Quick answer: The writing desk in Graveyard Keeper 2 goes in the writing basement under your house; the hatch is next to your bed. Research Writing Basic (5 red + 5 green tech points), then build the desk for 4 Wooden Planks + 6 Bronze Nails + 1 Polished Bronze. Polished Bronze is what stops most players: unlock Bronze Polishing and craft it at the Woodworking Workbench, or buy it for 75 bronze from the Furniture Maker, Jeweler or Smithy.

Players ask where is the writing desk? when they can't find a spot to build it: it isn't in the house itself, it's in the basement below. Russian players search как создать письменный стол ("how to make a writing desk"); the recipe is the same. Writing desk bug and how do I write stories? are about the purple brain icon with a red cross, which isn't a bug (see below).

Quick facts

  • Where: the writing basement under your house, hatch next to the bed
  • Research: Writing Basic, 5 red + 5 green tech points
  • Cost: 4 Wooden Planks, 6 Bronze Nails, 1 Polished Bronze
  • Makes: sermons, stories, Science Kits
  • Needs to write stories: some insanity

How to build the writing desk

Open the basement

Larry, the talking skull, shows you the hatch in your bedroom. Some quests come first, so if there's no hatch yet, keep following the story.

Research Writing Basic

5 red + 5 green tech points.

Get Bronze Nails

Break Broken Barrels and Trash Piles around your house with an axe for nails and Bronze Scraps. Later, unlock Bronze Works and build a Wooden Anvil (1 Short Log + 1 Stone): 1 Bronze Scrap makes 6 Bronze Nails.

Make or buy Polished Bronze

Unlock Bronze Polishing, then craft 2 Bronze Detail + 2 Sand + 1 Melted Fat at the Woodworking Workbench for 2 Polished Bronze. Or buy one for 75 bronze.

Build the desk in the basement

4 Wooden Planks + 6 Bronze Nails + 1 Polished Bronze.

PartWhere it comes from
Wooden PlanksSawhorse
Bronze NailsBarrels, trash piles, Wooden Anvil
Bronze DetailForged at the anvil
Melted FatDistillation Cube: 1 Fat + 2 Clay Plates + 20 Fuel
Polished BronzeWorkbench, or 75 bronze from a shop

Brain icon with a red cross when you try to write a story? You need insanity to write stories, because writing uses it up. Work on corpses in the morgue for a while, then write. It isn't a bug, and rebuilding the desk or sleeping won't change it.

What the writing desk is for

  • Sermons and stories: better writing mastery means better sermons
  • Science Kits: a main source of Science for the Study Table (Alchemy)
  • Lower insanity: writing stories uses up insanity (Energy)

A zombie can work the desk, but writing stays a manual step in your production chain.

FAQ

Related

Sources: Steam Community discussions ("Need help Where is the writing desk?", "Writing desk bug?", "How do I write stories?"), wikily.gg, gk2help, Game Rant.