Writing Under So Many Stars

Such a marvellous sight!

It’s almost Christmas Eve. A few days need to go by, but we’re almost there.

This year, hubby-to-be, kiddo and I chose a different place to celebrate the North American Holidays season.

From Christmas to almost New Year’s Eve, we settled down in a little cozy, sparkling with wonderful art cabin, just a sigh away from the St Lawrence River, nearby a little village on Ile d’Orléans.

When I first started to write this post, no moon shined on the ice crackling on the shore.

However, stars did. So many stars, so bright in the frigid minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Such a marvellous sight, dear fellow writers, not only did I feel the need to share, but it made me wonder about the power of travelling and its impact on my creative writing quest.

For nowadays, technology obliging, writers can do such in-depth researches that travelling to physically experience the weather, the atmosphere, the sounds, the decor, the smells of any destination seems almost like a burden.

However, here I am, dear fellow writers, listening to the ice pilling up on the shore so close to the cabin. Crackling crack crack criiick. A big cargo boat is slowly going down in what’s left of free water.

And a little « what if… » starts to dance in my mind.

What Writing Is

Lately, the thought has been a steady companion of mine, especially on nights where sleep has other things to do than stick around: what is writing and why do we indeed write.

The answer should be simple enough, but there’s so much more to it than the plain « I write stories because I like it. »

No matter the genre we chose to write in, writing is

…a way to share how we experience the world, the country, the society we live in

…a way to try and better understand our fellow human beings

…a way to explore dreams, time, nature.

Because of all writing is, I fairly often fight with a heavy imposter syndrome.

Writing Away from Home

In French, there’s a saying: « les voyages forment la jeunesse. » It means something like… to travel early in life changes your perspective and almost forces you to learn a thing or two… or a hundred thousand about this good old wide wild world.

The same goes for writing. I’m not saying we need to travel halfway across earth and sea to experience life in a different way, come across different ways of living, or meet new people.

It’s more getting out of the safe surroundings of our little house nestled cozily in that little village or town or big city (you’re catching my drift, fellow writers, I know you do !) is making us witness a changed perspective, like looking at our own house from the sky would.

An hour after I started writing this post, soft clouds are quietly taking over in the night sky so full of stars.

We’re a day closer to Christmas, and for the first time in very, very long time, I am enjoying every minute of the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s a bit strange to me, how I rather think about writing than work on my stories, but I figure I better go with the flow, enjoy the Holidays and leave the self-imposed productivity pressure rest for a bit.

We both deserve it!

With all my heart, dear fellow writers, I wish you a gentle Holidays season.