Changing places and shifting perspective
Posted on 29. Feb, 2008 by Emma in Creativity
My stay in England has been unexpectedly extended and it looks like I’ll be here for another month. Not that I’m complaining. It’s lovely not having to charge around at 150kph (see, I’m all European now), trying to cram in seeing dozens of people in a matter of days all because my time in the country is limited.
I’m enjoying pub lunches, brisk walks along the beach, dipping my feet in the icy sea off Sandbanks, and listening to the woodpecker as he pecks away outside my bedroom window. It certainly beats waking up to the irritating ring tone on my mobile.
But what I didn’t expect was the effect this different routine would have on my writing. I’ve been jolted out of my ordinary every day surroundings of granite cliffs and kingfisher-blue sea that hug the soft, sandy beaches of the Costa Smeralda and thrust into the no less stunning scenery of Dorset that I took for granted when I was growing up.
And I’ve noticed my writing has changed as a result. It’s softer. More introspective. A reflection, certainly, of what’s going on in the outside world. Just as you’ll do when you join us for Absorbing Writing in Sardinia, I’ve shifted perspective and am now telling a different story to the one I left behind.
from Emma in Dorset
February 2008
Photo Credit: Hungry Woodpecker by Steffe on Flickr
That’s very interesting Emma, the way our environment shapes our writing.
I’m just back from a few days on Arran and that made me write differently too – the weather changes so fast and so dramatically I could feel more energy in more writing, more shades of light and dark interwoven in my words
I can’t wait to see what writing in Alghero does for us all!
Joanna
Joanna
It seems like we’ve both been benefitting from the change in landscape.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Alghero shapes your writing, too!
Emma