If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my “daily uniform” usually consists of grey sweatpants and gym shorts.

But for this week’s Transformation Tuesday, I decided to switch it up. I traded the dumbbells for a denim jacket and stepped out of the gym to do a little time traveling.

Okay, not literally. (Although, if I could write a portal fantasy into real life, I absolutely would).
I visited a local railroad museum today, and honestly, walking among these sleeping giants felt closer to magic than anything I’ve written lately.

The Weight of History

As an author, I spend half my life inside my own head, building fantasy worlds where the laws of physics are optional and magic solves everything. It’s fun, but it can also feel… floaty.

There is something grounding about standing next to a 100-ton engine. You can smell the iron and the old oil. You can see the hammer marks where someone beat the steel into shape by hand. It’s heavy. It’s real.

It reminded me that even in fantasy, the world needs to feel “lived in.”

Active Research

People ask where I get inspiration for the cities or machines in my books. It’s rarely from Pinterest. It’s from places like this.

When I look at a rusted train wheel, I’m not just seeing a train. I’m looking at the texture of the rust. I’m looking at how the rivets hold the plates together. I’m thinking about the noise it would make screeching into a station.

Those are the details that make a story pop. You have to know how the real world works before you can break it with magic.

Recharging the Creative Battery

We talk a lot about “rest days” for our muscles, but we rarely talk about rest days for our creativity.

I’ve been grinding hard on the edits for the next book, and I hit a wall this morning. I stared at the cursor for 20 minutes and wrote nothing.
So, I left. I put on “real clothes,” drove to the tracks, and just walked.

And you know what? By the time I sat down on that bench (the one in the photos where I’m frantically checking my notifications), the plot hole I was stuck on had solved itself.

The Takeaway

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your work—whether that’s writing, coding, or studying—is to walk away from it. Go touch some grass. Or in my case, some rusted steel.

Go find a “time machine” in your own town.

You might be surprised what you bring back to the present.

Question for the comments:
Do you have a specific place you go when you need to clear your head? A park? A coffee shop? A specific drive? Let me know below. 👇

-Zachary Starr