[One Sip of a Book] The Writer's Room

by Seo Miteum

Published 14 Oct.2022 07:41(KST)

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly reach the reader’s heart, creating a connection with the book. Here, we excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books. - Editor’s note

Agatha Christie came up with ideas for detective novels in the bathroom, Arthur Conan Doyle carried a travel bag that transformed into a desk, Ian Fleming created James Bond at his villa in Jamaica, Margaret Atwood writes anywhere with just a notebook and coffee, and the Bront? sisters were happiest when living and writing together. Every author has their own creative space and routine. This book tells the story of the authors’ ‘spaces,’ witnessed up close at the moments when the writers and works we have long loved were born. From perfect hideouts free from any disturbance to habits and writing tools that spark creative inspiration, we take a peek into the rooms of 50 authors who found the optimal conditions for writing.

‘A Room of One’s Own’ ? Virginia Woolf

Woolf mainly wrote in the mornings. Her husband said she “went to her writing hut like a stockbroker, without missing a day.” (...) “I will smell the scent of red roses. (Walking carefully and slowly across the lawn as if balancing an egg basket on my head) I will light a cigarette and place a clipboard on my lap. Then, like a diver, I will carefully plunge into the last sentence I wrote yesterday.” (pp. 27?28)

‘The Charm of the Bed’ ? Marcel Proust

Truman Capote, who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s, revealed that he was a “perfectly sedentary writer” who could not think unless lying on a bed or sofa, and Mark Twain, famous for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, even wrote about how satisfying it was to sit in bed with a pipe and scribble. However, the author who best represents writers working in bed is Marcel Proust. His masterpiece In Search of Lost Time even begins with the sentence, “For many years I went to bed early.” (p. 44)

‘A Fantastic Villa and a Strict Routine’ ? Ian Fleming

Fleming offered advice for writers who find it difficult to secure a hideout like Goldeneye in the May 1963 issue of the now-defunct magazine Books and Bookmen, in a column titled “How to Write Thrillers.”

“I recommend a hotel room far away from our everyday ‘life.’ An anonymous, monotonous environment and a strange place without friends or distractions help you quickly get into the mood to write. If you cannot afford this, you will write faster with full concentration.” (p. 70)