which affected the writing hand ;)

[Lady Legira]

I carry five notebooks in a bag and type them up later :)

[Anareth]

At the moment, I don't have a desk. (I have a folding tray table.) When I do, what accumulates is usually scrap paper, pencils and pens, letters and bills that need addressing, disks, CD-RWs, assorted bits and bobs associated with the computer, whatever book or magazine I'm reading at that particular instant, and computer manuals or instruction pamphlets.

[Madrigal]

I have this nasty habit of using my bed as my desk (I love my laptop)--so currently pillows, sheets, a quilt, the usual bed stuff.

As for the official desk--art supplies. Pencils, paper, pens, some dried-up watercolors and brushes.

[Jorine]

A bowl of cinnamon disks to suck on or at least a pack of gum.

Gel pens - lots and lots of gel pens. I started using them to take notes in my last history class when the prof spoke 90 miles per hour with a deeeeeeeeeply Hispanic accent and one had to learn to write really really fast and use a lot of abbreviations because the test was going to be all essay, right out of the notes, and it had better be almost verbatim what Dr. H said. Thus I developed a personal shorthand that I use to do my fiction writing (poetry I do in my head then type it when I have a minute) - the downfall is that I can't have anybody read it until I type it because it might as well be written in Sanskrit.

Looseleaf notebook paper in a binder. I hate composition books, I hate spirals. I like the freedom of ripping out what I call trash, reorganizing my thoughts and writing it again on a clean sheet, then just adding more paper when I run out.

Coffee if I can get it. Cocoa or tea if I can't. Right now I can't - my coffee maker has died :cry: after 5 years of faithful service. It was only the $10 machine off the shelf of the grocery store - I think it lived two years beyond it's "use by" date :laugh: .

Music. Anything I can't sing along to or else I will sit there and sing or else get up and dance around and sing (my, aren't I fun) instead of writing. So it has to be instrumental or hard enough metal that I can't understand the words.

I just realized 90% of this post should have gone into the "how" thread *shrug* Oh well, it's not like y'all are going to ban me from the board!

[granath]

My desk is very cluttered, and the only things related to my writing are the dictionaries (A Finnish-English and a Finnish-Swedish dictionary) and the printouts of the articles I translate. Other than that, I have my unpaid bills next to the compie, a pen holder with lots of stuff, a packet of handkerchiefs, a pile of DVDs, another of blank CDs, a cup of coffee, some echinacea lozenges... Clutter in other words.

[Just Bob]

I don't use my desk as a desk. It's the only table in my room, so everything goes on there.
Where I actually do my writing is far from certain. Most often, it's sitting on my bed with an A4 pad in front of me. I have a pen, and an eraser pen just in case, even though it is only the rough draft, and I write on alternate lines so there is room for corrections.
When I'm on my bed, I have a dictionary handy, but that's unlikely if I'm on a train, or something like.

[Vyon]

One word, clutter. That includes, a laptop computer, a printer, a spaghetti of wires, the mouse has one that is long and kinked and so does the separate floppy drive. Something that resembles a scatter of pick-up-sticks but is really a collection of gel pens that I was using to make Christmas cards, and a bookshelf. On that, a NRSV version of the Bible, a small dictionary, various computer-related CDs, games and books, and a copy of Stephanie de Montalk's "Unquiet World," a biography of my grandfather. A hat, a pencil case, and some old pamphlets that were part of a project that was never finished.

The dictionary is useless. English English, and that's the only thing it's got going for it. It's the one that was a required textbook at Uni, and if I need to look up a word, I can usually guarantee that it isn't in there. I also have two reasonably sized dictionaries handy, one has derivations, but spells in American, and the other is possibly Australian, ie, mostly American spelling.

That's the desk in my bedroom, the one I mostly work at. There are two more in the main room, which are equally cluttered, mostly with bits of computer and peripherals. Then there's a bookshelf, with a painting of the Thira spring room on the back, and all my writing and files in it. :wave:

Then there's a large black cat who thinks 2am is time to go to bed ... :wave:

[JayEgo]

The only writting I've really done was during Novemeber (NaNoWriMo) and this was all done on the laptop... No desk!

I did sit at the Kitchen Table (in real life) a few times and had a drink next to me then (coffee - decaf) but that's about all!

Ja¥son xx

[McClance]

When I'm writing my stories, I have these handy:

A dictionary,
Names for Babies book (to find names for my characters),
The Bible (who'd be surprised how many good alien names you can come up with by mixing some of those Hebrew names),
I also like to have access to the internet so I can research information, but that's not overly important,
and I'll occasionally have some snacks and/or some soda to help me think.

[jamnar]

At the moment:
A cup of tea, as I am not writing. For writing it's usually a large glass of wine, I find it helps the imagination.
My mobile phone.
A stack of CD-Rs (my other half is in the middle of transferring his vinyl collection to CD)
A black basalt statuette of a cat, Egyptian.
A collection of pens in a holder shaped like an old boot.
The TV remote
Various bits of paper with stuff scribbled on them.

