Where Do You Write?

Write here. 

I wrote my first ever post for Floodmark on a Metra train from the northwest suburbs to Chicago. I took that train back and forth six days a week for much of my first semester of graduate school. And, consequently, I did a lot of reading and writing in transit. My laptop was too heavy to be lugging around six days a week. I had no choice but to start writing by hand.


I started writing on a computer, in Microsoft Word. And now, after years and years of papers, there's something comforting about Times New Roman, 12-point, double-spaced. But, once I started carrying a notebook with me on the train, never-before-seen writing vistas opened up for me. Suddenly, I could write on park benches. At bus stops. By the lake. Everywhere! And I could finally use the notebooks and journals and diaries that people started giving me once I became known as one of the family writers.


Exploring new places allowed my writing to change. Recently, I was working on a piece about gardens and inspiration. I rode my bicycle along the Lakefront Trail, found a suitable spot, opened up a black diary and began to write. And, my goodness, that piece just streamed out of my pen in a way it hadn't the last several times I'd tried to write it. There was something about being able to see the horizon, the vastness of the lake and space itself that fit the expansiveness of the piece.


If you're struggling with a piece, or even if you aren't, write in new places. Write on buses and trains. Write by a water body if you have one close to you. Write in your bathroom and kitchen. Write at the grocery store. You'll see your writing change. And when you see that, hey, why not share it with us?

Read more from Rukmini on Floodmark!