I'm writing this on a bus, on a laptop. I have a 75-minute commute to the office each morning, and home again in the evening. Auckland is a spread-out city (think LA, but without the permafrost cloud of pollution). I live in a pleasant neighbourhood, and I work in a pleasant neighbourhood; unfortunately, there's 40 kilometres of road in between.
New Zealand is a car nation, and Auckland is the car capital. Public transportation exists, but it's little more than buses. There's no underground (or elevated), and no streetcars (they were phased out in the 1960s). There is a rail line, but it's only a single line, and unless you are fortunate enough to live on it (I don't), it serves no benefit to you.
So, for the last couple of years, I've been taking the bus. It's hysterically cheaper than petrol and parking for the car, and until three weeks ago, when I bought a laptop, it gave me guaranteed time each day in which to read.
Learning to read while in motion was a new experience for me. For most of my life, I had been a confirmed motion sickness sufferer, a strictly stare-out-the-window-and-wait-until-we-get-there traveller.
Reading comics in the car as a child: ill
Reading a magazine on a 747: ill
Reading a plaque while standing on the deck of the HMS Endeavour replica while anchored in port: nautically ill
Trying to take photos out of the window of a helicopter 300 feet over Diamond Head: scenically ill
When I started commuting by bus, I thought that at 400 kilometres a week, I was going to go out of my mind unless I occupied myself. So, I took a book one morning and committed to learning how to read in transit. I was nauseous for two weeks, and it was hell, but I broke through. Now I can read anything while in motion: books, my Kindle, emails, Facebook, whatever.
However.
I am a writer, and when I wasn't reading on the bus, I did a lot of thinking about writing; but thinking only, with the frustration that I couldn't do anything. So, after two and a half years, I finally bought a laptop. Reading a book every week or two is all fine and good, but it's NOT writing.
If I were to code the problem, it might look like this:
$Writer == WHERE words(Output > Input);
Writing on a bus has meant learning to adapt. Probably 95% of all the fiction I've ever written has been created seated at the desk in my office at my house. The conditions for writing there have been finely tuned over the years and are optimal. Writing on a bus is like writing on a rollercoaster; you don't know what lies ahead.
As with learning to read while in motion, it's taken a couple of weeks to learn how to write while in motion, but it hasn't been too difficult. There are the usual distractions: other people and noise (forgotten about with a set of earbuds and the right music track). I honestly think I could write anywhere now. In fact, I'm getting adventurous; I sat today in a café on my lunch break with the laptop and a cup of coffee which, for me, is completely out of the ordinary.
Writing in public, especially on a bus, has one pitfall: if someone sits behind you, they can read what's on your screen. That's one distraction I find hard to ignore. Yesterday, I was writing a sex scene in my book. I had the impression the woman seated behind was trying to read what I was typing. In my mind, she was busting an eye socket trying to read my scarlet prose. In reality, she probably couldn't even make out the words, or even the language – my font size is pretty small (so that I can see three pages spread across the screen). But it's the thought of it that's distracting.
And while I'm talking about bus seats, allow me to gripe about the dimensions of bus seating on Auckland City buses. I'm 6’1’’, hardly a contender for the Guinness Book of Records. The seats on buses here were designed for hobbits. Seriously.
A couple of other tips for writing on a bus:
Avoid the glare. If you can, sit on the side of the bus that's opposite the sun.
The back seats are where the kids hang out. They like to fidget and kick seat backs. Only sit there if you're researching a story about teen angst.
Don't sit near anyone who looks like a middle-management type with a phone in his/her hand. He/she will use it. Loudly.
Sit near to people with books (they're the nice people, and they’re quiet).
Know the route: know the corners and potholes where it's a good idea to hang on tightly to your laptop.
How do you write? What distractions can you tolerate, or not? Can you write anywhere?
First published: Sleuthsayers.org (December 9, 2014)
Text & Photos ©2014 Stephen Ross