Like a little kid in a candy shop, I always have a sweet craving....for books. The three tiny bookshelves in my modest studio apartment are comprised of both books devoured and those still unread.... some dusty and ignored, others that have been manhandled by too many to keep count. Sometimes I think the nerdy part of me is in desperate need of a vacation reserved just for reading and writing, no distractions to pull me away.
I remember my years in Chicago as a time I was reading and writing voraciously like never before. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a reader....in utero, if possible! I grew up around book lovers (my mother and her father/my grandfather) who instilled within me a desire to learn and question the world around me as my curious eyes danced across the pages of numerous novels. Eventually, that love of reading also spilled into writing. I have heard that if you want to be a fantastic writer, it is suggested that you experiment writing in different places....coffee shops, restaurants, at the beach, in the woods, the airport (think of all the stories you could concoct!), the laundromat, on vacation, on the road, and the list goes on. I tend to think the same may be true of reading in different places as well. I'm also a firm believer that to be a helluva writer, you must be a helluva reader (this means read ALOT).
I wonder if atmosphere really IS everything.....if the cliche' "variety is the spice of life" carries more weight than I have previously considered. People who have followed my writing over the years (from the beginnings of my MySpace blogs to the blogs I write on here, and the pieces I have written for a creative writing class) have definitely noticed a transition in my writing, in regard to content, quality, and frequency of writing.
When I first started writing blogs back in 2005, I had just finished grad school and was entering the daunting foray of addiction counseling. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush of doing something unknown, challenging and scary...I don't know. Whatever the case, I was also still working part-time at a bookstore, a unique alternate universe in and of itself. I was constantly people watching....customers, coworkers, and clients alike. I soaked up books like the world was coming to an end; I couldn't finish one to start another fast enough. Frequently having unreliable and disengaged clients at work, I took advantage of the free quiet time and typed out blogs within the quiet confines of my purplish-blue walled boxy office. Sometimes the events that transpired within the walls compelled me to write as well. Most of my writing was done back in that office on Elston Avenue.I wrote several times a week, at times more than once a day.
I have yet to find that same voracious writer part of me here in Seattle. Perhaps it is hiding out and waiting for me at a wireless coffee shop, or hidden in a crevice of my apartment. It's surely not in the comforting, yet distracting office I share with six other therapists. If there's one thing I need in order to write, it's privacy and sometimes absolute stillness (depending on the topic I'm writing about). Then there's the aforementioned inspiration. Timing is also essential. I cannot be rushed when I write. Time has to stand still; it has to become irrelevant if I am to let the words flow out of my mind and onto the page (or keyboard). I think this is why I wasn't good at churning out writing pieces for the creative writing class I took recently. I got too caught up in the pressure of deadlines that it suffocated my creative flow.
With that said, I have to say "Yes." Atmosphere is everything, yet what it is to me is different than what it is to you. Atmosphere may be sipping a caramel macchiato and listening to shuffling songs on your iPod while simultaneously reading a compilation on how writers think and what inspires them to write, thus inspiring the reader to want to abruptly leave Barnes and Noble in order to rush home and write before the inspiration fades (that would be me today).
Atmosphere could also be a special place that you inhabit when alone or in the company of fascinating, colorful others. Atmosphere could also include mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual elements.It may be found in a conversation with a friend. It may be tangible and it may be unpredictable.
Atmosphere: the ultimate muse?
I remember my years in Chicago as a time I was reading and writing voraciously like never before. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a reader....in utero, if possible! I grew up around book lovers (my mother and her father/my grandfather) who instilled within me a desire to learn and question the world around me as my curious eyes danced across the pages of numerous novels. Eventually, that love of reading also spilled into writing. I have heard that if you want to be a fantastic writer, it is suggested that you experiment writing in different places....coffee shops, restaurants, at the beach, in the woods, the airport (think of all the stories you could concoct!), the laundromat, on vacation, on the road, and the list goes on. I tend to think the same may be true of reading in different places as well. I'm also a firm believer that to be a helluva writer, you must be a helluva reader (this means read ALOT).
I wonder if atmosphere really IS everything.....if the cliche' "variety is the spice of life" carries more weight than I have previously considered. People who have followed my writing over the years (from the beginnings of my MySpace blogs to the blogs I write on here, and the pieces I have written for a creative writing class) have definitely noticed a transition in my writing, in regard to content, quality, and frequency of writing.
When I first started writing blogs back in 2005, I had just finished grad school and was entering the daunting foray of addiction counseling. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush of doing something unknown, challenging and scary...I don't know. Whatever the case, I was also still working part-time at a bookstore, a unique alternate universe in and of itself. I was constantly people watching....customers, coworkers, and clients alike. I soaked up books like the world was coming to an end; I couldn't finish one to start another fast enough. Frequently having unreliable and disengaged clients at work, I took advantage of the free quiet time and typed out blogs within the quiet confines of my purplish-blue walled boxy office. Sometimes the events that transpired within the walls compelled me to write as well. Most of my writing was done back in that office on Elston Avenue.I wrote several times a week, at times more than once a day.
I have yet to find that same voracious writer part of me here in Seattle. Perhaps it is hiding out and waiting for me at a wireless coffee shop, or hidden in a crevice of my apartment. It's surely not in the comforting, yet distracting office I share with six other therapists. If there's one thing I need in order to write, it's privacy and sometimes absolute stillness (depending on the topic I'm writing about). Then there's the aforementioned inspiration. Timing is also essential. I cannot be rushed when I write. Time has to stand still; it has to become irrelevant if I am to let the words flow out of my mind and onto the page (or keyboard). I think this is why I wasn't good at churning out writing pieces for the creative writing class I took recently. I got too caught up in the pressure of deadlines that it suffocated my creative flow.
With that said, I have to say "Yes." Atmosphere is everything, yet what it is to me is different than what it is to you. Atmosphere may be sipping a caramel macchiato and listening to shuffling songs on your iPod while simultaneously reading a compilation on how writers think and what inspires them to write, thus inspiring the reader to want to abruptly leave Barnes and Noble in order to rush home and write before the inspiration fades (that would be me today).
Atmosphere could also be a special place that you inhabit when alone or in the company of fascinating, colorful others. Atmosphere could also include mental, emotional, physical, or spiritual elements.It may be found in a conversation with a friend. It may be tangible and it may be unpredictable.
Atmosphere: the ultimate muse?
2 comments:
I find myself only inspired to write or play guitar when I'm lonely.
:)
Post a Comment