From the shower to the grocery store, writer Francesca Ekwuyasi pays ode to spaces of inspiration

Leading up to Canada Reads, CBC Arts is bringing you daily essays about where this year's authors write. This edition features Butter Honey Pig Bread author Francesca Ekwuyasi.

I want to tell you that I wake up at 5am and settle at my desk, which is, of course, by a south-facing window, with a hot cup of herbal tea or good coffee. I want you to imagine a scene where I am serene, freshly out of a meditation session and calmly looking over my notes. In this fantasy, classical music begins to play — a piano sonata by Mozart, or better yet Fela Sowande's African Suite for Strings — as I start to type away furiously, or confidently, or whatever other qualities your mind may conjure up at the thought of a writer writing.

In reality (thus far, anyway), I'm quite a bit more chaotic than that. Perhaps "erratic" is a more appropriate word for my writing rhythm. My attempts at discipline have so far been thwarted by the emotional waves of my interior world. There's often a tug of war between my schedule and my moods. If what you understand from this is that I am in dire need of discipline and routine, you are correct. Every day is an opportunity to try developing healthier habits, to find the most effective one for my astrological placements or personality type or the particular state of my mental health at any given moment. I like opportunities, and I like trying new things, so I'm fairly consistently giving a new writing routine a go.

However, this is an essay about where I write, not where I wish I wrote, nor is it about the sort of person I wish to be, so here are the places I have written so far and am most likely to return to.

My bed

When I remember to do so, I reach for one of the numerous notebooks stacked on the floor by my bed to frantically scribble my dreams down before they evaporate from my mind. Some of my dreams have been great sources of plot ideas or resolutions.

The shower

I think lots of people have revelations while showering; I sometimes rush out mid-shower to record voice notes of these "revelations" on my phone before I forget them, which would very likely be once the shower is officially over. Afterward, I listen back to transcribe whatever is useful.

Walking

I find that my mind likes to "figure things out" when walking or running errands. The voice-to-text function on my phone is helpful to take down story notes and ideas while I'm walking.

The grocery store

Much like when I'm walking, the voice-to-text app is similarly helpful in the grocery store. There's something about how the flickering fluorescent lights hit the produce and packaged goods in the "international food" aisle that compels me to document the moment's feelings.

Bars and cafes

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, when it wasn't a health hazard to occupy small places with strangers who had varying attitudes toward bodily fluids and personal space, I would write at cafes before my day jobs and at bars afterward. I wrote in notebooks or on my hefty laptop (it's been many years — she's been very loyal), often pretending to be a mysterious random character in someone else's story while writing my own.

Anywhere/everywhere

The notes app on my phone is convenient whenever I manage to escape the never-ending social media scroll. I find cues, prompts, and inspiration for writing in many places; I'm immensely grateful for that, so I'm down to be prepared for the task of noticing, zooming in, and finding what I need to start, dive deeper into, or finish a story.

I read or heard somewhere that if you treat your craft, whatever it may be, like an illicit love affair, then you'll always have time for it. I've tried and failed to find the source of this wisdom — I cannot remember where I came across it, forgive me — but I've found this to be a pretty useful way to approach my writing. I am so in love with storytelling, with writing, with reading. My closest folks will tell you how much I love love; it's my favourite idea, so this illicit affair approach works pretty well for me. I'm so in love with writing; I'll conjure time to see her whenever and wherever I can.