Burnt Tongue 19

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I will be reading at this event on Saturday, February 25th. I am so excited and grateful to be invited to read at Burnt Tongue 19. Crush Bar here in Portland at 4:00. Some early for any hope of getting a seat.

I know what I'm reading but I don't know what I'm wearing.

And I finished editing the two pieces for the anthology today. And submitted them.

Writing is definitely going well right now. Which is good.

The WH continues the destruction of our country, and it was blatantly admitted that is the plan, well they said the structure - same thing. Continuing to keep up with what's happening and doing what I can and pushing my comfort zone in that area.

A quote for our current time

"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal." - Toni Morrison

Of Platforms and Pedestals

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Another tagline or wordbyte or something, whatever it's called, caught my eye. Another blog post title about Woe Is Me I Have No Platform and someone else who is a pro at platforms responding with It Doesn't Have To Be That Way. Then I start noticing other edicts for writers to build their platforms (again) and the warnings that you must have a platform or you will forever languish on the slush pile if you even make it that far.

I know a few writers with awesome platforms and it works for them.

I don't have a novel published. Yet. I don't have a platform. Do I think the two are related? No. With a wry smile on my face, I tell you that I know that a writer must first get to the Final Draft before a novel can be published; I'm not quite there on two.

And I tell you that some authors, some writers, have their platform and elevator speeches and taglines and ten second summaries done before the first word is written.

If that approach works - go for it.

Is that what is required in the current market?

Some people will tell you yes and others will tell you no. And I say, I don't know. I hope not. Do we have to be shoved into labeled boxes to succeed? Maybe it depends on one's defniition of "success" - maybe. What if we aren't that genre author; if we don't write just one thing and don't want pseudonyms for each style and different platforms. What if?

It's the same issue - in my opinion - about Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Ello (probably not a good example since it's incline to importance waned when some Facebook policies let up a bit), Tumblr, and so on. Some experts say we, as authors, must do them all. Some advise to pick your favorites and build and grow those. Some say go with the flow and keep up or not.

How many hours are there in a day?

That was sarcastic and rhetorical. I know the factual answer.

But if you want to write, write. If you want to promote, then promote. Where there is overlap, good for you! But when the social media marketing platform building maintaining promoting takes over the time for writing, maybe it's time to look at what it is you want. What you can do. And your "why," as the money makers/entepreneur leaders say. And I probably shouldn't say "you" when I know it is my question, my wondering, my issue. I know I'm not alone, but I know that I don't have unlimited time to dedicate to my writing so I have to be a bit fussy at times around my writing time.

To platform or not to platform? And what happens when your platform changes; when you want to break out of that zone you've set up? Is that when the successful platform becomes a pedestal and you're likely to fall? Questions without answers. I'm confident there are different answers from different authors and editors and publishers and advisors.

Thoughts?

Another Moment

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Another photo from the Taos trip. Another moment of synchronicity, perhaps.

Remember the sacred river gate at the gallery which was closed but she opened up for me anyway? As as she showed me around, showed me the AirBnB room where Georgia O'Keefe had slept - yes, the building has been around that long and longer - and the DH Lawrence room and I discovered that she was a writer and a theater person. That place.

Then the next day S and I went to one of our favorite dinner places in Taos, to celebrate. Being there. Being together. Being. And I discovered that the favorite restaurant was actually right next door to newly discovered gallery/airbnb/writer/theatre home.

From the parking lot of the restaurant, I could see part of the theatre they are constructing. I'd seen the top from their own parking lot, but when we got out of the car to walk to the restaurant's front door I saw it. I don't know what part of the theatre this gazebo-like structure is - the stage or an entrance or what.

But it is. Another connection to a connection to the flow of what happens in Taos.

Because - a photo

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A moment in time from the trip to Taos. I was returning from a little trek outside of town and a sign caught my attention. I turned around and went back to check out the gallery, which was closed, but the owner let me in, anyway. Put off her trip to the post office for a few minutes to show me around and we talked. She is a writer, too. She has this gallery which is open about three days a week, sometimes four. And she lives there; rents part of it out. It's a very old home and Georgia O'Keefe stayed there back in the day. I saw the room. When I was leaving, turning around in the small parking area, I saw this gate between the parking area and the river which runs through part of town.

I took a picture.

Now I'm sharing the picture.

Just because.

It was a good trip.

