Top 10 Bookish Items For Your Writing Space

 

A writing space is sacred. It is where worlds are built, characters are born, and spells are cast from different handwriting. So I figured it’s about time I showed you my writing space, and the bookish items in it that inspire me.

Last week we had company over so I cleaned my writing room and then took a hundred photos to prove it was clean. 😉 But a writing space is more than just a location. It’s about atmosphere (Tweet this— at least it is for me. I love to be surrounded by books, burning a yummy candle, looking out a window. I decorate with trinkets or fandom items, etc. So I thought I’d share my writing space with you not just through a single photo, but through many…revealing the little things that you might find in the nooks and crannies of my room.

The things that, in their own small ways, make me want to plop down and write:

1. Bookish candles by In the Wick of Time on Etsy.

Apparently bookish candles are a thing. And apparently they are MY FAVORITE THING EVER and I never knew it. So what if The Shire is really just a mixture of grassy smells and freshness? The label looks like a Hobbit door, okay?

I’ve tried a few different bookish candle brands and In the Wick of Time is my favorite. They’re fresh and won’t suffocate you like some others. Also, the owner of the shop is basically the kindest person ever.in the wick of time candles bookish

2. #Bookstagram mug by evieseo

Just…look at it. (See above photo.) An antique camera. Pretty bluish colors. Flowers. The word book on the front. This mug is perfect! I display it, I drink out of it, I take photos of it…mugs are a weakness of mine. And mugs are almost as important as pens to a writer. We need our tea/coffee/cocoa/cider etc to survive write well.

3. Wax seals, because…um…wax seals.

Just think about it. You get to play with fire. You get to melt something. And then you get to create art in that melted something and then send it to people as an official letter.

Why do we no longer do this?!

wax-seals

4. Typewriter! (duh)

Because it is practically perfect in every way.

What writer doesn’t have a typewriter in his or her room? (Um…probably the logical ones who realize that, unless they’re going to use it, they probably shouldn’t fill their space with heavy out-dated machinery.) Well, I use mine and the sound it makes is addicting and totally wakes the neighborhood.

typewriter

5. Coasters.

A bookworm cannot live without coasters. Because we drink tea. Coffee. LIQUIDS. This is in the rulebook of being a writer. And if we don’t have coasters, then we might use a book to hold our mugs…and then if we spill our lives are over because there’s no stopping that sweet caffeinated goodness from destroying out computer, our back up, our back-up’s back-up, etc. Coffee/tea is a hero. But spilled coffee/tea is a villain, seeking out our electronics.

Coasters are our shields.

Coasters are a must on every author’s desk. (This is coming from the girl who spilled tea on her laptop AND KILLED IT DEAD. Learn from my mistakes.)

6. Funko Pops.

They are my little family of imaginary friends and I don’t expect anyone to understand (unless you’re in the bookstagram community because Bookstagrammers TOTALLY GET IT.)

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Yes, I have a Harry Potter problem. Yes, my husband knows about it. AND YES IT IS UNDER CONTROL. *buys another Funko*

You can laugh…but I can send my Funko pop army after you.

7. Quotes.

My college roomie gave me this awesome engraved wood quote of C. S. Lewis as a birthday gift (yes, I have those types of roomies. Be jealous.) and now I hug it and take it to bed with me every night.

c s lewis quote tea books

I actually don’t have that many quotes around my writing desk, but the ones I do print out or cut out and display usually inspire me to go write with a single glance.

8. Colorful pens!

Every writer is a pen-snob, whether they’ll admit it or not. We know which pens bleed through the page, which ones write smoothest, which ones cause hand cramps, etc. Also, pens are usually scattered EVERYWHERE. They are always accessible because we have 8,000 of them.

My favorite pens are as follows:

  • Staedtler Fineliner pens — these are my FAVORITES! I use them for all my note-taking and they travel well in their little plastic organizer. I also use them when I pick up those adult coloring books in my free time. Okay, at least I would use them if I had free time to actually color in those books.
  • Sharpie fine-point pens — These ones are magical because they don’t bleed through the page. I don’t know what wizard managed that, but they’re fantastic for taking notes on thin paper or in your Bible (if you do that sort of thing.)

9. My LetterFolk board.

This is a newish addition to my writing room and I’m slightly obsessed with putting new quotes on it. I got the board from LetterFolk.com and the quality is superb. Doesn’t it make every bookish photo look that much better? (You can see more bookish photos with my letterboard on my Instagram.)

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10. Bookshelves.

I know this kind of cheating, because these aren’t the small things in my writing room. They’re actually quite huge and take up the majority of the room. But I had to mention them! It’s like leaving out my favorite child! (Not that I’ll have favorites or anything…) When we moved, hubby got me matching shelves from Ikea and I CAN’T STOP STARING AT THEM. Or hugging them. Or spending hours dusting them and cleaning them and reorganizing them. Aren’t they loverly?

