Guest Blogger: Kathy Dunn
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Writing on the Slow Train
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“A good thought, like a good donkey, is something to be nurtured. Neither likes to be rushed.”
In the world of Slow Travel, getting there can still be half the fun. And while some trips do require air travel, Slow Travel embraces the metaphor, if not the literal practice, of travel by donkey.
Creative writing is a lot like Slow Travel. In many ways, it is a form of travel. It takes us to new places and offers up new perceptions. It surprises and confounds and, more often than not, nourishes something deep inside.
Creative Writing explores inner landscapes, taking us deeper into stories we thought we already knew. And, like Slow Travelers, we are never fully in charge of what happens along the way – nor of when (or whether!) we’ll reach our intended destination.
Fast Likes Fast
Writing moves at donkey pace. Sometimes that means a spirited trot, or a sure-footed climb up a steep, narrow path. Other times it means barely moving, or stopping altogether to nuzzle sweet grass at road’s edge.
Writing is like that. We have to receive it, encourage it, be open to its surprises. Most of all, we have to not-rush it.
Fast, on the other hand, likes precision. And promptness. Fast is not very good at meandering. So if we all have fast lives, how do we make room for the unexpected? Travel is one way. Writing is another.
You Don’t Have to Travel Far to Travel Slow
In the world of writing, Slow is about creating a protected space and time. It doesn’t matter whether you sign up for a week-long retreat, or shove boxes into the corner of the spare room, set up a comfortable chair, close the door – and start writing.
Poetry, fiction, journal entries, dreams, questions, memoirs, lists, recipes, editorials, capital-T Truths, small-t truths, myths, rants, short stories, long lies, ads, gossip, epics, aspersions, eulogies, fables, lyrics, and notes you don’t intend to send: carve out the time, and there’s no end to the variety of writing that will emerge.
Slow Travel in Your Back Yard
Sometimes all it takes to shift out of Fast is an unfamiliar setting. If you do your laundry at home, spend a half hour sitting in a laundromat …and write. Or spend an hour occupying a local park bench. And write. Or indulge: test the scones in a different bakery each week – and write as you savor. Settle in somewhere new and close your eyes: what do you hear, smell…taste?
As Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini put it, you simply have to “give time to each and every thing” – the donkey, the writing, and the day.
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Guest Blogger: Kathy Dunn www.mainstreetwriters.com