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Dorothy Allison Reading in Port Townsend

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Dorothy Allison is reading at The Writers' Workshoppe & Imprint Books on Saturday, May 16th, at 7:00 pm. She is also presenting a workshop Saturday and Sunday, but that has long been full.

Go to The Writers' Workshoppe website to get more information about the location of this event. It's a sweet place for a reading, and Port Townsend is a short drive away and a beautiful place to spend a day or a couple of days.

It will be worth the drive!

from the sponsor's website:

Dorothy Allison is an American writer and nationally known teacher and lecturer with a strong emphasis on memoir and storytelling, and a profound bias toward pushing past fear into creativity.  Her writing includes themes of class struggle, sexual abuse, child abuse, feminism and lesbianism. 

Allison's first novel, Bastard out of Carolina was one of five finalists for the 1992 National Book Award. Graphic in its depiction of Southern poverty, family ties, illegitimacy, child abuse, and rape, Bastardwent on to win the Ferro Grumley and Bay Area Reviewers Award for fiction. The novel has been translated into over a dozen languages. A film version, directed by Anjelica Huston premiered in 1996 on Showtime. Cavedweller became a national bestseller, NY Times Notable book of the year, finalist for the Lillian Smith prize, and an ALA prize winner. Adapted for the stage by Kate Moira Ryan, the play was directed by Michael Greif, and featured music by Hedwig composer, Stephen Trask. In 2003, Lisa Cholendenko directed a movie version. 

Allison’s book, Trash: Short Stories, a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories, won her two Lambda Literary Awards.Trash includes the prize winning short story, “Compassion” selected for both Best American Short Stories 2003 and Best New Stories from the South, 2003. 

Allison says that the early Feminist movement changed her life. "It was like opening your eyes under water. It hurt, but suddenly everything that had been dark and mysterious became visible and open to change."

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[video] Dorothy Allison : The Power of the Writer's Voice

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Today I was able to listen to Dorothy Allison read an unpublished story and talk about writing and life and politics and community at Mt Hood Community College. I am still digesting what I heard, letting her story and her words and her wash through me.

I can't share video what I saw and heard today, but I can share this video from the Chicago Humanities Festival. The first video is an hour long; below that is a 6-minute excerpt from the discussion, "Advice for Emerging Writers."



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My Writing Retreat Adventure, Part I

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October 5-12, 2014, I was at a writing retreat in Rockaway Beach, Oregon. It was held at the Oregon Writers Colony house, which has an ocean view out one side of the house and a lake view out the other. There were eight wonderful women authors and we were led by author Lori L. Lake and fed by poet, artist, and caterer Luca Hart.

I will admit that I was nervous going into this adventure. Excited and nervous - what I have come to call, lovingly, "anxietement" (the melding of anxiety and excitement, which often feel very similar to me). It is outside of my norm to go away for a week where I don't know anyone. I had met Lori at a conference, I liked her, I liked her writing, I was drawn to what she had to say and it resonated, and she had been very friendly and approachable in email conversations. And that was the only person I knew at all. After I arrived, I did find that I had seen - and possibly met briefly - a couple of the other other authors, but I didn't *know* anyone. And I was going to be sharing a room with someone I had never met. There was nothing to fear and it was a wonderful week.

We don't all have our author websites up and running yet, but I'm sure that all of us will, soon. Here is the list of the fantabulous writers I spent the week with, and their websites.

Lori L Lake

Jessie Chandler

MB Panichi

Judy Kerr

Rae Richen

Laura Morrison

Linda Vogt

Julia Ingram

Luca Hart

I miss them all and there have been dropped hints/requests for organizing a reunion next year. Count me in!

back row: Me, Lori L Lake, Laura Morrison, Julia Ingram;
middle: Rae Richen, Luca Hart;
front row: Linda Vogt, Judy Kerr, MB Pinichi, Jessie Chandler

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Big Project Update - It's a Doozy

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I sat down to write this post, then wondered when I had made the announcement that I was going public with my editing process on the memoir. So I saved the draft and opened a new tab in my browser to check previous posts.

It was June 17th.

Now it is July 17th.

After the Universe gave me a few unexpected gifts last week, I did some serious thinking about writing, including The Memoir.

Before I go on, I must tell you that the Universe had to slip the information in sideways, in the guise of work, because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. Maybe I would have. Maybe she would have found something else to get my attention or some other avenue. But I doubt it. She made the work situation so appealing that of course I jumped at the opportunity with barely a thought to not do it. No regrets.

