Desert/Prison induced writing

[Anonymous No.18011558]

> saint jerome spent four to five years in the desert
> authored the vulgate and many other christian texts
> alexander solzhenitsyn was a political prisoner in soviet russia
> writes the gulag archipelago, a nobel prize winning book
> andre weil was sent to military prison
> formulates the weil conjectures

Would you spend an extended period of time alone in the desert for intellectual inspiration?

What about committing a crime so as to get sent to prison? Would you make it a low-level crime or go all out?

[Anonymous No.18011585]

i have seriously considered both options, but not for the sake of writing. i feel like it would force an individual to improve himself and work on his discipline.
the desert is not very far from where i live, and if i fail in my current career i just might head down south

[Anonymous No.18011616]

>>18011558
If you're into this sort of thing you might check out Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. It was written while he was in jail and during at least some of that time he was aware that he would be executed.
To your question though, I would not go out of my way to commit a crime to go to prison to write a book; however, if I were sent to jail for simply living in accord with my conscience, I'd be a pretty mellow political prisoner, and probably write about it.
As to spending time in the desert, I don't know that it'd be necessary on the one hand--intellectually and emotionally speaking, I carry the Judean wilderness around inside me--nor helpful on the other hand--three times I have found myself in a locked psych ward with nothing to do but reflect on myself, and it was never terribly inspiring.
Speaking of being mentally ill, have I made any sense here?