I crouch as low as I can without sitting on the rain-slick ground, photographing cobblestones and parquet floors. I lie flat on my back in a flagstone courtyard trying to capture the majesty of a tower. I stretch my arms above my head and stand on tiptoes: how else can a capture the sheer scale of this gilded room?
I expected to go on this retreat to spend time with my friends, to make new friends, to integrate myself further into this community of writers that I love so dearly. I didn’t expect, or perhaps I didn’t make the connection, that I’d be visiting palaces and castles and mideval cities that are perfect references for my writing. So I tried to photograph every detail where photography was allowed. I tried to sink myself into the moment.
How would a the distance between cobblestone effect a swordfight, a chase? I learned that cobblestones are incredibly slippery when wet and a chase through the rain would likely invlove a lot of slipping and falling. I learned that kings and queens like to record history in their own special way through the artwork in and on their palaces. I learned that the level of detail in my own fictional palaces is fairly low and that those details might afford me a space to expand my worldbuilding where it is lacking.
I also learned on these excursions that a few hours in a country is nowhere near enough time to learn it. I knew that coming in, but now that I’ve spent those few hours apiece in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Tallinn, I’d like to go back and spend at least a week exploring each of those cities. I’d like to immerse myself further in the history and culture of these places and gather inspiration.
There is a comfort to be found in the organized tour. You don’t have to think too hard about time tables or directions or itinerary, but there’s also a lack of spontanaity and flexibility. As much as I enjoyed my guided tour of Copenhagen, I disliked the tour in Stockholm. It wasn’t the places we went, but rather the guide who was the problem. But the little bit of Stockholm that I saw made me want to see more. In Tallinn, I didn’t join a tour, but rather wandered and sat in a wonderful cafe and wrote. It was fun and freeing and I could have kept going for much longer, but I had to get back on the boat.
Everywhere I’ve been over the last two weeks has been a source of inspiration. I hope that I’ll be able to translate the eyes of a tourist to my everyday life, to see the inspiration in the everyday (which aligns nicely with the class Jasper Fforde taught during the retreat).
I feel as though a lot of this year’s retreat has been about reminding myself of things I already know. Things I’ve forgotten I know because I’ve been so caught up in the cycle of work, music, write, sleep repeat. If I’ve learned anything this year, I think it’s that I need to slow down. I get so caught up in trying to reach the destination that I forget that the process is my favorite part.
Thank you for reading. What sort of things do you draw inspiration from in your everyday lives?
The birds in my back yard.
Birds are incredibly inspiring. I took a lot of pigeon shots as well as photos of various European geese, ducks, and black bird type birds.