Writing Prompt: View From a Train

 

I heard about Amtrak’s writer’s residency program too late to apply for the program, but riding the rails sounded like an amazing way to look at scenery while listening to an audiobook and working on my book. Unlike the writer of the blog post, Plan a DIY Amtrak writer’s residency, who had a plan and did some writing while riding the train, I wrote a little and mostly looked out the window on my overnight trip from Sacramento to Denver. 

  

Instead of having a writing plan, I planned to write; not the same. I was entranced with the snowcapped mountains and took a lot of pictures from the big window in my roomette. At meals I talked to interesting people, and I visited the observation deck with floor to ceiling windows. The view was a little different from each window. I was able to take a picture of the train from my roomette window.

 

The beauty of a view from the train is that most of the scenery is full of natural beauty instead of roads, poles, and signs. It feels almost like walking along a creek, although moving much faster while on a train. Rather than writing to a plan, I wrote notes and Ideas, that I would later transform into further writing. 

 

I always wanted to take the Amtrak Coast Starlight Train from Sacramento to Washington State or Canada. In fact, I planned a trip at some point during the pandemic. When I looked at my itinerary, I saw that we were skipping the coast and going inland at Reno and the discount I was expecting was not covered by our planned trip. I don’t expect to take this trip since the itinerary doesn’t work for my plans, but I am planning a river cruise next year. That is a new one for me. I plan to write journal or take notes. Traveling always sparks my creative juices.

Share your view from a train.

Linkedin: Inspiring Writing Group

Nancy J. Miller, www.creativelifeworkdesign.com