Is Neil Gaiman's gazebo a red herring?

Regular readers of Shedworking (and those of you who have read the book) will know that Neil Gaiman is a shedworker. But in an interesting post, writer Doyce Testerman suggests that 'You do not need Neil Gaiman's gazebo'. Although he admits that writing huts are very pleasant (and generously gives this site a kind hat tip), he argues that what writers should concentrate on is the actual writing part of their job description in whatever space they have available and goes on to make excellent points about procrastination in general. It's well worth reading and not just if you are a writer as Neil himself has tweeted:

Great blog on procrastination, and why you do not need my gazebo: http://bit.ly/dlTeoOless than a minute ago via TweetDeckNeil Gaiman
neilhimself

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Arron Banks and the garden office/writing room debate

Those of you not on Twitter may have missed the current garden office/writing room debate kicked off by Brexit campaigner Arron Banks (although now he's kind of changed his tune) who criticised JK Rowling for having a writing room. As everything always does on Twitter, it's all kicking off and as you will not be surprised to learn, entirely against Mr Banks's position. Here are a few comments (warning, there is some poor language in the following tweets):

I have a writing room. It comes complete with writing dog. If you think that's pretentious, I'm afraid that's on you. pic.twitter.com/O47nkYqzDp

— James Oswald (@SirBenfro) December 1, 2018

I've a writing shed (& office/library), was a shed, took out end to remove carpenters bench (any offers?) replaced with reused double glazing, then insulated, added vinyl floor, shelves, plus a stove, and all by myself, why, because this writer needs more than a pen. Pretentious! pic.twitter.com/2sLhkgcfqG

— Bob Flowerdew (@FlowerdewBob) December 3, 2018

Like J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman, I have a writing room. Actually, it's a one-room studio. There's even a couch. And if you think that's pretentious, go fuck yourself.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 1, 2018

I've had a "writer's room" since 1985, and the first house we were renting, when I was still a journalist. It's the room you do the work in. The idea that you don't get a room to work in is the same as the idea that writing isn't work. https://t.co/4e7EBnLj0Y

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 1, 2018

My current writing room: it's a cabin in the woods. Most days I look up from writing to see deer, chipmunks or even bears wandering, scurrying, or lumbering past. It's a good place to work, because if you are a writer people don't always leave you alone to write. pic.twitter.com/FuNNQu6RW2

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 1, 2018

there's this flash butcher I know with a SHOP

— Dom Joly (@domjoly) November 30, 2018

You can catch up on the whole sorry spectacle on Twitter here.

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Neil Gaiman - shedworker

Dashing writer Neil Gaiman (Stardust, The Sandman) is a shedworker (technically a gazeboworker) and has put up a photo of his rather nice shedlike atmosphere on his site here. There are several references to the gazebo elsewhere on his site, a spot he says is "the easiest place to write with a large white dog". The cages in the shot below are for blueberry bushes to keep the rabbits and the groundhogs out.Thanks to Kits and Mortar for the Twitterlert

Neil Gaiman: shedworker

Writer and general all round good egg Neil Gaiman is featured in the new Shedworking book. Here's a snippet about what he says about his garden office (pictured above) from the book:

I had the gazebo built about 15 years ago, and go through phases of using it, and then I'll abandon it for 5 years, then rediscover it with delight. I love walking to the bottom of the garden, and settling down to write.

Nothing ever happens down there. I can look out of the window and some wildlife will occasionally look back, but mostly it's just trees, and they are only so interesting for so long, so I get back to writing, very happily.

There are heaters down there, because it gets cold here in winter, and blankets on the chairs, ditto, and I have to try and remember not to leave bottles of ink on the table as they freeze. It's just out of reach of the house Wifi, too, which is a good thing.

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Shedworking economy up 25% to £8bn

According to a poll run by Shedworking for supermarket giants Asda, although economic conditions may be challenging for traditional workers, the value to the UK economy of home and shed-based businesses will top £8 billion this year. That's up from just over £6 billion in the same poll in 2010.

The figure reflects the boom in the numbers of homeworkers: the poll of shed/home-based business owners found that the average turnover of home-based businesses has risen by 25% in the last two years. Reflecting this growth, sales of sheds and low-cost office technology and stationery for potential home use have boomed at Asda in the last 12 months, with shed sales up 386%, laptop sales up 86%, printer sales up 45% and stationery sales up 12%.

