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Rumaan Alam credits the speed in which he wrote his latest novel, Entitlement, largely to the fact that he and his photographer husband, David Land, began renting a workspace separate from their New York home a few years ago. “We moved into the office September 1, and I started [on the book] two days later,” recalls Alam. The kids weren’t underfoot, and Alam liked the idea of having a clear division between his working self (his last novel, Leave the World Behind, is now a feature film on Netflix) and his “real” self—a dad, an art lover, an avid cook.
Sure, on paper, all Alam needs to accomplish his job is a table, chair, and laptop, but in reality, the author enjoys having beautiful and meaningful objects around him to get inspired: passport photos of his sons, malachite-patterned pillows, a Robert Colescott painting, a yellow toddler chair from his childhood. His side of the office—technically a Brooklyn brownstone’s second floor—is both a personal respite as well as a dedicated home for his massive book collection. “Our home has to function for four people. It has to be logical—the kids need to understand where the glasses are,” says Alam. “But in the office, it’s just for me. It’s very liberating.”
So how does a best-selling author actually organize his mountains of books, paper drafts, and Blackwing 602 pencils? Ahead, he reveals six tidying tactics that have worked wonders.
Good-Looking Shelves
It feels like a luxury to be able to see all of my books. The splurge was really the Vitsoe shelves. I think they’re so handsome, they’re modular, and they’re easy to remove. We rent, so I didn’t want to build something that I wouldn’t be able to take with me.
A Flexible Book System
The books are alphabetized—I’d go crazy if they weren’t. Fiction and nonfiction are mixed. To save space, I stacked titles by author. I have so many books by Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth, Haruki Murakami…it’s more efficient to stack them.
However, I ran out of space. I alphabetized some of my books when they were still in storage. So when I pulled them out, it was simply too big of an undertaking to integrate the two methods. In a weird way, though, I know where things are. If I really need to consult a copy of Ian McEwan’s Atonement or Louise Erdich’s Love Medicine, I know what the spine looks like and vaguely where it is.
Empty Floor Space for Editing Sessions
Once I finish a full draft, I print it, I read it, I mark it up, and then I go back to the computer and make a whole new revision. I like to have a concrete record of it, in part, because it makes me feel exhilarated when I see it. I pile them up on the chair and then occasionally break them out by section on the floor, which is why there’s nothing there.
Stylish Office-Supply Storage
The Kartell Componibili used to be a toy cabinet when our kids were small. Now it’s full of pencils, office supplies, extra piles of notebooks—there’s so much office detritus that accrues over time that I hide away in there.
The [yellow] unit is from the 1970s by Schönbuch that I bought at Home Union. There is a lot of clutter associated with any life, but especially this kind of work. I don’t like to see too much of that, but I also didn’t want this apartment to feel too sterile. I wanted it to feel like a home.
A Tray That Holds the Things That Hold Other Things
The Golden Girls mug was a Christmas gift from my sister (I’m a superfan). The Sesame Street cup I got in college. The one with flamingos on it was a present from the writer Megan O’Connell. I also have about 15 brass analog pencil sharpeners. I keep one in every tote bag and pouch for when I’m working outside the house, and I use the vintage ashtray to hold the shavings.
Color-Coded Notebooks
I use a red Moleskine notebook as my journal, a black one for everything (shopping lists, a game of hangman with my kids), and a green one only for my to-do lists. I like to make them daily and check things off, and I know it’s in the green one that’s always on my desk. If you have to search for your to-do list, then it’s not working for you!