4 Reasons Why Traveling Helps You Become a Better Writer
1. New Ideas
One of the best things about traveling or living abroad is that it introduces you to a multitude of new cultures and experiences. In time these influence your creativity and give you new things to write about. Before I left the U.K in 2008 I was dead creatively. All that changed the moment I touched down on the tarmac of Incheon airport and began two years of teaching in South Korea. The Korean culture shocked me into writing poetry. I wrote about what I saw: the people, the markets, the food, the mountains. I was moved then and I continue to be moved now in China. Indeed, my experience living amongst the smog-filled streets of Beijing led to me write an entire collection of sonnets called 'Made in China', based upon many of the working people and diverse communities that I came into contact with whilst living there.
2. New People
If you're an author like myself then creating vibrant, original characters for your novels is a must. The truer to life your characters are the more believable they will be to your readers. The problem though is that with writing taking up so much of our time we often don't have enough time to get out and meet a wide array of interesting and colourful people. When you live in a foreign country the desire to fit in and become acquainted with your new surroundings drives you to go out and make new friends: friends who in the end have a way of flitting about your imagination when you are dreaming up new worlds and new adventures. Many of the characters featured in my books are based on the many diverse people I have met whilst living abroad. My books would be incomplete without them.
3. New Experiences
New experiences allow us to grow not just as writers but also as people. During my first year living in Beijing - when I was overcoming challenges on an almost daily basis - I began to dream up the character of Jack Strong. I wanted a character who was realistic and believable, someone who the reading public would want to read about and follow with interest; someone who though initially quite weak would ultimately get stronger and GROW as a result of his experiences, not in spite of them. If I'd have stayed in the U.K and stuck to my boring civil service job and not done anything wild or adventurous I wouldn't have been able to write about Jack and his friends. Why? Because I needed to grow as a person first before I could write about and relate to him as a human being.
4. New Landscapes and Cityscapes
Over the last several years I've lived in South Korea and China, as well as traveled extensively around The USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Vietnam, Thailand, and Nepal, amongst many others. All of these, especially the first two countries, have had an huge impact upon my writing. The cityscape of Beijing with its jagged outline and grey, urban masses flooded into my poetry soon after I landed. But it hasn't been the only influence. My single day in New York in 2010 was enough to force its way into my first Jack Strong novel, with the Alps and many South Korean and Chinese mountains providing the inspiration for many of the landscapes in Jack Strong and the Prisoner of Haa'drath, the third novel of the series. Could I have dreamt up these aspects of the Jack Strong universe without hitching a ride around Asia and the wider world? I doubt it. When you are living abroad many of the experiences that you are writing about gives your writing an immediacy and a vividness that books and documentaries alone cannot provide.
One of the best things about traveling or living abroad is that it introduces you to a multitude of new cultures and experiences. In time these influence your creativity and give you new things to write about. Before I left the U.K in 2008 I was dead creatively. All that changed the moment I touched down on the tarmac of Incheon airport and began two years of teaching in South Korea. The Korean culture shocked me into writing poetry. I wrote about what I saw: the people, the markets, the food, the mountains. I was moved then and I continue to be moved now in China. Indeed, my experience living amongst the smog-filled streets of Beijing led to me write an entire collection of sonnets called 'Made in China', based upon many of the working people and diverse communities that I came into contact with whilst living there.
2. New People
If you're an author like myself then creating vibrant, original characters for your novels is a must. The truer to life your characters are the more believable they will be to your readers. The problem though is that with writing taking up so much of our time we often don't have enough time to get out and meet a wide array of interesting and colourful people. When you live in a foreign country the desire to fit in and become acquainted with your new surroundings drives you to go out and make new friends: friends who in the end have a way of flitting about your imagination when you are dreaming up new worlds and new adventures. Many of the characters featured in my books are based on the many diverse people I have met whilst living abroad. My books would be incomplete without them.
3. New Experiences
New experiences allow us to grow not just as writers but also as people. During my first year living in Beijing - when I was overcoming challenges on an almost daily basis - I began to dream up the character of Jack Strong. I wanted a character who was realistic and believable, someone who the reading public would want to read about and follow with interest; someone who though initially quite weak would ultimately get stronger and GROW as a result of his experiences, not in spite of them. If I'd have stayed in the U.K and stuck to my boring civil service job and not done anything wild or adventurous I wouldn't have been able to write about Jack and his friends. Why? Because I needed to grow as a person first before I could write about and relate to him as a human being.
4. New Landscapes and Cityscapes
Over the last several years I've lived in South Korea and China, as well as traveled extensively around The USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Vietnam, Thailand, and Nepal, amongst many others. All of these, especially the first two countries, have had an huge impact upon my writing. The cityscape of Beijing with its jagged outline and grey, urban masses flooded into my poetry soon after I landed. But it hasn't been the only influence. My single day in New York in 2010 was enough to force its way into my first Jack Strong novel, with the Alps and many South Korean and Chinese mountains providing the inspiration for many of the landscapes in Jack Strong and the Prisoner of Haa'drath, the third novel of the series. Could I have dreamt up these aspects of the Jack Strong universe without hitching a ride around Asia and the wider world? I doubt it. When you are living abroad many of the experiences that you are writing about gives your writing an immediacy and a vividness that books and documentaries alone cannot provide.
Comments
Post a Comment