I took a writer’s trip on Saturday. This was the 3rd or 4th time I’ve gone on a writer’s trip with my friends, A + J and this time we were joined by my hubby, Ter Bear. We had a blast!
Basically, what we do is tour places in or around the city that inspire the current books A and I are working on. If there is a graveyard in the book, we go to a graveyard. If there is a certain coffee place we have in mind in a certain scene, we go there. For my current story, the characters go on an impromptu date at Lulu’s restaurant. So we went there for lunch. For A’s story, she had two characters meet at a particular coffee shop, so we went there also. it was fun to explore new places, and familiar places in a writerly light.
At Lulu’s I took lots of pictures, it made me feel a little nervous like I was some kind of tourist. But, I wanted to get a clear idea of the atmosphere. J has a “phablet” that he was able to take amazing pictures incognito. In the foyer it just looked like he was checking his phone; no one knew he was taking a picture.
I took notes of what the waitress looked like, a petite, friendly lady with slightly almond-shaped eyes. She wore a goldenrod yellow sweater, cute pastel doll earrings and had an amazing tattoo on the back of her neck of a bat with a broken heart. I wondered about her tattoo, what caused her to get it? Did she still have a broken heart?
They played 80’s rock-pop overhead and A knew the names of the songs. I wrote them down and plan on making a mix I will call, Lovebirds and Lulu’s. It will include Heaven by Psychedelic Furs, Melt with you by Modern English. So exciting!
We also walked around the building and found an old rusty door, decaying buildings, interesting graffiti and a fossilized turd on the middle of the sidewalk. More pictures were taken.
At the coffee shop we sipped lattes, shared a cranberry muffin, and talked some more. I took notes on two interesting young ladies that came into the shop. One had black and white striped knee high socks, and a hoodie that said “The Asylum,” she met up with a friend wearing a royal purple wool coat with a hot pink lace skirt. I could just imagine them as characters in a story.
All in all, it was a total success. It is amazing how you notice the smallest details when you are on a writer’s trip. The colors, sights, sounds and smells. You keenly observe everything. It all feels fun, and new. I highly suggest going on one, and bring a friend! They can help you notice things you normally wouldn’t and share in on the fun :)
Lovebirds at Lulu's Mix
Save a Prayer - Duran Duran
Half a Person- The Smiths
Heaven - Psychedelic Furs
I Melt with You -Modern English
Major Tom - Peter Schilling
Cities in the Dust - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Tenderness - General Public
Lovesong - The Cure
Sounds like you had a blast :) Totally inspiring, think I will take one day this week to treat myself to a writers trip. I'm not sure they'll help me much for Ethra, but definitely for my other story I'm working on.
ReplyDeleteThose two girls in the crazy outfits sound like they would make awesome pixies or fairies, I could see them getting into mischief!
It was fun! Hope it sufficiently inspired some good writing!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you had fun! It inspired a lot of writing, I now have the sights, sounds, and flavors of Lulu's in my mind as well as the surrounding area. I think it will really make the scene come alive. Also, I found some interesting characters at the coffee shop we went to which may end up in another story down the line. Like Laura said, they seemed very fae :)
ReplyDeleteOooh, those girls really did seem fae...*ponders* Love the pics and the recap of the day. ^_^
ReplyDeletePS--let me know if you need help w/ the mix. :) I have a lot of those songs and just love them!
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