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This photo, in a nutshell, captures my writing space as a whole. It is a place that I come to and find myself surrounded by books, inspiration, memories, writing utensils, and nature. I’ve come to learn how important it is to have a creative space, even if it’s just a creative chair that, when you sit in it your brain jumps into creative mode.

 


What items in your house inspire you in your creativity?

Tell me three of them! (Or a hundred. Or one. I just really want to know.)

 

 

 



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About Nadine Brandes

NADINE BRANDES once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of the award-winning ROMANOV, FAWKES, and the Out of Time Series. Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she's not busy writing novels about bold living, she's adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. She and her Auror husband are building a Tiny House on wheels with their Halfling children. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.
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24 Comments

  1. I so want a typewriter!!

  2. (Wax seals, so very YEEESSS!! I love mine.) But on to inspiring items, #1. Me typewriter, definitely! Also music, but that’s not really an item. My Pandora account, maybe? 🙂

  3. I love your writing space!!!!!! 😀

    Since I live in a family of eight and share a room with two of them … I don’t get much free space. But whenever I look at my books or a notebook or pens, I JUST WANT TO WRITE!!!

    Also, this weekend I’m starting the Harry Potter series on audiobooks!! We’re going on another trip. Yay!

    • Aww thank you!
      Yes, it’s much more difficult to find your own space when sharing a room. That is when you grab a flag and declare ownership over an entire corner of the room! Then block it off with sheets and don’t apologize. It is now your own mini room… 😛

      And AHHHHH!! HARRY POTTER!! I’ve heard magnificent things about those audiobooks. Enjoy!!

  4. I have wanted wax seals for forever!!! Where did you find yours????

    • I’ve had them for so long I can’t even remember! But most of mine are little cheapies you could probably find online. I think I got some from Barnes & Noble one time. My parents got me one from Italy once. O.o That one’s AWESOME.

  5. Wax seals are so cool, you can buy them from Amazon. Look it up. Thanks for showing us your writing space, sadly I don’t have one but I either write at my desk in the middle of the noisy school room or go to my bedroom with I share with my two just younger sisters. It is a good place to write because when not writing I can stare at book son my shelves and the other things on my shelves, like opened letters, statues of horses, willow, a map of the wall, random rocks, bookmarks. My part of the room is also decorated with photos I took. So it is quite a good place to write when I am the only one there and it is silence, silence inspires me to create, maybe because it needs filling.

  6. A stack of books on my desk (currently topped with my shiny new copy of A Time To Rise which just got here today! 😀 😀 ), and the Harry Potter wand, Gallifreyan watch, freshly sharpened pencils, and Venus flytrap I keep on my windowsill in the kitchen. 😀

  7. Emily Joy Drown

    Ahh, I love all of these so much. <3

    BUT. Bookish candles?? Oh my goodness. So this is really a thing. o.o I want.

  8. Pingback: Have a rad weekend! | Christen E. Krumm

  9. New topic (not really since I’ve been talking about it foh-ev-ah), but…

    I just finished A Time to Rise.

    Oh my.

    *hugs Nadine* Just… oh my. xD

  10. These are so cool! Your writing space is simply amazing. I need those wax seals so much! 😀

  11. YOUR WRITING SPACE *dies from the epicness*

    I LOVE that you have an entire Harry Potter shelf – that is SO awesome. And your Funko Pops! So cute – I need my own family of book people on my shelves *nods*. AND YOUR SHELVES! All the prettiness. I love how you arranged the books on them!

    • Funko pops are SO FUN. Especially when you can control yourself to only get the ones you really want. 😀 Then they each feel special. (At least that’s what I tell myself to keep myself from buying them all.)

  12. Cait @ Paper Fury

    AHHHH YOUR WRITING SPACE IS BEAUTIFUL. And those shelves.?? Omgggg. *flails for all eternity* I also love that you have so many inspiring things in your space! I have a really nice view down my valley, and my bookshelf is in my room, but otherwise I just write on my bed hahah. (I KNOW I should work at a desk but pfft. My bed is so comfy and handy for spontaneous naps-instead-of-editing.) But seriously this post is all the beautifulness and I just realised I haven’t been living if I don’t have a typewriter. *adds it to need-immediately list*

    • I still totally go work on my bed. But usually I save that sacred place for reaaaaaaading. 😛 Also, spontaneous naps are part of a writer’s job description. It’s true. It was in my contract. 😛

      YOU MUST GET A TYPEWRITER. It will change your life. And your characters will cooperate more. (That’s a lie, but it sounds nice…)

  13. I love your bookshelves. 🙂 I keep sticky notes on my computer-the theme of my WIP, sweet notes from hubby, whatever it takes to inspire me. Thanks for sharing your writing space!

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