avatarPenny Grubb

Summary

The text discusses the author's experiences with writing in various locations and the influence of rituals and spaces on their creative process, connecting to a series of writing prompts and responses from other authors on Medium.

Abstract

The author reflects on their journey as a writer, detailing how different life phases and environments have shaped their writing habits. From writing novels on trains and in hotel rooms during long commutes to seeking solitude in coffee shops amidst the bustle of academia, the author describes the challenges and adaptability required to maintain a writing routine. The narrative highlights the transition to a home office and the search for inspiring writing spots, such as a garden center cafe, a chair under an apple tree, and a garden shed. The author finds satisfaction in discovering connections between their experiences and writing prompts by other authors, including Dennett, Ellie Jacobson, Will Hull, and kasey sparks, emphasizing the interconnectedness of creative spaces and rituals.

Opinions

  • The author values the importance of finding the right environment for writing, which has evolved over time due to changes in their lifestyle and circumstances.
  • Writing routines are seen as adaptable and subject to the whims of life's ever-changing creative spaces.
  • The author appreciates the sense of community and connection that comes from participating in writing prompts and acknowledges the work of peers in the writing space.
  • There is an acknowledgment of the luxury of having dedicated time and space for writing, such as during 'office hours' in an academic setting.
  • The author expresses a fondness for the serendipitous nature of writing, where personal articles resonate with broader prompts, creating a sense of networking and shared experience.
  • The author admits to limitations, such as the inability to write on planes, indicating that certain environments are less conducive to their creative process.

WRITING PROMPT

Places, Myths, Rituals, & Links

The where turns out to be part and parcel of the who

Photo: Penny Grubb

I was just prowling about looking for things to read and fell over Dennett’s excellent Rituals in Place, noticed it was a writing prompt started by Ellie Jacobson, and half felt that I had already written for it.

I hadn’t, though. Turns out I’d written something else — after being tagged by Will Hull responding to a different prompt from kasey sparks — that was more about the ‘who’ than the ‘where’ but had all the feel of the rituals and the ever-changing creative spaces that life throws in our way.

There were the years of the long commute where several novels were largely written on trains and in hotel rooms; where a variable timetable made routines impossible. It was no good vowing to get up at 6 am to get in an hour’s writing when I already had to be up at 4 to get to the airport. Oh, and I could never write on planes.

The years in academia involved a lot of writing, but I had to seek refuge in the coffee bars with my laptop to get away from the phone and people knocking at my door. And oh, the luxury of the year I was temporarily attached to the Creative Writing degree — I had ‘office hours’ and if no students came to see me, I could legitimately get on with my novels. Other than that year, I never wrote fiction at work.

I’m strictly at home now. I have my office (too untidy for photos). I used to take my laptop to the local garden centre cafe; my bolthole when I needed a change. Since Covid, my bolthole shifted to the chair under the apple tree (in summer and before the apples grew big enough to cause a concussion); now it’s the garden shed, or sometimes just upstairs instead of down or vice versa.

I love the way that there are always links. It’s just a case of spotting them. Seeing my previous article chime so nicely with this prompt gives me the satisfaction of a link clicking into place — it feels like some good networking too — so I’m tagging it in that space as well as this one:

This is Dennett’s:

… in response to Ellie Jacobson’s.

And this is Will Hull’s:

… in response to kasey sparks:

You can access more stories like this and support me and thousands of other writers on Medium via this link.

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