How Your Setting Influences Writing
A laptop can travel with you without being cumbersome, recorders can capture ideas as soon as they’re envisioned, and pens can be poised and ready with a simple click or twist of a cap. Writers no longer have to wait until they arrive home to get started on that new story or scene; a writer can go anywhere to find inspiration as long as they have their writing tools, and technology has made it that much easier to accommodate creative impulses.
But does where you write really matter?
When you’re ready to settle in and immerse yourself in your fictional world, your setting can be the most important part of your story. However, I’m not talking about the one created in the imagination, marked by punctuation and vivid imagery; the setting I’m referring to is your own surroundings; the story is your own writing journey.
Through the years I’ve tried writing in classes, libraries, and cafes. I’ve worked in the solitude of an office and in busy and boisterous coffee shops; I’ve written outside in the brilliant sunlight and under the soft lamplight in the comfort of my home. What I’ve found is that little light and mellow music allows for me to become completely absorbed in the story, connecting with the characters and their emotions. I tune out everything else around me, and for that amount of time, all that exists are my words. My characters’ emotions become my own, and their setting becomes my world.
For many, where and how you write really can matter, as atmosphere and comfort can be vital to sparking inspiration and unleashing creativity.
Where do you do your best work? How do you delve into your writing and become a part of the world you’ve created?
Where’s your setting?
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Back when I was at the academy, I would end up taking the train from New York to Lancaster on holidays. It was a several hour ride, but I was struck by just how existential the experience was. For the first time in many people’s lives, they are well aware that they are in between points A and B with little-to-no control over the situation. In some it creates a sense of frustration. In others, a sense of relief or freedom from responsability. In me, it made me write.
To this day, the train is still one of my all time favorite places to write.
This is something I’ve been struggling with lately. I got a laptop partly so I can take it with me and write from anywhere–but I’m having a difficult time deciding where to go. Cafes can be boisterous and distracting, and they could be short on outlets. Libraries are too eerily quiet for me. I’d like to find a middle ground, but I haven’t come up with one yet…
Bradley: What a great visual! I think that scenery whizzing by might make it easy to lose yourself in your own thoughts, your own world, and your own work. I love what you said about being stuck between points A and B — it’s a beautiful thought and must have made for a profound experience. Even better that you used that time to write and that it had a positive influence on you! Thanks for the comment.
Anna: It took me a long time to realize what worked best for me, so I can relate to your frustration. I think the key is to experiment until you find what works for you. Try different days, different times, different places (maybe a used bookstore?). If anything, you might meet some interesting people and find new places in each of these “settings.” Best of luck!
This is definitely true. I have found that my surroundings often influence my writing. It’s not always by serving as inspiration, but sometimes something simple like how well I can concentrate in a particular place. The main thing for me, is being inspired and getting into my “writing groove.” This can happen anywhere, and once I’m absorbed, I’m good to go.
This is very true. I have been to many of the spots mentioned (i.e. libraries, cafes, etc.) only to find that the best place for me is in my living room facing the window. Had I not gone through the trouble of going to all those other places-I would never appreciate the spot the way I do now!
Sam: Great to see you’re able to get into that groove anywhere! That kind of flexibility must prove to be beneficial and, hopefully, might help in also providing that inspiration. It’s seems true that writing in a garden is very different than writing in a cafe, and I would be interested to know just how much the writing itself changes on that basis.
LaTosha: I’ve found that I’m the same way — I can work in coffee shops and bookstores if I need to, but there’s something about complete solitude and comfort that allows me to really commit to and get lost in the writing. And I probably wouldn’t have realized that if I didn’t experiment with all those other places.
Thanks to you both for sharing your experiences!