They say a writer needs his/her space in order to be creative and this certainly applies to me.

Much to my family’s chagrin, when I need to work (whether it be writing or illustrating), I retreat into my office/man-cave/dungeon. It’s kind of like the contents of my head on four walls. I’m comfortably surrounded by copies of my own published writing and illustrations, novels, DVDs, art materials and artworks and as soon as I walk in to the room, I know where I am and who I am.

So when it was time to move house (we moved almost three weeks ago), I was simultaneously excited and nervous. I didn’t want to take apart my dungeon and pack it to move. Firstly because I have so much stuff and secondly because I felt like I was tearing myself down, putting all my little pieces away inside dozens of boxes. There were at least two days where I no longer had an office and I felt completely lost.

Then we moved house and after about a week of unpacking all the important life stuff, it was time to go down and check out my new space. The good part was that my new dungeon was twice the size of the old one, which was really exciting. I had a blank canvas to work with.

My lovely wife and I had also spent a bit of time giving the old bookshelves a new coat of varnish before we moved and they looked totally amazing in the new room. Around the same time I received a replica skull from the incredible people at Nightshade FX down in Melbourne, and this just fit perfectly on the shelf.

These dens define us as writers and despite my fears, my new one feels exactly like the old one, and that is very comforting.

I’d love to see other writer’s dens and dungeons, so please share here or at my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/GregChapman.Author

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