I don't use notes when I'm writing, I just type in whatever is in my mind at the time. (this is why I will never publish, too much trouble to edit)
I use Lotus Word-pro and most of the stored documents are mine. Trouble is, I can never remember which ones go together :banghead:
If I wrote longhand it would probably use up a small forest of pencils and paper. At least with a p.c. I can just delete what I think is rubbish, so no recycling required.

[Lady Arwyn]

What's on my desk right now?

Keyboard
Trackball
Speakers
Monitor
Lamp
CD tower full of music CDs

An "in-box" type filer for various papers, currrently containing various papers, a notebook, a roll of tape and some purple kindergarten scissors.

A tin with my chocolate stash (almond M&Ms, Dove and Whoppers)
A coffee mug with a winter scene on it and pens, Sharpies and pencils in it
Ring holder with rings
Course listings for CU
A key to our TV (to keep the kids from watching when we think they've had enough)
a mostly empty bag of chocolate covered coffee beans
an AOL cd being used as a trivit
Various cords used to connect my camera and my PDA to my computer
List of courses my husband needs to take this semester
a business card
a toy from the movie "The Pagemaster"
A list of my current classes

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Other than all my computer equipment, I have on my desk: The DLG (always within arms reach), A few Pern books, a can of Pepsi, crackers and vanilla icing, a dictionary and thesaurus, drawing pad, pencil, eraser, smudging tool, a sticky roll for getting rid of cat hair after she curls up on my lap, and an old useless AOL free internet disk which I do little doodlies on with a needle, they look so pretty when you flash them in the light on the reflective surface. :razz:

[NeouofPern]

I actually write on my mother's desk, but somehow all my stuff ends up there. When I write, I usually have my i-pod or other source of music playing, my map, some book, two sketchbooks (one has lined paper) and the homework I should be doing. Hehe.

[Feena_bronze_rider]

When you write, what do you feel you have to keep handy?

I have an American dictionary, a British dictionary, a Spanish-English dictionary, an Irish-English dictonary, Roget's Thesaurus, several books on mythology, several books on warfare through the ages, and one on costumes, two books on animals, two on plants, a few self-sufficentcy (spelling?) and usually a LARGE bottle of Coca~Cola!
Paper Pencils and colored pencils! I couldn't stand it if I was writeing and didn't have drawing material!

[Yonuh Adisi Fiend Jedi]

I can't really tell you what's on my desk. My brother Malphian thinks it's a catchall (catch all the crap he wants to set down) Everytime I clear it off and organize it, the next day it will be in worse shape than when I started clearing it off.

To make it worse, the stuff on my desk shifts like the sand dunes in the sahara.

[GoldriderAria]

Desk.... umm...I have to *find* my desk. ;) Currently on my desk... computer, ergonomic keyboard, mouse, some cat artwork hanging, pile of student grades, pile of Thesis research, a small glass angel with green wings a friend gave me for Christmas (it's cute!), stack of old notebooks full of handwritten fiction and fan-fiction, my copy of Sim City 3000, the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, a copy of Beowulf.... and the nail clippers for my cats!

I think that's everything. I haven't cleaned my desk in a couple of weeks because of more urgent commitments. But it's a big desk. ;) Lots of space.

Normally when I'm writing and it's clean the TOP of the desk is just whatever material I'm actually working with, and the computer, and a snack of some kind.

~Aria

[Kugai]

Lesseeee........

Left to right

Printer, Compie Tower, Speaker, Monitor & Keyboard, Subwoofer, Speaker, Phone/Fax Machine

Behind Printer - Paper Supply
On Tower - Boxfile & Assorted Papers
On Subwoofer - Small Digital Clock
In front of P/F Machine - Music CD's
BEHIND P/F Machine - Small Tablelamp, Bits Of Paper & Cardboard, Ninja Sword
In FRONT of Printer - Assorted Bits Of Paper

[TamTam]

Um, I don't have a desk. My kitchen table is my desk. Here's what's on it:

Monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Little plastic drawers holding papers and pens, and more papers on top. Typing paper and white-out, and my typewriter. Empty glass. Ashtray and pack of cigarettes. Library books, dictionary, and French/English dictionary.

Of course, this is subject to change as soon as I find a better place to put most of these things, and the energy to clean up.

[queenrider melody]

Usually when I write, I keep some books by my favorite author handy to give me ideas.

[Zei]

Computer and accessories, fish and fish food, notepad with Poltrith and Tinth's final clutch as well as many Kim Possible drawings, various disks, pens, pencils and credit cards, envelopes, paper, newspapers and a soda can.

:O Quite messy. :O

[Staerwyen]

Wow you people use references :faint: lol I think Ive used a reference all of *calculates in head* once other wise I have my bed pencil and notebook. when I type thats when i spell check seeing as how I cant spell anyway.