From the Garret: Archives

Writing in paradise?

Question: if you had the amazing good fortune to be staying at Francis Ford Coppola’s “exquisite” Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize would you:

a) bathe in a waterfall in the tropical rain forest while sipping a superb pinot noir, or
b) sit indoors discussing plot and characterization with a bunch of magazine editors?

If you answered b), you’re a scriptotourist. 

According to the New York Times, aspiring writers are paying thousands of dollars for trips to Belize, Tuscany, Ireland, and Mexico in order to meet with other writers and...write. It’s a new “subgenre” of the travel industry called “scriptotourism.”

Admittedly, one of the great advantages of a career in writing is that it’s portable.  With a pad and pen, a writer is always in business. However, the flip side to the coin is that a writer needs something to write about.  So if you fly all the way to the heather-covered hills of Cork, Ireland, does it make sense to stay in the bed-and-breakfast revising your latest murder mystery set in Newark, NJ?  Or would more effective use of your time and money include touring a castle (historical research), visiting a pub (cultural research), and hiking over the hills (observing flora and fauna)?

The answer seems obvious to me.  The only writing I’d be doing is taking notes as I experienced every sight, scent and sound I could cram into my stay.  Then when I returned to my garret in New Jersey, I would have plenty of material for my next book or essay or poem.  Even better, I would have the renewed energy and inspiration to face the grueling task of writing it.

So go ahead and offer me the writers I most admire—Barbara Kingsolver, Nora Roberts, Ian McEwan and the ghost of Georgette Heyer—all gathered in one room to critique my latest manuscript.

I’ll take the waterfall.