Tayari's Blog: Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Posted by TayariJones on July 22, 2007 09:44 PM
Filed under
Travels & Rambles
Yesterday, I climbed a mountain. Why? Well, I am still on my writer's break and there's not much to do at a writers retreat when you're not writing. I was told it would be easy, afterall, Mount Monadnock is the most climbed mountain in the world. The kitchen staff at MacDowell even prepared a special travel lunch for those of us taking the hike.
Patricia McCormick, who has written three books for young readers, including National Book Award Finialist, Sold, assured me that this would be fun. I completely believed her until she said, "Did anyone think to bring toilet paper."
I was sort of expecting to have an experience that I could relate to writing. Afterall, a mountain is a metaphor looking for somewhere to happen. Instead, I just had a wonderful time. The hike was physically demanding-- it took 4 hours and I burned 2000 calories-- but it was such a unusual experience. Frank, our unofficial leader, is an experienced hiker, give fun facts about native plants and also told scary stories of people who had gotten lost in the woods and survived through extraordinary means.
And, lo and behold.. I came home with something close to inspiration. I can't say that looking off from the edge of the earth taught me anything about writing, but being so far away from my desk caused me to long for it.
Go figure.
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There are 2 comments on "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Michael Fischer ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
I like this post. I actually haven't written anything in the last week or so. I got a lot of writing done most of the summer and made decent headway on my book, but eventually, too much time at "the desk" bores me, if that makes sense.
This happens to me toward the end of each summer when I'm off from school/teaching--all the "free time at the desk" becomes overwhelming and I just become antsy to get back on a regular work schedule. Sounds crazy but I feel like I get more writing done over time when I'm having to fit my writing into my real world schedule, instead of the other way around.
July 23, 2007 12:33 AM
Comment #2, by Michael Fischer
I like this post. I actually haven't written anything in the last week or so. I got a lot of writing done most of the summer and made decent headway on my book, but eventually, too much time at "the desk" bores me, if that makes sense.
This happens to me toward the end of each summer when I'm off from school/teaching--all the "free time at the desk" becomes overwhelming and I just become antsy to get back on a regular work schedule. Sounds crazy but I feel like I get more writing done over time when I'm having to fit my writing into my real world schedule, instead of the other way around.
July 23, 2007 12:33 AM