There were so many insights from the work that I won't even try to tell you all about them. That isn't the point of this particular piece of writing, anyway.

Within a week of that experience, I met with my sporadic Friday night writing group, a Portland writer I met at a workshop in Port Townsend with whom I am going to start regular writing meetings (which will probably become a writing group and more), and I met with my Tuesday writing partner. The writing energy was strong.

The point of this writing is: I have decided to shelve The Memoir for two years. Not all of the stories. There are pieces I have sent out into the world, a couple have been published; there are a couple of stories I want to develop more or rewrite. I will continue to work on some of the stories and revise or edit them to be standalone pieces (if they aren't already).

I realized that The Memoir project had become a block to moving forward with other writing. I did complete another read through the manuscript and came away with more questions, with more problems, with the knowledge that there are some challenges and problems which make it not work in major ways. I have been devoting most of my writing time to The Memoir and it has significant flaws. And I don't want to work on it right now.

I decided to set it aside for a specific period of time so that I don't waste energy and time wondering if I should look at it. If I should work through specific passages and dig out the industrial sized shovel to fill in some of the Godzilla sized potholes and looming question marks.

I have had some insights into the memoir work in the past eighteen months and they were good. New perspectives and new energy. And daunting. And they lead to another path. It is not the path I am on and I have been struggling to keep my footing but feeling like I had to hold on and keep going.

There are so many pieces of advice about creative work being hard, putting one foot in front of the other, hang in there and keep going and you will make it, and that when it gets hard it just means to try harder and you will get through it.

I did all of that. I am actually very good at hanging in there and wading through the muck, head down, move forward, just do it. But not for this anymore. I need a break.

I don't know what will happen in two years. I don't know if I will see where it needs to go and rewrite it. Or junk it. Or extend the "on hold" status. But I do know that I don't have to think about it for two years.

So right now, while I have another three hours alone at this place, with the ocean crashing against the rocks across the street and the wind blowing the shades on the window and the birds arguing over who gets the worm or seed or whatever it is they are conversing about, I am going to unplug and move outside. There is a lovely set of chairs and a table under the pine trees, on the edge of a now cold fire pit. The sun is reaching the edge of the welcoming space and - I assume - warming it just a bit.

I am moving out to that space on the edge of the sun. I will take the laptop, battery fully charged and Ethernet cable disconnected. The owner of the space offered to hook me up to his ultra secure wireless router before he headed off to errands for his work, but I said no, I don't need the Internet to write. So I'm moving outside and away from the temptation of the 'net into the open air - even my mobile has no service since we're in a little cellular black hole here - and I'm going to work on the novel. I've already done a little work on my short story collection and it is coming along well. But I am going to return to the novel I love and begin again. Not completely from scratch, but I am using the notes and research from the first draft to rewrite the story. The first draft was rough and unplanned - a NaNoWriMo winner written without an outline or storyline or anything at the stroke of midnight:01 on a November 1st, and it's a mess, as a pantser NaNoNovel will be.

Big Project Update? Shelved for two years.

Now I get to go write fiction without self-imposed guilt.
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A Writer is a Writer ... Junot Diaz Quote

This resonates with me today.

"...a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway."

- Junot Diaz

[Becoming a Writer/ The List, O Magazine, November 2009]

Now the Snow is Gone and Burnt Tongue 7

The recent winter weather incident slowed everything down, except my need to work on a script and the arrival of an unexpected yet very welcome house guest for a few days (a friend stranded between destinations due to canceled flights) In the couple of days since the weather warmed and the white ground cover became gray, then brown, then was gone, I've been catching up on what couldn't be done with the weather and cancellations. 

I did write 2400 words of an essay/rant on Tuesday and that felt really good. I wasn't in the mood to work on the radio script nor the M-book nor a short story in the works. So I went with where my energy seemed to be - which was this rant. About writing. And, no, you don't get to read it, yet.


This Saturday there is a reading I'm planning to attend, "Burnt Tongue 7." I have my sign through and feedback midday Saturday (I'm interpreting the play next week) - and one of my incentives to working on this play so hard the last couple of weeks is this event. If it goes well at the sign through, then I won't have to see the play again that night and can go listen to writers read their work. It looks pretty amazing!

Burnt Tongue is a quarterly literary event, created to honor the incredible writing teacher and literary patriarch, Tom Spanbauer, who founded Dangerous Writers. 

