Hello, Avid Readers!
I hope you had a fun Independence Day celebration. Fireworks are one of my favorite things. The loud bangs and sparkles that follow are so mesmerizing and pretty.
Today I want to talk about the places I write. I think it's important to know that whether you are a reader and/or a writer, where a story is written has such a huge influence on the story itself. How a writer writes and receives inspiration is as different as the writer themselves. And a lot of that inspiration can be found in the places a writer writes.
I was lucky enough in my latest move to procure for myself a writing room. This room is where I often like to finally get my words out and onto paper or into my laptop. I do research here on my double screens and type out very, very rough drafts. Then I print those drafts out and scribble at my white L-shaped desk all over the pristine paper. My walls are painted a soft lilac purple with white lace curtains around two adjacent windows and littered with children's drawings and friends' postcards. My desk is butted into the corner between these two windows with my back to the door. A man-guy-made shelf of Jatoba wood is anchored high above the desk and holds precious stuffed Ghibli characters, a Lego bonsai tree, and a Chinese fan. The door blissfully blocks out the thunderous sounds of a busy house. A futon sits opposite the desk, next to the door. This futon has an overstuffed mattress covered in purple sheets and a gray thin quilt. It is my place to relax and another place to sit when my back can't stand the chair any longer. I am conveniently close enough to respond to emergencies within the household, while also being secluded enough to fully focus on my writing.
Sometimes though, I can't retreat to my writing room, so I keep a notebook nearby, often in the depths of the momster purse bag that holds mostly snacks and receipts along with a series of colored pens and mechanical pencils. If the words aren't coming out right, I like to change the color of my pen and try again.
I have found that if I am writing a tension-driven scene, I tend to write it better in busier public places. I am not a fan of busy. I hate going places on the weekends. I hate traveling during holidays. The whole COVID-pandemic-funtime made that anxiety worse. So far, it is not a crippling fear. I take those feelings and find a corner in the chaos-often at a café or coffee shop or bench- and write the scene that needs that tension. For me, it works almost like therapy. I know this is how I feel in this situation and those feelings are the ones I want portrayed in this scene, so I force myself through it. The words flow easier from my head to my pen this way.
For story ideas, I like to take my children to the park, pool, or some public place with a lot of people. Then I creepily people-watch. Sometimes I am reminded of stories I have read. Sometimes I make up my own stories about what the people are doing and why. With it being summer and all things hot, I have been going to the pool a lot lately. The new Little Mermaid movie was also recently released. But I tend to like darker, sinister stories, so I recall the tales of mermaids from Asian and African countries. See how the ideas start flowing in? So I tucked that little idea away into my ideas box.
Writers are all different. Some have one location designated for all their writing. Some have no designated place at all. And there are all types of in-betweens. But this is how I like to write. Many of my ideas come from people-watching. Writing tense scenes is often done in public. The majority of my writing is done in my purple gaming chair at my large desk in my purple writing room. Guess what? Purple is my favorite color, just in case you didn't pick up on that.
