Fantasy: August 04, 2010 Issue [#3892] |
Fantasy
This week: Staying Put Edited by: Robert Waltz More Newsletters By This Editor
1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions
Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.
-John Ed Pearce
When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home
-Thornton Wilder |
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Not Traveling
In my last newsletter, I waxed eloquent about the joys and benefits to the writer of traveling to strange and exotic locales.
This time, I'm going to soliloquize about not venturing out into the wide world.
Where traveling exposes you to adventures you might never have considered, the best way to put it in context is to spend some time at home, writing about it. (This, of course, assumes that your home is relatively free of distractions. If you have lots of kids and pets and spouses, you should modify this advice to write someplace with less noise fewer demands on your time, such as the floor of a steel mill.)
As with most things in life, balance is good. If you never go anywhere, the imagination can be stifled. If you are always on the road, you might never find time to write and put things in perspective. After all, most of the great adventure tales, fantasy included, are only told after the protagonist has a chance to rest from his or her travels.
I suggest creating a place in your house or apartment, and a computer or other device dedicated to writing and only writing (I need to do this, myself). If the computer also has internet access, I find myself spending more time researching than actually writing, and even more time finding jokes on the internet than researching. By a factor of at least 10 to 1. Research is great - both the traveling I referred to last time, and for general knowledge about a topic - but when it comes time to write, write.
Your writing place should also contain things that inspire you or keep you focused - which can be hard to come by if you're writing on an airplane or in a hotel room. Motivational posters are good for keeping your spirits up. Or, if you're contrary like me, demotivational posters are more likely to keep things in perspective for you. But my purpose in life is to inject humor into everything, which is hard to do if the only messages you get are about perseverance, consistency, teamwork, and crap like that.
The important thing, of course, is to write. And if that means you have to write in the between-times on a commuter train or late at night in a hotel, then so be it. The bottom line is going to be what works for you, not advice from articles whose authors are rushing to meet a deadline. Find the balance that works for you, and work toward keeping it.
And if your motivational items include Hello Kitty themes, I don't know you. |
A few recently created or edited fantasy writings for your reading pleasure, at home or on the road (but not while driving, please):
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