Living and Writing in a Regional Area
By Sophie Masson | June 16, 2023 |
Armidale autumn street(photo by Sophie Masson)
Although I was brought up partly in Sydney, Australia, and partly in France where I’m originally from, over the whole of my professional career as a published writer, I have lived and worked in the New England high-country region of New South Wales (Australia). We are only a few kilometers from the university town of Armidale, which itself is about half-way between the major State capitals of Sydney (NSW) and Brisbane (Queensland). By halfway I mean 500 kilometers from each (around 311 miles). It’s quite a trek, as you can imagine, to either city—seven hours by car or train, one hour by (expensive) plane. So it’s not exactly something you do every day or every week or even every month!
Anyway, our highlands region, even if remote from major cities, has a thriving literary and artistic scene, both historically and now. Quite a few writers and illustrators have made their home here. As well as the university, good public libraries and great art galleries, our region also boasts an excellent Writers’ Centre, which runs sessions online and in person. I love living in New England and from the beginning, felt that its peace, natural beauty, housing affordability and welcoming, diverse community gave us as a family the perfect environment in which to live—and for me to write! But I also knew that despite its rich literary resources and academic opportunities, and despite the fact that many of the challenges I faced as a creator were similar to those of my peers in, say, Sydney, there were some that were unique to my situation as a writer living and working in a regional community. What it boils down to, in a big, sparsely-populated country like Australia, distance and accessibility were and are issues for writers based outside of the State capitals. These issues can partly be overcome today because of the internet, Zoom, and social media. Day-to-day writing business is just as easy to run from a regional writer’s desk as a city-based one. But the issues still loom quite large when it comes to successful/regular networking and being considered for in-person speaking gigs and workshops. Your travel costs are likely to be a good deal higher than those of city-based writers, an understandable consideration for organizers. The opportunity to speak face-to-face with agents and publishers is limited, as pretty much all of them are based in cities.
I can’t really say it’s restricted me, though I’ve had to be nimble and make certain accommodations. Rather than just concentrating on my own experience, I spoke to a few other writers/creators, in different genres, who are also based in our region, about their experiences. Here’s just a few things they had to say:
‘You have a different perspective as a writer because in country communities you mix with people from various social strata, rather than just your own social strata or interest group.’ (Speculative fiction writer)
‘In a regional community you can feel that you can be part of the creative community and make a difference. I think it is easier to have a voice and be able to contribute. I think in metropolitan areas it would be easy to feel like you were lost and not heard.’ (Author-illustrator)
‘I have found a somewhat patronizing attitude in some publishing professionals about the bucolic country life which I am aware acts as perceptual barrier to me and my work, and making contact with the publishing sector and other professional development opportunities is definitely more onerous compared with writing in the city.’ (Poet)
‘Access to research facilities can be an issue…in the city you could be a bus ride away from a state library or museum which would be an advantage in research. ’ (Non-fiction author)
Over to you: I’d love to hear from writers based in country/rural regions in the US, and other nations: what’s your experience been like? Do you feel that being based outside of the large cities has brought you more disadvantages than advantages or the other way round? And what solutions have you adopted to overcome those challenges of distance and accessibility?
Also interested in hearing from city-based writers: what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of being based where you are, in terms of your writing?
Born in Indonesia of French parents, and brought up in France and Australia, Sophie Masson is the award-winning author of over 70 books for children, young adults and adults. Her latest books include Sydney under Attack (children’s historical novel, Scholastic Australia, 2022) A Hundred Words for Butterfly (adult novella, ES-Press, 2022) and Cock-a-doodle-doo (children’s picture book, (illustrated by Kathy Creamer, little Pink Dog Books, 2022). In 2019, Sophie received an AM (Member, General Division) award in the Order of Australia honours list.
*Uff da.* I’m from Minnesota and most of my novels–both contemporary and paranormal–are set around Lake Superior. I haven’t had much trouble accessing the publishing world from my remote locale, but I have had trouble convincing NY editors that my Minnesota-isms, those linguistic quirks (mostly passed down from early Scandinavian settlers) aren’t typos. (E.g., “uff da” and being served “hotdish” for dinner, not “a hot dish”)
I’m in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with a large Finnish influence. We say ‘Uff da” and hotdish here too. :)
Haha! Hope you are able to persuade them in the end that such lovely quirks enrich and expand a reader’s understanding of the particularity of place.
