Thursday, November 19, 2009

Contemplation

Day out for contemplation and inspiration. Drove to Akaroa and ate icecream.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Another possible site

My architect friend confirms that the best thing to do next is talk to the current owners of the building I like.

He also mentioned another possibility: five buildings on adjacent properties ready to be upgraded. The land between would make a village green-type space. One building could be reception and public spaces with guest rooms in the other buildings.

It is great to hear other's ideas and enthusiasm for the concept!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

What will it be like?

I see all manner of writing spaces, quiet spaces, open spaces, a cafe; bookshelves covering every wall providing ambience and sound-proofing; old typewriters, pictures of pipe-smoking poets, desks and sofas and armchairs; and writers, writers everywhere.

People will be writing, talking, waving their arms excitedly with wild new ideas, whispering, silent.

There will be book launches, writers groups, cards on the cafe tables which can be turned to say "talk to me" or "do not disturb."

There will be spaces to find that elusive hypnotic creative state: open fires to stare into, front loading washing machines to watch going round and round, easy chairs in the laundry so those who choose can be lulled by the driers and the metaphor for the cycle of life that is turning washing.

There will be books for sale, dog-eared paperbacks and leather-bound classics; there will be a historic collection of rare New Zealand literature. There will be magazines and art books and books for inspiration.

There will be writing classes run by one of Christchurch's foremost poets and creative writing teachers.

There will be life, lots of life, and lots of writing.

Monday, November 16, 2009

What do I say?

I asked my good friend Peter Barker, The Property Hunter, www.thepropertyhunters.co.nz to work his magic and find out who owns the building I am looking at. He came back with a company name and a list of directors. Fantastic! Next step easily managed. But now what do I say? Do I go straight in with this partly baked idea, or is there a better way to approach it?

Next step: a web search on the directors to get a feel for who they are, and a chat to an architect I am talking to tomorrow about something else.

One step at a time . . . The next step always becomes clear.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The building

The concept of The Writers' Hotel is very clear in my mind, but what about an actual physical location? I mentioned the idea to a friend and she made a throwaway joke about buying a historic building in the city. I didn't take much notice, but a couple of days later I found myself parked just down the road. "That's interesting" I thought.

The building is empty and has been mildly vandalised. Still I left it in the back of my mind until a couple of days later again I found myself driving past it. It's not a route I take very often, so the coincidence attracted my attention. I stopped outside and got out of the car.

There is a cobbled courtyard facing the street and steps up to the front door. Weeds grow through the cobbles. The facade is beautiful, verandas on both floors with antique cast iron balustrades - just what you want for a traditional Writers' Hotel.

The site is near the corner of a green square so that the diagonal view is pleasant. It's not the best street, not the worst. I found myself thinking it wouldn't be ideal sitting out in the courtyard at night - there are lots of bars and nightclubs just a block away.

3D vision

Then I had a strange experience, like the space around me had shifted. Instead of standing in an open courtyard on the street, I felt myself inside a glass atrium rising the full two storeys from the street front and completely enclosing the courtyard and facade. I could hear echoes of a busy cafe to my left, and saw a writing space with sofas, chairs and desks to my right. Inside the atrium, the life of the street became something to watch, benign. I imagined standing on the verandas looking out into the atrium, an intriguing ambiguous space, outside and inside at the same time.

The feeling of this imagined space stayed with me. Perhaps it's time to find out who owns this building and have a talk.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

In the beginning . . .

Where do these ideas come from?

I was sitting at the conservatory table of a realised dream: I had bought a house, renovated it and it was back on the market again - I had dreamed of doing this since I was 25 years old, and now my part was finished; it was up to the agent to do the rest.

So I took out my journal and asked myself the question: What next?

I don't know what I was expecting, but the answer was clear, immediate and a big surprise: Renovate a hotel.

Well, the renovations I can do - I can take a vision and make it real, but a hotel? That's a long term business, what about that? Again the answer came quickly: get together a team from the hotel industry and financiers to make the business work; I just need to oversee the renovations and hold the idea together.

The next day came the next refinement: make it a hotel for artists and writers; then a few days on: artists take up too much space. Lets call it The Writers' Hotel.

Being the Heart

Lots of things fall into line here, making perfect sense. Along with my business (staging homes for sale) I am a writer of sorts, with a regular column in The Press newspaper's home and lifestyle magazine, and with a novel currently under consideration with Penguin. I could feel the atmosphere around me, people writing in the rooms and in the cafe, books and typewriters and escritoires making up the decor - I can see and feel myself as the heart of this place!

NaNoWriMo

A few years ago I took up the NaNoWriMo challenge (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) and wrote a complete 50,000 word novel in the month of November - wouldn't it be fantastic if every year the hotel were given over entirely to people who were doing the same thing, writers from all over the world encouraging and inspiring each other as they rode the rollercoaster of the novel under pressure?

Ideas follow in a stream . . .

From here idea followed idea in an effortless stream. I'll keep you posted on progress.

And in the meantime, if the idea of a vacation to write, in a place where writing is in the air, in a beautiful city (Christchurch) in a beautiful country (New Zealand) appeals to you, let me know at jennifer@jennifermanson.co.nz.

Here's dreaming!