{"id":8132,"date":"2018-05-27T15:40:52","date_gmt":"2018-05-27T15:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=8132"},"modified":"2018-05-27T15:40:52","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T15:40:52","slug":"on-the-virtues-of-being-able-to-write-anywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/on-the-virtues-of-being-able-to-write-anywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Virtues of Being Able to Write Anywhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

Com\u00adpared to oth\u00ader nov\u00adel\u00adists I know or have read about, I\u2019m some\u00adthing of an anom\u00adaly: I\u2019m a nov\u00adel\u00adist who can write just about any\u00adwhere.<\/p>\n

While I enjoy hav\u00ading a ded\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded space for my writ\u00ading, an actu\u00adal home office, \u201ca room of one\u2019s own\u201d as Vir\u00adginia Woolf put it, I\u2019m not one of those pre\u00adcious nov\u00adel\u00adists who can\u2019t write unless the feng shui<\/em> is per\u00adfect\u00adly bal\u00adanced, the sound of rain is soft\u00adly play\u00ading, and an aro\u00admather\u00ada\u00adpy can\u00addle is burn\u00ading. No, sir\u2026I can write, and have writ\u00adten, just about any\u00adwhere.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I devel\u00adoped this abil\u00adi\u00adty dur\u00ading my first job after col\u00adlege, as reporter for the Mill\u00adbrook Round Table<\/em>. The Round Table<\/em> was one of sev\u00ader\u00adal news\u00adpa\u00adpers under the umbrel\u00adla of Tacon\u00adic Press, and I wrote in a news\u00adroom among 5\u20136 oth\u00ader reporters and 3\u20134 edi\u00adtors. There was always a lot of noise and activ\u00adi\u00adty going on in the newsroom\u2014the police and fire scan\u00adner blar\u00ading, reporters talk\u00ading, print\u00aders print\u00ading, etc.\u2014and I had to learn to shut out my sur\u00adround\u00adings and sim\u00adply write. This abil\u00adi\u00adty proved even more impor\u00adtant a cou\u00adple years lat\u00ader when I wrote for the Pough\u00adkeep\u00adsie Jour\u00adnal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At 24, I wrote my first, com\u00adplete, unpub\u00adlished nov\u00adel in a janitor\u2019s clos\u00adet in my prin\u00adci\u00adpal father\u2019s high school in Oxford, New York. I typed it on an IBM Selec\u00adtric in that clos\u00adet, on a table wedged between a slop sink and a book\u00adshelf that held 20 years of old school year\u00adbooks. There was a fil\u00ading cab\u00adi\u00adnet in the room, and on top of the fil\u00ading cab\u00adi\u00adnet sat a decades-old can of Hawai\u00adian Punch. I was sub\u00adsti\u00adtute teach\u00ading for an Eng\u00adlish teacher out on sick leave for sev\u00ader\u00adal months, and between class\u00ades, and after school, I holed up in that clos\u00adet and wrote the nov\u00adel. How\u00adev\u00ader, rather than go into great detail about the expe\u00adri\u00adence, I\u2019ll let you read the short sto\u00adry I wrote about it (which I also wrote in that janitor\u2019s clos\u00adet, dur\u00ading down\u00adtime from the nov\u00adel), and which was pub\u00adlished online in 2002. This is a PDF of that sto\u00adry<\/a>, \u201cThe Nov\u00adel\u00adist.\u201d<\/p>\n

My first pub\u00adlished nov\u00adel, Nick Chase\u2019s Great Escape<\/em>, I wrote between 1996 and 1998 in all man\u00adner of places: my tiny, Port\u00adland, Maine apart\u00adment; my Freeport High School class\u00adroom, dur\u00ading 7th<\/sup> peri\u00adod study hall; a Port\u00adland Chi\u00adnese restau\u00adrant and the Port\u00adland Din\u00ader; on a non\u00adstop flight to San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco to meet my fiance\u2019s par\u00adents for the first time; in my future father-in-law\u2019s din\u00ading room, seat\u00aded at a high-backed, Mis\u00adsion-style chair; on a cruise ship, dur\u00ading an overnight Portland\u2013New Brunswick cruise; on a fer\u00adry between Rock\u00adland, Maine and Vinal\u00adhaven Island; and in the pas\u00adsen\u00adger seat of my car, while my wife drove, because a char\u00adac\u00adter in the novel\u2014a British nov\u00adel\u00adist named Winston\u2014could only write in a mov\u00ading vehi\u00adcle, and, being in a \u201cmethod-writ\u00ading\u201d phase at that time, I want\u00aded to see what that was like.<\/p>\n

Since then, I\u2019ve writ\u00adten sto\u00adries and sec\u00adtions of nov\u00adels in every con\u00adceiv\u00adable loca\u00adtion, which is why, when\u00adev\u00ader a so-called writer tells me he would like to<\/em> write, but he can\u2019t because he isn\u2019t \u201cinspired\u201d by his sur\u00adround\u00adings, I chuck\u00adle and walk away. \u201cInspi\u00adra\u00adtion\u201d and the per\u00adfect envi\u00adron\u00adment are fan\u00adtasies; real, work\u00ading, do-it-every-day-no-mat\u00adter-what writ\u00aders know bet\u00adter.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in library base\u00adments. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in apart\u00adment build\u00ading laun\u00addry rooms. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in my apart\u00adment kitchens at the din\u00ading table.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in five-star hotels and a few fleabags. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in restau\u00adrant pantries and walk-in refrig\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtors. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in a news\u00adpa\u00adper dark\u00adroom. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in bars in Man\u00adhat\u00adtan, Boston, Wash\u00ading\u00adton D.C., Orlan\u00addo, Scotts\u00addale, New Orleans, and Mis\u00adsoula, Mon\u00adtana.<\/p>\n