Asda has recently launched a home business starter kit, including a range of low cost products from stationery to IT equipment to help budding entrepreneurs start a business. A shed, office chair, desk, laptop, printer, ream of paper, pay as you go phone and 50-pack of ballpoint pens can be bought from Asda for less than £500. Nearly four in five (77.8%) of those polled said the lower cost of equipment to run a business were among their main reasons for choosing to start a business from home.

“Many households are taking a go-it-alone approach to business and are reaping the rewards,” said Alex Crowe, Asda’s homeworking specialist. “The low cost of starting up a business means that many households are pursuing the entrepreneurial dream. With the value of the back garden economy reaching an amazing £8 billion, home-based businesses are now lending a whole new meaning to the term ‘home economics’”.

Sixteen percent of those polled said that their turnover had been in the £100-150,000 range in the last twelve months and 7.9% said that their turnover had exceeded £200,000. The poll also revealed
 * Nearly a quarter of home-based businesses polled employ more that one person and one in twenty employs more than five.
 * Four in five (78.9%) expect to work from home indefinitely.
* Many of the home businesses polled were bullish about the prospects for growth this year, with 13.5% of those polled expecting turnover growth of 20% or more. Only five percent of respondents expected no growth or a decline in sales this year. More than a third (35.1%) expected growth of between five and ten percent this year.

Lower costs, easier childcare and a sense of it being a more modern way of working were among the main reasons cited for working from home.

The sub-£500 home start-up – premises and all the equipment you need to set up your business from Asda for less than £500: 6x4 shed - £129 Desk - £14 Laptop - £249 Printer - £30 Office chair - £19 Ream of paper - £2.38 Pay as you go phone - £12.50 Pack of 50 ballpoint pens - £4.50 Total - £460.38

Pictured above is author and shedworker Neil Gaiman's writing shed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Shedworking Awards 2010

It's that time of the year again when we present the annual Shedworking Awards (actually, this is the first time we've done it but it'll be annual from now on). There have been so many intriguing posts and builds and blogs and photos and tweets and comments over the last year that it's really hard to narrow them all down. Thanks too to everybody who got in touch via Twitter to 'vote' for the Readers' Award. And so without further ado, onto the opening of the envelopes...

Best design - In a year when we saw a lot of intriguing round/egg-shaped designs, the award goes to a shedlike atmosphere with lots of pointy bits, the Hickshaw by Derek Diedricksen. There's a lot to like about the Hickshaw: it's made from recycled building materials, it's very mobile and it's a genuine labour of love.

Best blog/web site Again, fierce competition in this category. Honourable mentions to Workalicious and A Place Imagined and to the always intelligent Lloyd Alter at Treehugger but the one blog that has impressed us in particular is Kent Griswold's Tiny House Blog which has consistently brought interesting builds to a wider audience as well as championing the importance of living and working in small spaces.

Best use of Facebook – Shedworkers and garden office builders are becoming much more savvy about the use of social media sites, though many could do much, much more. We thought Atelier and Irish Wood Style both did a good job on FB this year but the award goes to Historic Shed who as well as using it as a showcase for their own work also pointed fans of the page to other relevant sites of interest on the interwebs


Best Tweeter – Not many people tweet regularly about their garden office. Fiona Gilsenan is an exception, using the #shedworking hash tag more than anybody (including Shedworking itself!) and also charting the ups and downs of life as a shedworker. A very worthy winner.

Best popularisation of shedworking – The V&A's 1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces exhibition brought home to thousands of visitors that small is good and they also put together a cracking website to accompany it. A thoughtful and cleverly curated show

Readers' Award - We asked Shedworking's followers on Twitter and Facebook what they most enjoyed reading/seeing this year and the winner by some margin was our research revealing the £6.1bn which shedworkers contribute to the UK economy

Lifetime achievement award – It's impossible to overestimate how much Uncle Wilco has done to popularise back garden microarchitecture, in particular in the UK but increasingly across the entire planet. Shed of the Year is now a major event covered by the world's media and readersheds.co.uk continues to move onwards and upwards, not forgetting the Flickr site too. And he's a decent chap. Take a bow.

And for you stat fanatics, the three most popular posts of 2010 (by pageviews) were:
1) Phone book shed - 3,626
2) Neil Gaiman: shedworker - 3,469
3) Launch of Irish Men's Sheds Forum - 1,002
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Enter your garden office for Shed of the Year 2012

The Olympics is not the biggest international competitive event this year. Not by a long chalk. Yes, it's time to start preparing for the annual Shed of the Year competition, now bigger and better than ever before. Whether you've already entered your shed or need to enter this year for the first time, do nip along and take a look at the entry instructions at readersheds.co.uk. Essentially, you need at least two photos of your shed to enter, closing date is May 20, and public voting will start on May 21. Then once the contenders have been whittled down to a shortlist, the starry lineup of judges - Television's Sarah Beeny, bestselling author Neil Gaiman, Shed of the year 2011 Winner Jon Earl, Uncle Wilco from readersheds.co.uk and me - will enter the fray... Shed Week itself starts on July 2 and You can see previous winners at Shed Blog
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Woodhenge pub shed wins Shed of the Year 2012

From more than 2,000 creative garden dens, the winner of the highest shed accolade has been announced. John Plumridge from Shrewsbury will be raising a glass in his pub shed as it is crowned the winner of the 2012 Shed of the Year competition sponsored by Cuprinol.

The humble garden shed has offered Brits a sanctuary from the stresses of family life for decades, but now this Shropshire sheddie has taken the concept to new heights with his Woodhenge Pub Shed. Spending over four years converting his beloved shed, John completed it with a beer bottle collection of over 500 real ales and 110 ciders, all on display for local sheddies who often pop by for a swift pint.

 John Plumridge, said: “When I was told I’d won the competition, I was absolutely thrilled. Normally I’m a very chatty and jovial person but I did find myself lost for words and I must confess to having “shed” a tear. I’ve been working on “Woodhenge” for around four years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. I can’t even hazard a guess at the cost involved but it’s a great venue for our family and friends to party in and the good thing is we haven’t got too far to get home.”

The Shed of the year judges - ‘Head Sheddie’ and creator of the competition Uncle Wilco, property guru and shed fan Sarah Beeny, world famous author Neil Gaiman, self-proclaimed sheddie and author of Shedworking Alex Johnson, and 2011 winner Jon Earl – picked from the most creative, innovative and barmy entries. Sarah Beeny, comments: “Shed of the Year is a great inspiration and clearly encourages people to get creative with their sheds. I am really happy that a pub shed has won after I created my own Kings Head pub shed for Cuprinol, which is currently on display in Rufford Park in Nottingham. Hopefully others will be inspired to create their own sheddy haven too."

With over 15 million shed owners in the UK it’s no surprise that Cuprinol has seen shed loads of entries from up and down the country. Those in London submitted the most shed entries (63) followed by 42 sheddies in Kent then those in Lancashire and Essex with 35 shed entries each. And it was the Garden Office category which proved the most popular this year seeing more than 125 entries.

So if you think your garden retreat has what it takes to be crowned Shed of the Year, why not submit your entry from August for the 2013 competition at readershed.co.uk.

Category winners include:
Normal Shed Mark's Folly: Mark Mason, Warwickshire
Eco Shed The Solar Shed: Kevin Holland, Norfolk
Garden Office Bostin Betty: Paula,Landlocked, Birmingham
Cabin/Summerhouse Colne Valley Postal History Museum: Steve Knight, Essex,
Workshop/Studio The Stencil Shed: "Syd", Wiltshire
Unique The Water Shed: Geoff Hill, Gwynedd
Pub Shed Woodhenge: John Henry, Shrewsbury
Tardis BlueBox Type 40: John Williams, Newport -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Voting gets underway for Shed of the Year 2012

Public voting has started on readersheds.co.uk and will carry on until Saturday June 16 so do pop along and make your mark. There are several categories including of course garden office. "We have had some brilliant sheds added this year," says organiser Uncle Wilco. "The sheddies always amaze me and this year some unique examples of spaces to get away from it all." The top eight sheds as voted for by the public will then go forward to the final where a panel of judges - including Neil Gaiman, Sarah Beeney, Uncle Wilco and myself - will decide on which one should be crowned Shed of the Year 2012. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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