Saw a guy in Portland's Powell's Books writing a novel on a typewriter

I was in the Rose Room last Tuesday and this dude had a portable typewriter set up on a small table. He was just clacking away, surrounded by all those shelves. He had a stack of maybe 50 finished pages next to him. It made me wonder what kind of story you'd write in a place like that, surrounded by other books. Has anyone else used a specific location as a prompt for a character's setting?

3 comments

3 Comments

keithward1mo ago

Man, that reminds me of a rainy afternoon I spent in a bus station cafe. The whole place smelled like wet wool and coffee, and I watched two strangers share a table without saying a single word for an hour. I kept imagining they were old friends who had a terrible fight years ago, both too stubborn to speak first. The setting just built the whole story for me.

umab8614d ago

Ngl you hit on something real there. I've had the same thing happen in a laundromat actually, watching this old guy fold his shirts real precise like he was in the military or something. Made me wonder if he was doing it out of habit or if he was just trying to keep his hands busy so he didn't have to think about whatever brought him there at 2 AM. The hum of the dryers almost felt like it was pushing the story along.

kellymurphy1mo ago

Oh that's so cool! I actually wrote a whole short story set in a laundromat just because I was stuck waiting for a spin cycle. Something about the rhythm of the machines just got my brain going. Places have a weird way of putting stories in your head.