Now that you have seen the benefits of writing an eBook, discovered a few sellable topics, and put together some fundamental writing tools, it’s time to have some fun.
Before you bring out your computer, tablet or other input device, I want you to experience writing in it’s truest form. I’m talking about pulling out all the stops, and get down to putting words, sketches, and grand ideas on paper with passion.
You’ll need to do a little planning to pull this off and you may need to order a few supplies, but the goal is to have an amazing adventure. I truly believe that if you start a writing project in the right way, you’ll want to jump out of bed every morning and continue. Putting words on paper need not be a chore, but instead, a magnificent journey.
Let’s get started..
To create the ultimate writing experience, you need to plan it out. This includes three main areas.
- Location: Where will you write?
- Tools: How will you capture your ideas?
- Clothing: What will you wear?
Location: Find a place that makes the words flow.
If you are going to write on a regular basis, you’ll need to find a place at home to work and also find places that inspire you outside of your usual surroundings. For your initial adventure, I suggest finding a café, restaurant or coffee shop that inspires passion, where the patrons are excited about life. You want an atmosphere full of conversations, impassioned music, and the aromas of tantalizing recipes filling the air.
To give you an idea of such a place, I’ll relate a few of my own.
The Coffee Cat in Santa Barbara: What an amazing experience. I went here on a Saturday morning and stood in line for a few minutes. The atmosphere was fun and lively, with filtered sunlight casting the dining area in a beautiful glow. I ordered a white chocolate latte and one of their hand baked scones. The aroma of the warm pastries and the smooth texture of the latte made me feel as if I had entered Heaven.
I sat at a small corner table and just took in the experience. Conversations were abundant, and the patrons rich with life. I could easily see Steinbeck capturing a story full of fascinating characters here.
Urban Plates in Carmel Valley: In a cross between an industrial urban factory and a family farm, Urban Plates serves up some of the best American cuisine in San Diego County. Top menu items include a grilled urban steak, BBQ turkey meatloaf, and grilled wild ono.
Mix one of these with a local craft beer, natural soda, or organic coffee and you have the start of an amazing lunch. Find a table off to the side and you’ll experience a unique vibe, full of the rich banter of conversations around food, drink, and fun.
As a mystery writer, I love this place. With a little imagination, I can see Bogart and Bacall, finding their place in a modern rendition of a Phillip Marlowe story. Looking across the room, it might be Jack Reacher, Sam Spade or Kinsey Millhone ordering lunch. From a starving student all the way up to the ultra rich, you’ll probably see them in here. Give me a pen and paper, and the words just flow.
A Delight of France: French Bakery in Escondido. In an atmosphere of muted orange and yellow, with walls full of classic art, you’ll find one of the tastiest pastries known to man, simply called the Amoretto Almond Croissant.
The buttery and flaky goodness of this creation with the sin of Amoretto, will enliven words so powerful and abundant, you may have trouble capturing them all. Add to this a cup of rich, full bodied coffee and the lively background sounds of a French Cafe, and you may have the start of a bestselling novel. My wife and her friends love this place. You will too!
Special Edition Writing Tools
For your first writing adventure, I suggest that you spend some time and a little money perusing the Moleskine Catalog. Since this is an adventure, you want the best and most passionate writing tools you can find.
Here are some of the finest available.
The Hobbit Limited Edition For Fantasy Writers
Infuse your everyday adventures with an epic dose of Moleskine and Tolkien with Moleskine’s latest limited edition tribute notebook to the great JRR Tolkien novel, The Hobbit, or peruse the entire collection.
Science Fiction Writers Will Love The Star Wars Special Edition
Join Luke and the Rebel Alliance with the Moleskine Star Wars Pocket Plain Notebook. Enjoy all the traditional Moleskine features, along with the classic Star Wars logo and title crawl phrase from Episode IV in metallic bronze foil over the classic black cover. Are you from the Dark Side? This collection may be more to your liking.
Get Started! Writing Inspiration Journal
The Maykel Cordeiro Nunes Journal highlights two different images on the front and back cover from the artist. Get inspired anywhere you go.
Le Petit Prince for Those Who Write Children’s Books
Moleskine pays tribute to Antonie Saint-Exupéry’s magical story with this limited edition. Because there are some books you want to keep with you beyond the final page, you’ll want to capture all of your magical ideas in this fine edition.
Clothing for Writing
You’ll need to be well dressed for your writing journey, so why not go in true creative style. Comfort should be part of the equation.
To get started on your writer’s wardrobe, it might be helpful to explore what some famous writers have worn when composing their work.
Rachel Hodin discusses the fine art of dressing the writer in her excellent piece, 9 Writers on Fashion.
Fran Lebowitz is certainly expressive on this..
“While clothes with pictures and/or writing on them are not entirely an invention of the modern age,” she writes, “They are an unpleasant indication of the general state of things. The particular general state of things that I am referring to is the general state of things that encourage people to express themselves through their clothing. Frankly, I would not be unhappy if most people expressed themselves by marching en masse into the nearest large body of water, but, barring that, I wish they would at least stop attempting to tell all by word of jacket. I mean, be realistic. If people don’t want to listen to you, what makes you think they want to hear from your sweater?”
Fran would certainly not be seen writing in any piece of clothing with words on it. However, if T-shirts are your thing, this collection from Zazzle will help you state your case in print.
Since you’ll be in different environments, a sweater or jacket might be nice. Just make sure you are comfortable.
The Writing Experience
Before you start on your eBook, I urge you to pick up some supplies, stake out a cool place, dress comfortably, and write down your ideas with a pen and paper. Gather in your surroundings, listen to conversations, let your imagination run wild.
To give you an idea what a writing adventure is like, take a minute and view this inspiring video by Ryan Hill. It’s amazing what can happen with a cup of coffee, a Moleskine notebook, and some pencil on paper.
In a future post I’ll describe a writing journey that I took last spring. It was three days long and was spread over 9 different cafes and coffee shops along the central coast of California. I drank a lot of coffee and wrote a lot of words, but the experience was magical. As for today, why not find a nice coffee place and plan out the ultimate writing adventure?
Question: What is your favorite place to write?
