Writers and Places: Does Location Matter?

Does it matter where a writer lives: a big city or the countryside; a two-story house or a basement; a culturally diverse or monotonous neighborhood? Yes, it does. Why is this? There’s a romanticized notion that in the past, writers were generally poor, struggling to get by in attics.

Environments affect all people; this has been confirmed in sociological studies of human life, and urban studies in particular. What surrounds us affects how we feel, what we do, what we think and how we channel these thoughts and emotions.

Here's What Makes Stories So Powerful

“Once Upon a Time.”

These words are as familiar as ‘Hello.’ As soon as we hear them, we know we are about to be transported to a different world.

But why is that? Why have these words been so ingrained into our very being?

Don't Be a Resolution Writer

With a clear conscious, I can promise that desire had little to do with the conception of this post. If my desires dictated when this would be written, I would put it off a few more days.

Fortunately, my will, and not my feelings, determine my actions as a writer.

Wedding [writing prompt]

PRACTICE

I’m going to a wedding tomorrow, the first I’ve been to this spring, and I thought it would be fun to write about weddings.

Write about a wedding, a wedding in your work in progress, a wedding you’ve been to, or your own wedding.

Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re time is up, post your practice in the comments section. And if you post, be sure to give feedback on a few practices by other writers.

Have fun!

What Murakami’s 1Q84 Teaches Us

I recently finished reading Haruki Murakami’s trilogy 1Q84, and it left me with mixed feelings. If you’re to compare any of his previous novels to 1Q84, you’ll be quite surprised. It’s different from the familiar Murakami topics, and his tone and voice have changed in this work too.

Avoiding a description of the content and putting personal preferences aside, there is much to be learned from the Japanese master’s latest work (even though he lost the Nobel race). So here are the lessons I’ve pulled out: