My Teachers Write Recap:
The photograph is one that I took as I was in Concord. Writing is a journey and this path with the trees and the opening reminds me of taking that journey. Since I was traveling a lot last week, I did not get a lot of concentrated time to write but I felt that instead of writing with words, I was writing with images instead.
While I was on my trip, I was looking for nuggets of inspiration that could be the basis for a story or two. As I am going through my photos and thinking about what I learned while on my trip, I think I do have a few seeds that I can germinate into stories.
My road trip to Concord made me wonder about what it would have been like to live in a time and surrounded by some of the most influential thinkers and writers of the 19th century. Can a scene be created or even re-created about conversations that happened between Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne and Alcott for example? Or what about the friendship between Ralph Waldo Emerson and a young Louisa May Alcott? Alcott's admiration and respect for Emerson was something that I had not been aware of until now.
It will be these ideas that I play with during this 3rd week of Teachers Write.
Reflection Questions - Where do you write?
As Jen talks about in her post, I would love a perfect writing spot, with just the right lighting, a big comfortable chair, and a beautiful view. However that is likely not in my immediate future. I, also, appreciate the quote from Stephen King about writing in the laundry room. Currently, I write from my couch at home or even from on top of my bed. Yet, writing from home can be difficult. I begin to think about things that need to be done, almost as if I would rather do chores than write.
Unlike some people, I can write in a coffee shop, though not all coffee shops are created equal. Some are just way too busy and distracting, but there is a new place that I have found where I am hoping to hang out a couple of times a week and just write. The cacophony of voices and background music in a coffee shop seem to form a type of white noise for me. And since I am in another location, my mind gets on board quicker than it does at home.
As for music, I have discovered that I do not do as well with music in the background, particularly when i am writing from home. Most of the time, I just enjoy the quiet. However, sometimes, I will put one song on repeat and let it become both the tone and mood for my writing and the white noise to keep me focused.
Goal for this week:
My goal for this week is to write for 30 minutes every day. I need to give myself permission to write 30 minutes of absolutely nonsense words if that is what it takes to write. I find that I try to get the first line to be perfect and I cannot move onto the rest of my thoughts until that first line is completed. However, it is really stifling my creative process. So, I am giving myself an opportunity to free write and not edit.
