the where of it

the house as place

• Posted by Summer Wood on March 4th, 2009 filed in seeds
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Having spent much of my adult life as a builder, I’m especially attuned to the similarities between writing a novel and building a house.  (More on this in a later post.)

I’m also easily and genuinely amused by the odd and original in architecture.  A friend sent a link to this website of photos of astonishing buildings.  They’re almost all public buildings (very few homes), but they’re wildly creative and sometimes hilarious.  (Check out the Kansas City Public Library!)

Glancing at these photos got me to thinking about buildings and houses, interior and exterior space, and how they function in writing.  Which got me to thinking about particular houses I’ve lived in and how they’ve influenced me.  Which got me to thinking…

Okay, for those of you who like a new challenge, try this:  return in your mind to a house you lived in or were familiar with some years ago, and write your way through it.  Try to do it in one fell swoop, traveling through all of its parts and documenting how they interacted.  Then focus on one particular part (a room? a window? a closet? a stairwell?) and write a scene set there.

If you’d like, email me your piece (summerwood@thewhereofit.com) and I’ll post it on a Readers Respond page.

Hmmm.  I’m remembering a laundry chute in my neighbor’s house when I was a kid…