Burnt Tongue's goal is to allow space for former and current Dangerous Writers with all levels of public reading experience to come together and share their work with the likes of you! 

Not EVERYONE has to have been a student of Tom's, and we frequently have guest readers.  

We ask for a $5 gift donation at the door, which goes into a scholarship for struggling writers to take classes and workshops. 

The next event takes place Feb 15th, 2014 at 5-8pm at Crush Bar, 1400 SE Morrison in Portland, OR. 

What you can expect:
The readers will start with 5 minutes apiece at 5:00pm. Expect a fifteen minute intermission to start somewhere close to 6:00, with the second half starting no later than 6:30. The show will be over no later than 8:00, and many of the authors will be available to stick around and mingle.

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Writing Sample from the Dorothy Allison Workshop

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Not.

We did write first thing in the morning with Dorothy Allison. Yep, we did. But I'm not going to put that piece of writing out there into the world. At least not now, not as written. I don't want to.

What did we write about in the morning? Masturbation. Yes, that's right. In a room with sixteen other writers we wrote about the first time. Then we read them out loud.

Perhaps that gives you an idea of the kind of day it was with Dorothy. Though not really. It gives you a sense that you know but if you've never been in a workshop with her, then you don't know. If you've read her books you might have a sense of the style of conversation, the open discussion about writing, the feedback, her style of telling you how it is from her perspective and experience. And you'd be correct.

Open.

That's what today was. Sharing our writing, giving and getting feedback, being open to the process of giving and receiving, talking and listening, asking, wondering. Honest.

Then both groups met up in one room, Anna the owner of Writers' Workshoppe - a bookstore and the sponsor of this and many other workshops - said a few words, then Dorothy, then Lidia. I recognized some faces who'd been in the other group from the Memorial Day Lidia Yuknavitch workshop I'd done up there in Port Townsend. Met a couple of other writers, too.

Promises to each other, to Lidia and Dorothy, to ourselves to keep that fire which was lit inside of us going. Knowing that returning home to the rest of our life challenges that. Knowing that I/we want to keep it going and that will take some attention and care. And we made a promise to Lidia and Dorothy to share the spark, the flame, the fire, with one other.

Writing may be a solitary act and it is for community, for sharing. Take one, pass it along. You can do it.

I'll have more to say about the workshop later. I will. But after two days of being in writing workshops, writing, thinking about writing, talking about writing, then the drive home which always takes longer than online maps say it will - I'm tired. And it's time for sleep.

And dreaming.
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Gardening : Plants and Words

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The garden in the ground seems to be doing well. The plants are adjusting. Some of them are in plant nirvana with the unusually sunny and hot days. We've had cloudless skies and temperatures in the 80s every day. The herbs are sprouting and reaching toward that glowing orb; the tomatoes are stretching their leaves and the spaghetti squash has grown in the few days they've been in the ground. The onions, well, I'm not sure. They're looking a little droopy but some of them don't. The spinach is wishing for a little cooler temperatures and definitely less sun. And one kale is thriving in its spot and the other is calling 'Uncle' on the heat.

Today I tried a temporary sun barricade for a few of the spinach and the drooping kale and they seemed to like it. Tomorrow before work I will see about doing something a little sturdier to protect them in these remaining few days of the heat - which we're supposed to have until Saturday, I think.

In my writing world, I am still writing the "21 Moments" each day. Usually after I get home from work. I'm working on some revisions of the book in progress, too, slowly, now that my critique group is no more.

But the new writing group I'm putting together seems like it's going to be a good one. There are four of us and we set a date at the end of May to meet up and talk about what we each want and how to proceed. This group will be more of a process group and we'll see what that turns into. I'm excited by the possibilities and the people in it.

Sprouting. Things are sprouting. I have to remember that because this is also a time of flux. There have been some major changes in a few areas of my life and, while they haven't been devastating or horrific, they are significant and have impacted me on several fronts. There are some unknowns and things are a bit bumpy. But not bad - just unsettled. And that can make me a little anxious and raise old issues. So I have to remember - sprouts. And maybe, like the spinach and kale which are adjusting to the heat and the sun and being out of tight little pots, it takes time to adapt to new conditions, but it will be okay.

Yes, I am okay.

It's just change.


photo from The POP Campaign


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Challenge : Z is for Zoom

Z is for Ze End. No, just kidding. Today, Z for Zoom.

And it is the final day of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.

