Greetings form Oaxaca, Mexico, where I’m on a travel writing assignment during possibly the most challenging time to travel in history, which also triples as a visit to my sister and a writing retreat. I spent a lot of time on the flight from New York thinking about how much privilege it takes to travel safely right now. One of the biggest ways I try to not to take this privilege for granted is to treat it responsibly, and follow all the protocols for preventing transmission.
I know a lot of writers who are struggling to work from home where distractions abound. I struggle with this too, and often go away to new places (often combined with a travel writing assignment) when I’m drafting something substantial. That’s become a lot more challenging in the times we live in, but it might be worth asking around to see if friends might have ideas for available and safe spaces to write; I’ve noticed friends do this on social and get positive responses. When I’m away and I have space available, I try to invite friends to retreat at my house to get work done. A change of context is a great way to get a new perspective and break unproductive habits that accumulate when you’re in your own home space.
I’ll be scarce over the next few weeks as I go into deep writing mode, but some wonderful guests will be writing on my behalf and offering up fantastic events like reading groups and writing sessions while I’m away. Please join our Facebook group if you want to keep up-to-date on those. Then we’ll be resuming our spring season of writing workshops in March with some wonderful guests, so stay tuned!
Talk soon,
Meredith