Objects That Help Me Think | Writing, Attention, and the Work Before Words

How do objects help us think when language hasn’t arrived yet?

Settle in, grab your favourite drink, and please allow me to share some of my writing secrets with you…

Several Saturdays ago, when the sun was shining and the sky was summer, two of my sons and I were headed home from soccer when we spotted a line-up in the street. It was nine in the morning and our curiosity had us park and jump out. Everyone was waiting for the doors of an Estate Sale to open.

We waited, too, pulled into the story of the objects left behind by the people whose home it was.

And an idea was there, slipping out from between a porcelain doll and Big Mouth Billy Bass.

Objects. The stories they tell.

Ideas look small to start, but I’ve learned to be tender with this kindling.

As I’ve finished edits and ghosted books and coached writers and sparkled through Christmas, the idea has been quietly there. Soon, soon, it whispers. So, I wanted to share with you what I do as a writer when I feel like this.

I’ll start with a photograph:

The picture is chockablock with things and all of them are helping me find my way to the new story.

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks:

One of my characters, who is currently like a shadow in the recesses of my mind, is obsessed with shipwrecks. It’s all I know so far and the book feels like it might possess the key.

The coaster:

I was born in London and I lived there for the first twenty-four years of my life (with travelling interludes, but that’s another story). This coaster is nearly always within sight of where I write because it reminds me of home. And home feels important to this new novel, not as the place, but as the concept. What does it mean to us and how do we hold it? How do we let it go?

The candle:

It smells of pistachio (I mean, come on!) and was a birthday gift. Today is my birthday and one of the greatest gifts this last year has been all of you as you read along and remind me I’m a writer.

Miracles on Bella Camina:

I used to work as a manuscript evaluator for The SWG and I was so lucky to read this lovely novel by local writer Lili Zwart. Spending time with other writers locally and at The Novelry (which is wonderful), hearing what they have to say, reading their books, all help me find my way from the spark of an idea to a finished book. One day!

The cup:

While I bought this cup for Yann, it’s one I use often. It’s from Wanuskewin, a World Heritage Site not far from where I live on Treaty Six Territory & Homeland of the Métis, and it reminds me that stories always come from somewhere if I only pay attention.

Most of the next few months will look like not knowing.

It’s my favourite writing stage. I’ll spend it writing a messy, gloriously TERRIBLE first draft. And each of these objects which are carefully placed in my office will help me get there.

Tell me, what’s an object that tells a story in your life? I’d so love to hear about it.

xoxo

Alice

As ever, thanks for reading. I especially want to thank my paid subscribers who are a growing and generous number. You all mean the world to me.

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If you’re new here, my name is Alice Kuipers and I’m a writer, mother and dog & cat-owner transplanted twenty years ago to the Canadian prairies from England.

I’ve published fifteen books in 36 countries and my writing has been described as:

For storytellers and story lovers—Kirkus Reviews

Gorgeous, heart-ripping, important—VOYA

Intense and wonderful—Bif Naked

Join me for coffee breaks, book conversations, and to share a writing life together.

Xoxo