Writing Where I Am
Wednesday, June 16. 2010
I wrote prose earlier this year while sitting on top of a Mayan pyramid. What an amazing experience. I made a specific trip to Coba in the Yucatan to climb the Nohoch Mul and drink in the ambience. The opening scene of BMtL has our hero standing atop this selfsame pyramid, considering where he is in his life, just as his life is abruptly turned upside down for him. I'd been up here before, but it had been seven years. I needed a recharge.
It helped. I looked out over the green canopy, watched a lone gray hawk glide across the cloudless sky, tried to ignore the radio tower piercing the timeless, idyllic scene. I thought about the spot I'd reached in the plot of my novel, and I thought about my protagonist and all he'd been through, and I thought about myself and what had led me to this point in my life, and two key paragraphs poured out of me. Happily I had brought paper along to capture them.
I needed this retreat to a place that's special to me. It unlocked something inside. But it also emphasized a recurring problem I face — I have difficulty writing where I am.
Why can't I simply be creative wherever I find myself? I shouldn't need to be surrounded by the awesomeness of ancient Mayan ruins. I shouldn't even need my computer, my chair, the beverage at my elbow to be "just so." My brain's always with me (contrary to outward indications), so I should have the ability to write at any time, in any locale, under any conditions.
As with many things, I believe it's just a matter of hunkering down and doing. If I truly want to be an author, to Get Things Done in my writing, I've got to overcome this location limitation.
Pilgrimages have their place, but I can't rely upon them daily. And daily I must write.
I wrote prose earlier this year while sitting on top of a Mayan pyramid. What an amazing experience. I made a specific trip to Coba in the Yucatan to climb the Nohoch Mul and drink in the ambience. The opening scene of BMtL has our hero standing atop this selfsame pyramid, considering where he is in his life, just as his life is abruptly turned upside down for him. I'd been up here before, but it had been seven years. I needed a recharge.
It helped. I looked out over the green canopy, watched a lone gray hawk glide across the cloudless sky, tried to ignore the radio tower piercing the timeless, idyllic scene. I thought about the spot I'd reached in the plot of my novel, and I thought about my protagonist and all he'd been through, and I thought about myself and what had led me to this point in my life, and two key paragraphs poured out of me. Happily I had brought paper along to capture them.
I needed this retreat to a place that's special to me. It unlocked something inside. But it also emphasized a recurring problem I face — I have difficulty writing where I am.
Why can't I simply be creative wherever I find myself? I shouldn't need to be surrounded by the awesomeness of ancient Mayan ruins. I shouldn't even need my computer, my chair, the beverage at my elbow to be "just so." My brain's always with me (contrary to outward indications), so I should have the ability to write at any time, in any locale, under any conditions.
As with many things, I believe it's just a matter of hunkering down and doing. If I truly want to be an author, to Get Things Done in my writing, I've got to overcome this location limitation.
Pilgrimages have their place, but I can't rely upon them daily. And daily I must write.
It helped. I looked out over the green canopy, watched a lone gray hawk glide across the cloudless sky, tried to ignore the radio tower piercing the timeless, idyllic scene. I thought about the spot I'd reached in the plot of my novel, and I thought about my protagonist and all he'd been through, and I thought about myself and what had led me to this point in my life, and two key paragraphs poured out of me. Happily I had brought paper along to capture them.
I needed this retreat to a place that's special to me. It unlocked something inside. But it also emphasized a recurring problem I face — I have difficulty writing where I am.
Why can't I simply be creative wherever I find myself? I shouldn't need to be surrounded by the awesomeness of ancient Mayan ruins. I shouldn't even need my computer, my chair, the beverage at my elbow to be "just so." My brain's always with me (contrary to outward indications), so I should have the ability to write at any time, in any locale, under any conditions.
As with many things, I believe it's just a matter of hunkering down and doing. If I truly want to be an author, to Get Things Done in my writing, I've got to overcome this location limitation.
Pilgrimages have their place, but I can't rely upon them daily. And daily I must write.
Jimmy Anderson on :
I do not pretend to do nearly what you do, but I know my blog writing just kinda takes off on its own... I don't have to be "in a place," but if I'm overly distracted of course it doesn't come out.
Kevin W. on :