I live and write in and about Michigan. I currently live in the capital city (Lansing) and I know lots of writers in the immediate area, the Detroit area, the Grand Rapids area, and up into Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Every indie bookstore seems to have a Michigan Authors section. Michiganders love reading about their state, reading novels set in their state, and supporting local artists. I have had invitations to speak at lots of bookstores, libraries, and book clubs over the past several years, and usually people will pay for mileage, sometimes hotel accommodations, in addition to speaker fees. So all of that is great and I feel a lot of support.
However, while I would be happy to be thought of as a regional author (whether a Michigan author or a Midwest author), I do think my stories can have a much wider readership and I’d love to expand my reach. It’s not always clear to me how to do that. In addition, I think there are far fewer opportunities for Midwest writers to get support in the form of grants and fellowships. State governments and state-run schools don’t seem to have a lot of programs meant to build up the arts community in states that have historically been far more focused on farming and manufacturing than on cultivating the life of the mind.
Great that Michigan residents are supportive of their local writing/arts communities–very much the case here too! And sometimes you do indeed have to battle uphill to get the support of State bodies who though talking of the vibrancy and importance of regional arts, don’t always follow that up with practical support!
Write regionally, publish internationally. That’s the best of both worlds but is it really possible? I think it is. One of the pleasures of fiction is going somewhere else, meeting different people, learning new things. Manuscripts often miss that, presenting a generic setting, non-specific, not detailed, and not all that interesting.
I say use where you are from or where you are. Why not? It’s better than being from–and writing about–nowhere at all.
Absolutely agree, Donald! Generic settings are boring.
I agree. My self-published traditional mystery series has two rather unusual settings: the highways of western North America and the long-haul trucking industry. For a self-published series, I believe they sell quite well not only in Canada and the United States, but also in England and Australia. Just as some readers enjoy science fiction and fantasy set in times and places that don’t exist, others also enjoy reading about settings outside of their own experience, whether geographically or historically or otherwise foreign to them.
Unusual settings indeed! And I agree, being immersed in a well-drawn setting that’s completely different to what you know yourself, is a real pleasure.
Absolutely! If a story doesn’t feel like it springs from the setting, and could be set nowhere else, it’s never completely satisfying to me.
In the US myself. What does it mean to be a regional writer, beyond the idea you the writer are not in NYC, LA or Chicago? Every setting in a book, unless not given, set in a fantasy world, or spans multiple geo-locations is regional in some way technically, isn’t? It seems calling something regional is publisher shorthand for flyover country, whether rural or not.
Or maybe I’m feeling cranky today.
:-)
Since Stephen King is often used as shorthand for “successful writer,” I’ll point out that he has spent most of his career writing from Maine, and all of his blockbusters have been set in small towns. Same goes for Garrison Keillor, whose attempt to move to New York drove his career almost off the tracks. In general, though, you run into more book people in an urban environment.
Very true, re Stephen King and Garrison Keillor! Their very particular settings is a central part of their appeal to readers. I think too of a writer like James Lee Burke whose extraordinarily rich evocations of Louisiana turn his settings into pretty much characters in their own right.
PLACE is very important when going to the keyboard to write. I have twice written about PLACE for WU. Knowing the history of your own town and city provides a connection that springs into your writing. One of our writers here has created an entire WORLD that has become her place. When she works on her story, that world, and the lives of her characters once again springs to life. When well done, place in a novel STAYS, lingers. Think of novels you will never forget…and realize that scenes focussing on a place, a house, a vista contribute to why you love that work. Thanks for this post.
Completely agree, Elizabeth. I think of places in literature–whether based on a real place or completely fictional–that stay in the mind, and they are very much ones that writers have made come alive..From our earliest readings I think that’s the case–and even earlier, when we are read to.
Sophie, it’s lovely to hear about your community. Thank you. I need to be grounded when I read or write a story so I esp. enjoy stories where the place itself is a character–that this story could happen no place else. Isn’t it paradoxical how the very specifics of a story make it universal? I’ve been reading Wendell Berry and his novels take place in rural Kentucky and his attachment to the land is so clear. I led a fairly nomadic life in my youth and I love being settled in South Carolina. Twelve years now. It’s the longest we’ve lived in the same house. My husband is turning the backyard into a little food forest using permaculture techniques. I love being able to walk everywhere on my island town. And the best part is that there’s a vibrant artistic community, very diverse too, on the island as well as within driving distance. Even so, when I first began writing, it was the Internet that opened up many resources even though I was living within driving distance to the public library and several universities. With two little ones, I could order books and research papers online and have my husband pick them up on his way home from work. I’ve not experienced any impediments in the publishing world with respect to the place I’ve lived.
