Rehoboth Beach Writer's Guild

Where We Write

From Maribeth Fischer—I have a setting exercise I use when teaching fiction in which I give writers a paragraph describing a character’s home, and I ask them to tell me, based on that description (of furniture, objects, the view), what they know about the character. It’s amazing how much the details reveal. A home is more intimate than a diary, the poet Anne Michaels wrote. And so it is with the 60 pictures that comprise this video. I am tempted to call them portraits, for that is what they are: portraits of who we are when we write.

It was fun viewing the writing spaces, but equally enjoyable was seeing the ways we define writing space. For some, like Mimi DuPont with her desk built from slabs of maple or Elise Seyfried who wanted that Kelly green desk (her favorite color) the desk is the writing space. For others, like Chanta Wilkinson, the writing space is all about the books. And for others, the writing space is about the view—sunlight, trees, and in Gayla Sullivan’s case, the majestic Rocky Mountains.

Regardless of how we define our writing space, each of these pictures tells a story about what it means to be a working writer. Thank you to all who contributed, and a special thanks to Gillian Letonoff for her time and care in choosing the music and creating this video.

Click here to view the video.

Guild Member Walt Curran's Writing Space