Why Mississippi? For Writers, It’s All About Place

By Shirley Wimbish Gray

I’m from Mississippi and for many people, this is a flyover state, a place to be seen from a plane window, but not experienced firsthand. There may be some valid reason for that, but as writers, we need to create immersive settings even about those places people don’t like. Otherwise, we’d all be writing about Tuscany.

I’ve learned about developing a deep sense of place from other Mississippi writers. Here are my main takeaways.

Start with what you know, even ...