Welcome back to A Writing Life, our series of monthly articles written by long-time 26 member and contributor Rob Self-Pierson.
Like many of us, Rob straddles the line between commercial and creative writing. Each month, we’re inviting him to share the trials and triumphs of a writing life – and what he learns along the way.
It’s May, and Rob’s out in the warmer weather. Between projects, sitting by the lake, he reflects on place and the language it inspires…
Photo by Howen on Unsplash
I’m writing by the lake for a change of scene.
A Cessna Skyhawk rumbles overhead. A coot alarms on the still water. I can hear a robin twinkling a melody in the trees.
In the distance, a train fizzes then thunders by. Closer, a short-haired, narrow-shouldered woman walks her dog in the opposite direction to the train. It’s a giant of a creature, up to her midriff.
With threads of recent projects now tied off, I’m taking a pause.
I’m only half here, though, by Bowyers Water in the Lee Valley, as my mind reflects on a subject that feels very here and now: place.
This bench, beside this old gravel pit, is familiar. I grew up about a mile away. My brother and I used to walk these trip-hazard paths, him stalking fish-shaped shadows in the water, me just glad to be beside him, my older bro. The memory is vivid.
I’ve written about this place before, in stories and poems, but never from here. The wildflower fluff in the air. The sweet smell of spring blooms. This rickety bench, the only one in the shade. Swarms of midges dancing around me. I feel this place is giving my writing a different flavour today, like terroir gives wine.
Place is potent like that. It stirs memories, shapes stories and evokes emotion. It influences who we are, and how we express ourselves. Smart writers – and brands – get this and find ways to use it.
It’s why I’ve suggested it as the theme of June’s Circle gathering. The Circle is a writing collective that meets four times a year to share words and a moment. Our own John Simmons hosts each time.
John and I have been emailing about a workshop he’ll lead this October in Berlin. I visited Berlin in 2012 for a book I wrote on town twinning. I shared some memories with John – how the city holds so many contrasts: wild and sombre, ugly and beautiful. He replied that his workshop, inspired by his recently published poem ‘Berliners’, will be an emotional trip. There’s place again, evoking emotion.
Place is central to the novel I started writing last summer, set between two places I know well: North Wales and Cornwall. Here’s an excerpt, describing a fictional town inspired by a real one:
Glanfa – I realised within a few hours of us arriving – is very ‘coastal’. The sort of peaceful, edge-of-nation place where seagulls make the news, and people wave from porches. A bit like Cornwall. But with steep, stony trails into the mountains through spiky gorse and heather, and loose paths down to boulder-protected promenades and wide sandy beaches.
There are tea rooms that don’t accept card. A pet shop doubling as the town’s Post Office. The sort of corner pub that looks like it wants to punch you hard in the side of the head. And an antiques store that when you peer in through the windows is cleared of all life and cloaked in thick layers of dust, but whose sign teases, ‘Be back soon.’
I want readers to exist in this place. To feel what my character feels. So later they might understand why he does what he does.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that my language studio often works on projects where place is pivotal. It’s fun dipping our toes into this area of branding, exploring where place, language and identity overlap.
Recently, we helped our creative partner &Dave define a voice for Vertus at Canary Wharf and for Television Centre. We’ve since done similar for &Dave themselves, one of a growing number of smart studios specialising in place. We’ve also created a verbal identity for the University of Greenwich. Again, place played a central role.
Helping these brands was, in a way, a language experiment. Each time, we went out with notepads in hand. Wandered the streets. Took tours. Talked to locals. Got lost. Found ourselves. Stayed the night. I approached it like my travel memoirs. Alongside our client, we left the comfort of the office and stepped out into the reality of place.
Because place is where we connect with the world. Where memories are made and stories are born. Where we gather together and build our communities. In this era of digital almost-everything, it’s in places that we truly exist, and that brands take physical form.
As a writer, exploring place is some of the most fun I have with words. And I’m learning it’s also some of the most meaningful and valuable language work my studio does for brands.
Together we go
It’s time to move on, away from this bench, this lake, the sweet memories and gentle breeze. It’s warmer now. My mind is excited, turning to next month’s Circle gathering and the places we’ll go.
I’ll see you in June. Who knows where you’ll find me then?
Onwards,
Rob
If you’d like to share in response, message Rob via Max at 26. Also, find out more about Rob or connect with him.