Road Trips for Writing Inspiration

 

I did some road tripping this autumn!

In September I made my first ever trip to Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina. Perfect timing, as the summer crush was over,  the weather was warm, and the beach was stunning. This trip was actually a writing retreat, and although I didn’t force myself to be productive all day long, I did make some plans and work on the outline of the book that I’m going to start writing in January. Although the “getting there” was just what I needed (Don’t all writers need beach time?), this trip was all about the journey. I drove, by myself, and took my time stopping at historic cemeteries for a few photos. 

When I passed a field of sunflowers in bloom, I turned around and went back specifically to snap a few photos. The house where I stayed was right across the street from the beach, so early morning sunrises provided the perfect beginning to each day.

October found me in Natchez, Mississippi. Founded in 1716, Natchez has been on my bucket list since I relocated to the southern United States. Although the community that thrived when cotton was king has changed a bit, Natchez boasts a bounty of gorgeous antebellum homes, many of them converted to Inns and B&B’s. We stayed at The Guesthouse, an antebellum home built in 1840 with lovely rooms full of period appropriate furniture and lots of atmosphere. The Guesthouse also has its own ghost in residence, namely a young boy named Shannon, whose post-mortem painting hangs in the bar.  Shannon allegedly roams the halls, playing with his toys. Natchez is the home of many a ghost tour and is known for its historic cemetery, which is full of amazing stone and iron work. We wiled away the hours walking along through the various family monuments, conjuring up ghost stories of our own.  

And finally, the hubs and I travelled to Florida for a last trip to the beach. No cemeteries on this trip. Lots of beach time and the occasional mojito. A good time was had by all, as evidenced by the pictures. And, yes, that really is a baby alligator.

While my trips didn’t add to my word count, they definitely went a long way towards refilling my creative well. And as I sit here writing this blog entry, I can say with certainty that I’m itching to start writing. But I’m going to make myself wait until January, just to make sure I’m truly rested. Plus, there may be other road trips in my future!

How about you? Do you travel for inspiration?

 

EMBRACE THOSE INTERRUPTIONS! by Gill Stewart

Boxes of inspiration?

One of the most infuriating things for me as a writer is when real life gets in the way of those precious minutes (hours?) I need to spend in front of my computer. I’m ‘in the zone’ and I have all the ideas and words ready in my head – and then life interrupts. I really resent the phone calls, chores, trips, etc, etc, that eat in to my valuable writing time. However, I’m trying to be a little more zen about this. I’m trying to Embrace The Interruption.

OK, I know I’m not going to manage that all the time, but there are definitely moments when a distraction from writing can be useful. Here are some examples of when it has turned out to be just what I needed:

• That time I was driving to pick up one son from an after-school activity and paused at the traffic lights and saw a slim man in a leather jacket, hair pulled back in a pony-tail. He wasn’t exactly handsome but he was exactly who I needed to base the secondary hero of my current book on.
• The maddening phone call that dragged me out of deep engrossment in a current w-i-p and made me lose my train of thought, but provided me with exactly the dialect I needed for a bit of local colour.
• The rather unsettling visit by a neighbouring farmer who knocked on the door when I was home alone. The conversation provided me with a realistically aggressive male character. I rarely meet open aggression in my (very middle class) day-to-day life so you have to take it where you find it!
• And my least favourite one (because we’ve moved house twice in the last 18 months): sorting through long-forgotten possessions, or possessions handed down from other family members. This is boring and time-consuming, but just occasionally I find a little something that gives me an ‘oh, there’s a story here!’ moment. It almost makes all the sorting worthwhile.

One thing that I try to do at all times is to have a notepad to hand, because you never know when one of these little interruptions/helpful inspirations will occur. I can’t count on my memory to retain them all, but a few words in a notepad are usually enough.

So that’s my advice for the day – make the most of those interruptions, and, if you get inspired, don’t forget to note it down.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A TIDY DESK by Gill Stewart

I've been struggling to make myself focus on my writing recently. Struggling to pin myself down to writing this story on this day. Previously, when all else failed and I thought I was never going to be able to write again (because I hate my writing and the place I write and the whole process …) I used to go for a walk. And sometimes that helped, but not always.

So today I decided on a new approach: I tidied my desk. And it’s amazing! The clear space! All my notes in neat piles, somewhere to put a pristine sheet of paper to start another set of notes. Bliss.

And oddly, not just bliss, but productive. It’s as though I’ve cleaned out my mind as well. Bits of this story, that review, the new plot outline … they were all muddled together inside my brain. And now they’re not. They’re also in nice tidy piles with labels on them so I can come back to them when I need them but I don’t need to get tangled up in all of them at present. I can pick one pile and start working on that, nice and easy and straight-forward.

Now I admit some people may not need to go through this process because they always have a tidy desk. (Who are these people??). But for me it has been a useful exercise. One I probably need to do more often. But not too often, or I wouldn’t get that amazing eureka! feeling of the difference between the old desk and the wonderful new one.

Has anyone else tried tidying their desk recently?