Yes, this is the exer\u00adcise yard on Alca\u00adtraz. Pho\u00adto by moi.<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in an old woman\u2019s attic and a child\u2019s tree\u00adhouse. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in a remote cab\u00adin in the Rock\u00adies and in the exer\u00adcise yard of Alca\u00adtraz.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in den\u00adtists\u2019 offices and doc\u00adtors\u2019 offices. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in two apart\u00adments across the street from fire sta\u00adtions. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten above a pawn shop that was raid\u00aded by the FBI. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in class\u00adrooms full of stu\u00addents, rang\u00ading in age from kinder\u00adgart\u00adners to col\u00adlege seniors. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten on bus\u00ades. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in a heli\u00adcopter while fly\u00ading over the Grand Canyon (only to take notes on the view).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten pool\u00adside in a cabana, and back\u00adstage on a fold\u00ading chair. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in pubs and pool\u00adrooms in Eng\u00adland and Scot\u00adland, and cafes in Paris and Nor\u00admandy. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten on a bench at Ver\u00adsailles and atop a log in the Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia Red\u00adwoods.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in IKEA, on one of the kitchen dis\u00adplay tables while my wife con\u00adtin\u00adued shop\u00adping. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in many cafe\u00adte\u00adrias, includ\u00ading ones at IKEA, Mer\u00adrill Lynch, J.P. Mor\u00adgan, Vas\u00adsar Col\u00adlege, Mid\u00addle\u00adbury Col\u00adlege, Har\u00advard Col\u00adlege, the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Maine, the Smith\u00adson\u00adian, the Muse\u00adum of Nat\u00adur\u00adal His\u00adto\u00adry, the Lou\u00advre, Sharon Hos\u00adpi\u00adtal, Mass Gen\u00ader\u00adal, the Chatsworth Estate and the New School. I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in a lot of restau\u00adrants, now that I think about it, my favorite writ\u00ading haunts over the years being Ann\u2019s Restau\u00adrant (cafe\u00adte\u00adria style; now closed) in Boston, the Mill\u00adbrook Din\u00ader, and Momi\u00adji (Rhinebeck, NY).<\/p>\n

Finally\u2014one of my favorite settings\u2014I\u2019ve writ\u00adten in front of hotel lob\u00adby fire\u00adplaces in Old Faith\u00adful Inn, Yel\u00adlow\u00adstone Nation\u00adal Park; Lake Placid, NY; a ski resort in Que\u00adbec, where Ian Flem\u00ading wrote one of his James Bond nov\u00adels; and an inn in High\u00adland Scot\u00adland.<\/p>\n

I start\u00aded writ\u00ading this piece this morn\u00ading because it occurred to me just how for\u00adtu\u00adnate I am to have devel\u00adoped the abil\u00adi\u00adty to write any\u00adwhere. Of course I pre\u00adfer my sur\u00adround\u00adings to be qui\u00adet, and after I dis\u00adcov\u00adered their exis\u00adtence in 2000 or so, I made sure I always had a cache of noise-can\u00adcelling earplugs in my writ\u00ading bag. I like the places where I write to be qui\u00adet, but I\u2019ve learned not to make my pro\u00adduc\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty as a writer depen\u00addent on the out\u00adside con\u00addi\u00adtions being ide\u00adal, because they nev\u00ader are.<\/p>\n

For vet\u00ader\u00adan nov\u00adel\u00adists what I have to say prob\u00ada\u00adbly comes too late. But to young or aspir\u00ading nov\u00adel\u00adists I say this: Write every\u00adwhere. Become<\/em> writ\u00ading, so that it\u2019s sim\u00adply a nat\u00adur\u00adal exten\u00adsion of you and isn\u2019t tied to a spe\u00adcif\u00adic loca\u00adtion, desk, noise and activ\u00adi\u00adty lev\u00adel, etc. And if you always write using a com\u00adput\u00ader, start using a pen or, even bet\u00adter, a pen\u00adcil, so you aren\u2019t hand\u00adcuffed to tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy. If you can devel\u00adop this abil\u00adi\u00adty while you\u2019re young, it will serve you well your entire writ\u00ading career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Com\u00adpared to oth\u00ader nov\u00adel\u00adists I know or have read about, I\u2019m some\u00adthing of an anom\u00adaly: I\u2019m a nov\u00adel\u00adist who can write just about any\u00adwhere. While\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,3,18,19,20,75,364,36,337,77,365,7,76,176,24,270,13,14,233,15],"tags":[475,133,474,349,156,401,361,222,473,472,271,93,355,352,470,144,471],"class_list":["post-8132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chris-orcutt-books","category-craft","category-dramaticwriting","category-fiction","category-journalism","category-memoir","category-memoirs","category-mystery-writing","category-novel-writing","category-novels","category-perpetuating-trouble","category-personal","category-process","category-screenwriting","category-speechwriting","category-workspace","category-writers","category-writingexperiences","category-writing-life","category-writingtools","tag-feng-shui","tag-mysteries","tag-new-york","tag-pencils","tag-process","tag-selectric","tag-typewriter","tag-vermont","tag-virginia-woolf","tag-woolf","tag-workspace","tag-writing","tag-writing-life","tag-writing-memoir","tag-writing-space","tag-writing-tools","tag-wrrters-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8134,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8132\/revisions\/8134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}