If it’s true that a messy desk is the sign of a creative mind, then I’m creative! My poor desk looks like a bomb went off. As I sit here looking at it, I see four big mugs full of pens, three bouquets of fake flowers, signs, stacks of birthday cards, stacks of printouts of the book I’m currently writing, notebooks, books…you get the idea!
I’ve gotten into the bad habit of leaving my laptop on the dining room table and writing there. That wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a perfectly good office downstairs, but I do. It’s just that it’s messy.
Part of the problem is my office is a long slender room. Half is devoted to writing and half to sewing, when I sew, which isn’t often because I’d rather write. But I don’t want to give up my sewing space. And if you sew, or live with someone who does, you know that sewing machines and cutting boards and fabric and patterns and batting and more fabric and unfinished projects…take up a lot of room.
So, I write upstairs in the dining room, and everything gets thrown onto my desk downstairs until I find time to go through it, which isn’t as often as I should.
Not only do I have notebooks and pens and staplers and timers and more notebooks and…stuff on my desk, behind me are boxes of my books and all of the things I need to take with me when I do an author event. Boxes of pens, my tablecloth, my runner and large pictures of my book covers and five boxes of books…all things I need and have nowhere to store because whoever bult this house didn’t put in enough closets or storage space!
I know it’s time to reorganize my space. Every time I do, I hope that with the clutter cleaned up I will be more productive. Do I really need seven copies of each book in manuscript form? Plus, other manuscripts that have never and will never see the light of day?
Why do I hoard, yes, I know that’s a dirty word, but why do I hoard pens and notebooks? I love them and buy tons of them. I’m always on the search for the perfect pen and continually go back to my old standby, my blue Bic pen. Don’t judge! It makes my handwriting look better.
Years ago, when we used this office for our business, my son went through and got rid of a bunch of pens. I almost had a melt down! (He hasn’t offered to do that again!) I think it’s time to ask him to intervene though. NO ONE NEEDS THIS MANY PENS!
A few years ago, our basement flooded. We had to take everything out and I decided it was a good time to get rid of a few things. I donated a lot of books to the library and threw away a lot of notebooks and stuff that had accumulated, but I need to do it again. (Not flooding the office, that wasn’t fun. But I need to do a thorough purge of my space.)
In case you’re wondering, I do keep our living space neat. My office has become the dumping ground for all my stuff.
It’s spring. Every spring I feel the need to clean and purge. Just not today. I’m nearing the end of writing my current book. I don’t want to take time off and clean until it’s finished. I’ll just have to put the purge on hold until I finish the book. Maybe the thought of a clean office will spur me on, and I’ll finish the book faster. One can always hope.
What about you? Do you save things you don’t need? Do you like to work in a clean office, or like me, is your desk messy most of the time? Let me know in the comments below. I promise I won’t hate you if you’re a neat freak! I’ll just be envious and try to force myself to finish my WIP and then I’ll clean this office!
Ladies of Mystery 
Fun post! My desk is a mess right now because, like you, I am working hard at finishing a book. But once it is finished and off to my beta readers, I’ll clean my desk and get it ready for the next book I write. I have notebooks for each series I write. That is spread on my desk while I am writing the next book in the series. Along with that are notes I make as I write, and of course, the books I am using for the research on that book. I have to clean by desk between books. It’s like I’m saying, I’m done with that book and series, time to focus on the next one. And like you, I have WAAY too many pens in my desk drawer and in mugs on my desk! LOL
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I couldn’t get this to go in the Comment section: Although I don’t collect pens, otherwise your description of your office mirrors mine almost exactly. I try to clear a space from time to time, but it fills up rapidly. I also move to the dining table if I feel the need for more space. I do write all of my novels first in longhand with pencil, and then transfer my writing to my computer, and sometimes keep going. I will think of both of us having creative minds! Julie Westonwww.julieweston.com
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You inspired me to clean off my desk! Which was easy. Why? Because most of the papers were from a year ago, either obsolete, taken care of, or no longer of interest. And now one of the cats, Niles, can hop up here without scattering useless papers around. He wanted me to thank you. Meow.
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I smiled all the way through your post. I too have a messy desk, but I have a method. I keep my tasks/projects in relatively discrete piles, and when I finish a major one, then I clean my desk, tidy up the piles, throw things away, and have a “clean slate,” or desktop for a few days. It doesn’t last longer than that. My dining room is a collector of things–mostly photography, lots of plants, and in the corner gardening tools. (It’s close to a back door.) I don’t like the mess on my desk, but t helps me focus by driving me back to my screen and whatever I’m writing. Like now.
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