Slats of Light

Thresholds of Quiet Writing | My Week in Photos .04

the slanted light within

I think shutters were made for writers. For me, they represent that interplay between protection and exposure, between letting light in and shining our own light {brightly} back out to the world.

I’ve been keeping a running list of things that are writerly (which I’ll share here soon) and I’ll have to add shutters to it.

Shutters remind me of notebooks. The opening and closing of shutters, every morning and every night, could be a way of approaching writing. It’s a daily routine, something that must be done to let the light in every day so that we can see ourselves, and the world, more clearly.

And then when our writing time is up – doesn’t matter if it’s just five minutes or a full day of writing – the notebook or computer gets closed, put away and left to rest in the quiet of the night.

Time away from our writing, or any creative practice, can be regenerative. How many times have you stepped away from a project only to come back and see it all anew?

Shutters are barriers but they are also mediators. Even when they are closed light still seeps through. It’s often just enough light to gently pad across a room, to quietly write into a notebook, to silently count slats of light.

I see them as a threshold between light and dark, between the inside and the world beyond, helping us filter what we are able (and ready) to write about and frame what we want to see clearly.

The shadows of railings curled on walls is like ink stretching across the page, tracing what is here.

How writing can feel: somewhere between building and demolition, a shutting down and opening up. It’s a {beautiful, frightening, life-affirming} process.

The gentle hour, quieting the city. via Margutta, Rome, May 2025

The theme that emerged this week for my Week in Photos Project is a contradictory light. A quiet, and at times protective, light.

All week I found myself walking at the golden hour when vibrant greens and apricot light softened, and I melted into the city’s palette. Putting my notebook away now, my mind is quiet.

Thanks for reading and keep writing, making, feeling, thinking, drawing, walking, painting, loving…..x,

---

As I said in last week’s photo journal, my intention with this photography project is to just see where it leads me. I don’t know the theme of the week until I sit down to review the photos. I’m just shooting whatever catches my eye.

My Week in Photos project also serves as a writing prompt. The theme that emerges becomes my prompt for a free write. I’m not editing what I write (which is really hard for me….) but for right now this is what I need to do to refresh my writing.

Thanks for reading Everything Writerly! If you are new here I am Michelle Ciani, a writer living in Rome. I work with women who are bringing their writing dreams to life and also write Letters from Rome here on Substack.

---

---