Why Travel

Writing Around Boston

"To travel is to take a journey into yourself." -Dena Kaye

This famous quote, on a wall decoration given to me by my aunt, appears to be all over the Internet.  But, it is certainly true.  Why else would we bother to travel?  But to write is also to take a journey into yourself.

As thousands ran the marathon here in Boston earlier this week, I thought about how the world might be different if that many thousands of people wrote books.  And equally as many people as run 5Ks or other shorter races or ran around their towns for exercise, wrote essays or short stories.  For all I know they do.  I know there are a lot of novels under mattresses in this country.  Not that many people actually run the marathon.  But still, I don't think so.  And certainly, they aren't as visible.

But as I prepare to join hundreds, rather than thousands, at the Muse and the Marketplace conference this weekend, I am encouraged and inspired.  Welcome to Boston, fellow writers!  Or welcome to writing, fellow Bostonians!

If you're like me when you're traveling you're always looking for a good place to sit and write, even if the writing is really just a to do list or trip planning.  Here are a few of my favorites, and I'd love to hear about yours!

Trident Cafe on Newbury Street where you'll find the writers clustered at the far end of the bar (where the outlets are) drinking bottomless coffees or rounds of beers throughout the day and evening.

Cafe Algiers in Harvard Square where you can just feel the creative juices buzzing, and for the best mint tea around.

Boston Common Coffee Company on Salem Street in the North End, formerly known as Beanstock, they have free wi-fi, a great atmosphere, owner and staff, and their iced coffee is especially good which comes in handy when the sun comes out, and you want to head over to the park on the Greenway at the end of the block

Boston Public Library at Copley Square main reading room or courtyard, depending on the weather

Boston Public Gardens obviously depending on weather, but except on the coldest days you will see people on benches or blankets writing, reading, and people watching the day away.

The Many Deaths of Print Media

With such a pile after traveling for three weeks, and getting some additional subscriptions for Christmas gifts, I was contemplating canceling all of our subscriptions.  So I started reading through the magazines to see what I would miss and discovered something interesting: they were contemplating canceling me too, or at least the physical print version I was tripping over.

As one of the chumps who actually *paid* for TimesSelect when the New York Times flirted with charging for online content, I never understood why they canceled instead of expanding that experiment.  But they did, and now all of (print) publishing is supposedly on the brink.  The free online content, supported by advertising is going into the red thanks to plunging ad revenues, thanks to the recession.  Another "problem" is that all English language publications online are now competing, so that the UK Guardian newspaper is now a major news source in the US.

What if we no longer what all the crap that is advertised?  Not just at the moment, but what if our appetite for consumer crap stays way down?  Aparently we couldn't afford it all along, and our appetite could reset at a much lower level.

But what we do seem to want is content: news, analysis, creative words, music, comedy, UTube, Hulu, blogs of all kinds. 

So the new idea is e-readers like the Kindle, which the New York Times is rumored to possibly offer for free with annual subscriptions, or micropayments charging for each article or click. 

How do they work this problem in smaller, more technically advanced places, like Finland? Or Japan?