“I love writing on trains. The joy of being a writer is it’s all in your head; you don’t need materials apart from the laptop. It’s like taking your work home with you, so you can feel grounded in your own insane writerly realities wherever you are are.”
—Sadie Jones
Aside from taking the T to various parts of Boston in the summer of 2018, I knew nothing of trains. My experiences were hearing them blare every morning thanks to Amtrak’s South Bend station and knowing their job is to provide travel and (for other trains) to carry cargo. I also knew them as the culprit as to why I was nearly always late to school.
This week, however, I would hear of a fellow knight talking to me about Amtrak’s Writer’s Residency—the opportunity for a diverse group of writers to be selected to ride across America and become inspired to create new works at no charge. Delving into Amtrak’s website to acquire clarity, I discovered that the U.S.’s federal railroad service began to offer this “residency” program for writers in 2014. It has remained active through 2019, though nothing seemed posted about plans for 2020.
Frances Cha, a CNN columnist, wrote an article in 2014 covering the program’s emergence. She wrote how Amtrak created the program as inspiration from a tweet by New York-based writer Jessica Gross. Gross’ words reflected her interviewee, novelist Alexander Chee, who voiced his desire for Amtrak to offer a residency exclusively for writers. He thought a writer’s quiet time in a booth with a clear view of nature, small towns, and bustling cities might prove to be motivational stimuli. Amtrak happily complied shortly after.
The Need For A Creative Outlet
But why would Amtrak go to such lengths (literally) to promote literature and writing? Why offer free, prolonged train rides across the country to promising writers who win their writing and blogging competitions? Perhaps it is good business (as professional writers often observe and photograph settings they plan to utilize in their own works), but of what value does a free train ride across America’s variety of landscapes and scenery offer a writer?
My non-scientific analysis is that the writer who yearns for Amtrak’s residency program suffers from the same ailment afflicting university students across the board: a lack of creativity. This is not to say that individuals are not creative. Marian students and professors alike continue to amaze our community with mixed media art pieces, organized service projects, and newsworthy discoveries, like Dr. Daniel Gelfman’s recent revelation on Michelangelo’s ‘David’.
However, I too often come across students who are bored with writing and have settled on the misconception that they “are just not good writers.” In my experience as a peer tutor, these feelings of self-discouragement manifest very early in tutorials. It often leads to the plea for the complete dismantling of the student’s original work and in place of it the tutor is to help put “what it should say.”
College often drains students’ written ambition as style guides and strict direction from professors leads to a disinterest in the creative writing process. The numbness or anxiousness of the mind when presented with a blank page is what I call mental stoicism. It is like a long-term writer’s block that permeates the minds of children and adults alike, leading to an ebb of any creative ideas or personal projects. The student then continues to believe the lie that he or she is not a writer, while his or her existence as a creative being says otherwise.
Taking Rails to Greater Understandings
But would a traveling outlet fix this? Is exposure to scenery or new places, smells, and experiences the perfect blend to reignite one’s desire to write? Amtrak seems to think so. As do blogs and research, which show that the inventive, right-side of our brains light up when we are inspired to act and create content in new situations. It lights up much in the same way a child does when she learns she is going on a road trip or is going to have a birthday party.
For a writer crafting a book, much can be learned by actually experiencing natural settings likes hills, forests, bridges, and cities that can be integrated into a work of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, or drama. When that same writer has the time to meet and converse with strangers, the door of possibility opens. Further, creativity can blossom during a period of no distractions and restfulness can be beneficial as it would be for students when midterms come along.
For Amtrak residents, the influence of travel on writing appears to be successful and useful. The program continues to gain momentum as writers share their positive experiences through YouTube and social media with the hashtag #AmtrakTakeMeThere. Various Instagram users especially have used the digital platform to promote vlogs, selfies, and inspirational stories that arose because of their experiences:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6v0RpRJXAR/ (Middle)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B014UbTA2no/ (Right)
An Imperative Thought to Transform Writers
Though I cannot critique their partial or final products of writing since no Amtrak writer on Instagram seemed to display the links to their works. Nonetheless, I do not need to read things to understand the implications of travel on the soul. I find it remarkable that people appear to discover a greater willingness to write when given an adventurous opportunity.
As a tutor ambitious to see students flourish, I think that it is vital for both our creative juices (and simply for peace of mind) that we make the choice to explore new places and discover the stories we are hiding in our hearts. I firmly believe finding passion in writing will help generate less stress in the fields of academia and will help enhance greater storytelling and writing capabilities for the future workforce.
If you are wondering if I am suggesting for you to go by yourself to a train, travel across the country and become the next Ernest Hemingway, I would tell you, “of course! Why wouldn’t you?” But, since I understand that it is a tad on the unrealistic side (and a chip on the rest of your crippling debt), there are other options that may help bring out the writer in you.
Marian University students have the unique luxury of living in Indianapolis, a buzzing city overflowing with diversity and new places you have not yet seen. The people, bars, music, social events, restaurants, museums, concerts and parks are just few of the long list of things that can be experienced. If you have already been a city-dweller all your life and your ideas are drowned out by the noise, Indiana is still ranked #5 in the corn production states. This means there is lots of farmland and countrysides all around to escape to.
Regardless of where you are as a writer, experience will always offer you more material to work with. It will give you new perspectives from others and more exposure to ideas yet to have been discovered.
So in your minimal free time when you do not want to do homework. Or, if you find yourself having a day off from work over the summer, take some time to get lost and jot down some inspirations. If you find it exciting enough, perhaps one day you too will be an Amtrak resident.
“Cars on Road”
Photographed by: Hunter James
| Indianapolis, IN |
The Writer's Desk 