What if writers didn’t live in the digital age where social media marketing has become just as important as spending time on our writing? One where we could be respected without having 10,000 followers. Where we could shut out the constant business plans and write by candlelight just like Dickens. Where writers could be antisocial hermits who disappear until the release of our novel, just like God intended. Because as much as I enjoy occasionally doom scrolling on Instagram, having any kind of knowledge at my fingertips, and other technological advancements, I love to imagine a happy little world without all of it. So humor me as I paint the image of what the world of my fantasies would look like.

Because this is a fantasy that I control entirely, I have also ruled two things that will be important in the following paragraphs. 1. In my fantasy, it is much cheaper to do things and be alive. 2. I’m going to allow time travel. So first, I’ll go back in time to June of 2023 when I first graduated and was in the middle of writing my novel. Without having to keep up with my professional socials, I wouldn’t require wi-fi for anything to do with my writing, so I would pack up and go to Europe to live in seclusion and finish my novel. I’ll bring a laptop to do some of my writing on, and plan to buy notebooks in each city I visit. I’ll download all of my CDs onto an MP3 player and bring a camera. My phone will be powered off, my accounts will be frozen, and my laptop will never be connected to the internet.

First stop: France. I’ll rent a historic Parisian apartment. I’ll write on the balcony and in cafes. I’ll visit the locations where Hemingway and Fitzgerald went while they were there. I’ll buy a loaf of bread at every single local bakery I can find. I’ll wear dresses and red lipstick every day and become the author who is always found writing in windows.

Second stop: Italy. I’ll find a villa either in the countryside or on the water. I haven’t decided yet. Wherever I choose will be pretty secluded, because after my time in the city, I might like a little peace and quiet to continue my novel. I’ll travel into some of the cities to do a little bit of sight seeing, but I think for the majority of my time, I’ll sit in my room with my window open, a view of the land/or/sea to inspire me. I will also hire a private chef, since I won’t spend much time in the city, but I still want to experience the food.

Third stop: Scotland. I have multiple cities I’d like to visit, so I’ll probably spend a few months there. First I’ll spend some time in Edinburgh, and then I’ll find a castle to stay at and write in. Most importantly, I’ll go to Wigtown in late September for their book festival. At this time, I will also find a husband. (Just kidding! Sorta…) Then I’ll go back to my castle and write some more. I’ll listen to exclusively power metal while staying in the castle, because it would be a crime not to.

Fourth stop: Norway. I think it’s pretty cool that I have ancestry that goes back to the Vikings (not that all of the things they did were cool, but it definitely shows where my strong-independent-woman attitude and love of weaponry and cold-climate locations came from). So I’ll do some research on locations there to see where my ancestors came from. I’ll see the northern lights and hope and pray to get snowed in as I finish my book around Christmas.

At the end of the year, I might go home to the states, or I might find somewhere else to have an adventure as I worked on publishing my book. My writing would be finished so much faster if I didn’t have to devote so many hours of my week to marketing. And in all honesty, I would be happy without it. I completely forgot about social media as I wrote this, because not a single one of my dreams revolves around something on my phone. It’s just a tool that writers have to use because of the day and age that we live in. But if it was up to me, I would toss away the monochrome electronic cages, and find my inspiration in the vibrant world around me.

Part two coming soon.