Hello Vijaya, glad you enjoyed the post. Your community sounds lovely and the place you’ve created within it enriching and satisfying, bringing contentment. And it’s great there’s been no impediment to your publishing either.
I live in NW Montana, a gloriously beautiful if no longer quite so remote part of the northern Rockies in the US. Creative energy is everywhere — some writers, yes, and many musicians, painters, potters, and other artists. I think the land sparks us, and we do get a boost from the synergy, as well as from the local support. But attending conferences and conventions, and traveling to promote books, is harder and more expensive, just as for you, Sophie. A friend in Boston can drive to more libraries within 50 miles of her home than I can get to in my whole, huge, spread-out, sparsely populated state. I get a huge welcome when I get there — the smaller the library, the bigger the welcome — and that makes up for a lot. And so I do more online promo than some of my urban friends, and work to nurture those deeply important local connections. Thanks for the conversation.
Yes, absolutely, Leslie–the drawback of not having lots of libraries in a more sparsely populated region is balanced by the plus that people are so appreciative when you visit a smaller place, they aren’t blase about having frequent literary visitors! I loved visiting small remote or rural schools too, they make it a real event, and you feel like a star :-)
Sophie, it’s wonderful to read about your writing life in the New England High Country. Being close to a university town is a bonus, I think.
You’ve raised an interesting question for me that’s a bit different than the one you asked. I live in the massive metropolis that is Los Angeles which is roughly 10 million people. I have yet to write a story based in Los Angeles. In fact, thinking back most have been rural, and even in other parts of the world. Now I’m wondering about that choice.
Back to your question, I certainly have all the creative options readily accessible. Writing community, resources, a university a mile from where I live. That said, my writing community seems to be based all over, mostly in the US and Canada, and a few Aussies I’ve met at conferences. Many of the conferences I‘ve chosen to attend have been outside of California, and being near international airports makes transportation far simpler than 7 hours on a train before reaching an urban center. I suppose I’ve taken that convenience for granted.
What’s most challenging for me is I write best in quiet. Real quiet. (I’m Im definitely not a “write at the local coffee place” person, but I do love people-watching and listening to their complex orders.) The neighbor’s barking dog or leaf-blower interrupts my concentration. Earplugs help, and sometimes I head for the local library. And early mornings, and late at night, are often the best time to write (unless the airport changes flight paths to bring planes in over me after 10 pm.)
I’d love to live in quieter place, but this is where my family is, so I’m not going anywhere unless they all decide to move along with me. (Smile)
Thanks for your post. You’ve stirred up my curiosity today. Thanks, too, to all the commenters. I’ve enjoyed their experiences as well.
Thanks for your comment, Deb. Glad you found my post curiosity-stirring! Interesting that your writing self chooses to set stories in rural places or places elsewhere, while you live in such a big city: perhaps it has indeed to do with what you mention about needing a quiet/time place in which to write. That quiet, even if it’s at your desk in the city, early in the morning or late at night, then allows you to create quieter, slower-paced settings far away. You probably wouldn’t be able to do that in a noisy cafe! But I agree, it’s interesting people-watching, inspiring in its own way.
Strange though it might seem, Sophie, I suspect Brisbane might still be considered by some southerners as a bit of an outsider, country hick sort of town. And yes, we have weathered some of the worst right-wing politicians, but we’ve also become stronger as an open minded literary, artistic hub for Queensland.
Although, have to admit, regional and outback parts of our large state usually struggle to be heard.
I love Armidale! All those beautiful autumn trees we never see up here in tropical parts. 🤗 Plus lovely author friends. 💜
Thanks for your comment, Sheryl! I remember the first time I went to Brisbane, in my late teens, it seemed very exotic to me, very different to Sydney, which I knew well, or even far northern NSW (which I had visited with my parents a few times). I didn’t have any assumptions about it though, I just enjoyed visiting it…but one of the things that struck me was that one of the friends I was with was fined for ‘jaywalking’ which I or my friends had never heard of anyone being charged with in NSW :-)
Glad you like Armidale! Yes, it’s a beautiful place.
Being a writer and creative writing teacher in a regional city has ended up being to my advantage. When I came here in 2009, creative organisations were small and struggling. Well, we are still struggling, but over the years new people have come to Dubbo with a creative vision, joining organisations and making their own opportunities regardless of a creatively apathetic council and the difficulty in attracting sponsorship for anything that isn’t sport related.