I like the word Zoom. To go fast. To rise rapidly. To close in on something quickly; close-up.

Zoom is a useful tool for writing. For dancing. For even making art, I suppose, given the right medium and conditions.

Zoom is a word which kind of sounds like the accompanying concept.

And this month has gone rather quickly, from A to Z. Blogging every day. One letter at a time. I did it. Here's proof - my Z word : Zoom. I will admit that just past mid-month I wondered why I did this. I wondered if it would ever end. But the beginning days and the end days have Zoomed by.

And now. Toodle-oo for now. Another challenge successfully completed.

Zoom. And we're off. Now to go pick up few more posts from the A to Z Challenge. I've been hopping around here and there but slacked off a little the last couple of days. I will get caught up. And I've found a few new bloggers to follow and reconnected with a few from the Literary Kitchen.


photo from truedogblog



Challenge: D is for Dallying

D is for Dallying.

From Merriam-Webster:


1a : to act playfully; especially : to play amorously
  b : to deal lightly : toy
2a : to waste time
  b : linger, dawdle




I chose the above definition of Dally because it's not entirely negative. Most of the available definitions of Dallying take the negative spin, such as this one from Google: Act or move slowly: "workers were loafing, dallying, or goofing off".

But for writers, for artists of any kind I believe, dallying is actually a necessity. I also believe that even the 2a definition above - to waste time - is necessary. Because I don't really believe that it is wasting time.

It is in those moments of moving more slowly in the world, of taking time to notice, or even of staring off into space and letting the world catch your attention with something unexpected or new or even mundane (thanks, gl!) that you might not have otherwise noticed if you weren't sitting there. Wasting time.

Or as authors dallying at the coffee cart, with the hot cup of green tea in your hands, inhaling and letting the warmth spread from your hands to your face, you smile. And you overhear a conversation between two people at the burrito cart behind you. And you know what the character in your story on the screen at your desk is going to say. You head back to it and begin to write.

Or you notice the Grocery Outlet store when you're heading home from an appointment and remember you have to buy some handy item and maybe they have it. Inside you find treasures of foods from places you've never been to, or you thought your friend had made up, or something from the place where your current work in progress takes place. You wander the shelves to see what else there is and find the jumbled products in random order and yet you're compelled to keep looking. And there is a can of ______ something. The thing your protagonist is going to make for dinner and on the back, the label has a recipe for just that thing.

And sometimes, we just have to sit. Or walk without purpose. To slow down. To let our mind rest a little and let the stories percolate while we relax. While we dally.

Dallying. It's not a waste of time. It's time spent getting ready for the next round. Dally a little and see what you might have otherwise missed. Or notice if it makes it a little easier to jump back into your writing or art, or even to get back to the less-than-creative job which pays the bills.

Write with the Door Closed; Edit with it Open

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artwork by Serena Barton

Write with the door closed and edit with it opened was one piece of advice from Stephen King in "On Writing."

That seems like reasonable and sound advice. He said this at several points throughout the book, with examples and reasons and it was solid.

His point was to write your book without letting it be interrupted or unduly influenced by outsiders. Not just by people who would steal your time, intentionally or untintentionally, but also by the do-gooders who are trying to help or have advice or want just a peek. Set up your writing time and treat it as sacred, as your time to show up so your muse knows where to find you. Just you, the page, the muse.

I like that idea.

Yet I also wrestle with it. Some of my best writing has been "in public." Not that I was the center of attention, but I was with other people. Sometimes it is with other writers - would that be a gaggle, a murder, a flock? I don't know. Sometimes it's just me in a public space, usually a cafe of some sort, writing.

I understand that keeping things close to me. I understand keeping to my writing and not letting others spoil the process and potentially the "product."

But I do wonder about the hibernation aspect to writing. And, while it is an approach which has obviously worked really well for Stephen King, I wonder if it is necessary or if it is just one good idea. No; I do think it can be a great thing to do, the door shut/open model, and I believe that there are other valid options.

One example which came to mind as I was listening to him read his book this time around (I read the paper version not long after it came out) was my experience Ariel Gore's Literary Kitchen. That was so opposite of the shut door writing model. And it worked; most of the time. King talked specifically about the writing in groups/classes/MFAs and one criticism was the need to write something out quickly and then, how good, really, was the feedback? The Lit Kitchen was pretty open door in the writing process and some of it was put out there raw for others to read; although there was a different type and level of feedback on the raw material or the little bit more worked material. But, still, an open door policy.

