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Jennifer Howard

Writer, editor, journalist.

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Room to Write

October 8, 2017

For a too-brief but blissful spell last month, I had a room of my own for writing, thanks to a writing residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, VA. If you’re a VCCA Fellow, you get a studio to work in. Mine had a desk, bookshelf, bulletin board, and day bed. Here’s the view I had while I worked:

 

The studio complex occupies a former barn and stables/outbuildings. You can see the old grain silos in the background of the photo, but to me it looks like, and felt like, being in an enchanted castle, a place of stillness and magic.

The golden rule of the place, religiously observed, is that nobody interrupts you while you’re working unless invited to. And I worked. I worked more than I have in a long time, with good breaks for walks and naps and reading, and reminded myself that I CAN focus for sustained periods of time when I have the time and space to do it.

I was also reminded how lovely it is to have nature nearby. One day, as I wrote, a dragonfly kept me company outside the window. Birds kept busy in the trees and the wild patches around the property. I heard a coyote, I think, one starry night when the Milky Way flowered across the sky. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen the Milky Way.

I wrote, and I wrote, and I came home again the better for it, with a clearer idea of where I’m headed next creatively, even if I don’t have always get to have a writing room of my own.

 

 

Filed Under: Creative Life, Reading and Writing Tagged With: creative life, VCCA, writing, writing residencies

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Jen Howard sitting in front of a brick wall. She is smiling.

Writer, journalist, editor, gadabout. Book- and nature lover. Washingtonian. LLC. Read more »

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