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As writers, we must constantly refill our cup of inspiration. The best way I've found to do this is to travel away from your normal surroundings.
You don't have to go very far, or even leave for very long. But stepping outside of your comfort zone helps you to be braver in your writing.
When I was a college sophomore, I traveled internationally for the first time. In China, I learned to write about homesickness. In France, I learned to write with grand ambitions (walking in the path of so many literary luminaries will do that to a person). In Italy, I felt the pull to commit to writing as my path more strongly than I ever had before.
I spent a month living in Florence, sharing a charming apartment with four other American girls. We were all students at Santa Reparata, an American-run artistic school nestled three blocks away from the Duomo. Sunlight streamed into the apartment, and every window had a view of tile rooftops and the iconic round dome of the cathedral. It was magical, and everything about that month made me long for a typewriter. I wanted to stay there, get fat eating too much pasta, and write from morning 'til night.
The view from the kitchen window, Florence 2004
Someday, I would like to set a story in Florence. The sunlight there is clear as glass, and the town is like no other place on earth.
Actually, every place is like that: not necessarily the sunlight, because it's different everywhere I've ever been, but every place is unique and bursting with inspiration.
I love traveling, and it's something I consider vital to my writing process.
Have the places and people you've encountered away from home seeped into your writing? What challenges you most about travel? What do you love most about it?
My travels lately have been limited to trips to the library and (rarely) the coffee shop. :) These places don't influence my writing, but they do give me a new perspective, I think. Just being outside of my own four walls invigorates my writing.
ReplyDeleteDana, I think any change of scene is important. Even the small things can shift our perspective!
DeleteWhere I live is not where I grew up so it constantly inspires me. I'm glad for travel because I think anything we learn, see, out in the world informs our writing.
ReplyDeleteFlorence would be nice, though.
Jaye, I'm also living somewhere vastly different from my childhood: when we first moved to NC, I told my husband I had a feeling it would help my writing, and it has!
DeleteI agree with you: all experiences are fodder for the writing self.
Wow, you're doing the A to Z challenge and reading 100 books in 2012 + reviews! Now I have to follow your blog :)
ReplyDeleteA month in Italy sounds fantastic. I spent 1 week in Mexico during high school for a trip; I always thought I'd go back since the house that hosted my friend and I also hosted a college student there for a semester. You barely scratch the surface in a week! But the immersion helps so much with the language.
I'd love to go to Mexico some day: where was your trip?
DeleteThanks for the follow!
This is a story and I love it!
ReplyDeleteI was born in a small town on the island of Fiji. I have a little collection of short stories about home, many of which are early days with my mother.
I read a recent A to Z post that explored ones own setting while writing, the emphasize was on sound used to set tone. Reading these 'writing' posts are wonderful. Thanks!
I'd love to hear about Fiji: how long did you live there?
DeleteI tend to write more about home than places away from home. I'm glad you enjoy traveling! I can live vicariously through you and your trips. Love your comment about change of scene and small things affecting perspective. :)
ReplyDelete