Where Do You Get Your 'Write' On?

My son and I went on an epic camping trip this past April, trading the dreary vestiges of a long Midwest winter for the sun and sand of the Mississippi Gulf Shores. We stayed in a campground at the Davis Bayou, which is part of the National Park System. Every day we went down to the boat launch with our folding chairs and our writing implements, and while I was still in that restless state where doing more than jotting down a few words was impossible, my son found his groove, and wrote full speed ahead.

"Mom, I forgot how much I love to write in nature," he exclaimed as I sat there, beaming. He had a tough couple of years behind him, and I was really happy for him that he discovered that writing while surrounded by nature, was a productive, restorative, life affirming thing. It was odd, too, given that on previous family camping trips, from a young age, his preference had always been to hole up inside the camper and kick back with a stack of comic books. His dad and I would have to cajole him to come on hikes with us. Maybe something clicked, albeit reluctantly.

I always have had a favorite place to write, too. I am there right now. Molly, my rescue pit bull, is snoring at my feet and my four year old great niece, here for a sleepover, is curled up next to me, dead to the world. Yes, I love to write IN BED.  Usually it is not so crowded. I can remember many years ago feeling sort of guilty about it, like there was something slothful and wrong about staying in bed to write. It was a sneaky, guilty pleasure. After all, I had a desk, a chair, a computer, in a space I had made for myself in the upstairs dormer of the master bedroom of the Cape Cod family home, complete with a curtain to close off the rest of the world. This was the same space where I wrote the first draft of Soul Cloud, for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2017. The printed copy of which has been patiently waiting for me to start a second draft, while tucked underneath my bed. At first, when I threw it under the bed in disgust/despair I thought I was hiding it. Now I see that I just sort of filed it there, to revisit at a time when I stopped feeling like it was so terrible. Give myself a break, right? It was a first draft I wrote in under a month! Oy! Why was I so hard on myself? Damn you, beta reader!

Anyway, as far as loving to write in bed, I am in good company. I once looked it up, and there are several notable writers who did all their best work in bed (double entendres aside) - including Colette and one of my favorite American writers, Edith Wharton. Read Ethan Frome. If it doesn't break your heart, you don't have one. Most of her novels, like, The Age of Innocence, were about the manners and morals of upper class society in 19th Century New York.  Ethan Frome is an everyman's tale of lost love. We all have had lost love, haven't we?

Speaking of lost love, I have decided to give Soul Cloud another look. Because I have been talking about it for the last five blog posts, so I am going to take that as a hint. My son and I have a writing date set up today, and I am going to haul it back up from under the bed, and have another look. One last thought, sometimes where I get my best ideas is not when I am writing them down in bed, but when I walk my dog in the morning. I've heard people say the shower is a good place. I take baths, so not sure on that one. I would love for someone to care enough to post where they like to write, and what they are doing when their best ideas come to them. Keep on writing on! - Tove Jacqueline Ghent