I wonder if there is tendency toward a gender difference? Of writing in community and sharing the still pink on the edges material? Although there have been males participating in the Lit Kitchen.

I wonder what other writers think about the writing=closed door vs editing=open door advice?

I wonder if solitude is required? Or when is it required?

I wonder when other writers might want to write in solitude? Or in community? Or solo in the midst of life happening?

Just thoughts. No answers. And questions.

Do you like to write alone? Always or when, if the answer is "sometimes."
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Advice : from Jess Walter

Thank you to Jessica Morrell for posting this on her site, The Writing Life Too. I needed to hear this today. And I want to share it.

Yes. I needed this. And will need it again because I will forget again, and climb into my head.

 "Be patient. Be bold. Be humble. Be confident. Don’t give in to the speed and surface banality of the culture. Don’t give in to jealousy, commerce, or fear. Do charity work, or coach kids, or be a Big Brother or Sister, or something. Whatever it takes to get out of your own head and avoid authorial narcissism. And whatever you do, don’t ever take advice from authors."                            Jess Walter: How I Write

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WIP - a book in search of a name

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 The process with the Works In Progress (WIP) writing group seems to be going well. I am submitting two to three chapters each week to the other writers for feedback and receiving the same from each of them. It's nice for many reasons - but one reason is that one person has never read any of my writing so this is all fresh to her.

Which is great.

Another reason is that this timeline we've set up seems to be working well for me in terms of editing. If there were more of us or we were trying to submit more to each other, it would probably be too much. I still usually come in under the word limit we've set; it's how my chapters run. One week I had three chapters but after the editing I was about 1200 words below the limit.

Coming in under the word limit is not a problem.

And there isn't a problem. Let me say that right now. No problem at all.

The editing is going smoothly most of the time. Much better than previous experiences tackling big writing project. And I'm actually enjoying some of the editing process - which is not my norm, and I'm happy about that. Because I am not a spit it out in one draft, have it ready to read, kind of writer. Not that I know any writers like that. I was just remembering a new writer a couple of years ago who was surprised at all the editing and drafts and deletions from the version he typed up; he got over it, though it was a bit of a shock.

I'm editing out some things which I thought were for sure keepers. I've taken out some darlings, for sure. And there are some places where I wonder why I ever wrote it like that.

And I see growth in my writing of this thing over time. I call it a thing because I still hesitate to call it a memoir sometimes. I shouldn't say that out here in the public cyber land, but there you go. I admit it. It's sometimes hard to say that I'm writing a memoir. I'll get over it. (And I'll tell you more about that later - but it's not the point at the moment.)

The writing has changed and that's good. Honestly, it's improved (what a relief, right?). So it feels good to be making some of these edits and the better word and phrase choices sometimes appear on their own; less struggle; they fit.

One dilemma is the title. I don't like it. I thought it was kind of clever and charming and fit so well earlier in the process. But now I'm not sure. No, I don't think it helps make it any clearer and I think it might actually set up some expectations which aren't met because it's not the right title. I've been calling it this since it first became more than a few creative non-fiction/memoir short story pieces and became an It - a Book in Progress.

The book is progressing and it feels good.

And I've decided to just keep on with the editing and rewriting and wait.

A new title will come to me when it's time; when the book is ready to release its name.
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Meanderings : MFA

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picture from How to Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon,
one of my new favorite books, I've read it from cover to cover.
Now that I've read it, I pick it up often and open it randomly
and see what I need to know for that day.
It's not just for writers or artists.
It's about creativity.
Buy it.
You'll like it.

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This first paragraph is how I started this writing today and I'm going to leave it, as development, as an example of how meandering thoughts can lead to having something important to say. I don't have a major focus to write about at this point. Instead, some wandering thoughts - I was going to say random thoughts but they aren't random. Not really. Keep reading; I discovered a focus even though I thought I started with none. Oh, and I did come back in and add a word to the post's title to more accurately reflect the finished piece.

One piece of information is that my Bachelors Degree university is now offering an MFA in creative writing. That's really good news. I checked their website within the last year, maybe even with the last six months, and there was nothing there. One reason I checked there is that I had a really good experience, their format worked really well, and I hoped they might come up with something similar.

This is good and always makes me smile: my undergrad degree is, tada: a BS in Liberal Studies. Love that. With double minor in English:Writing and Theatre. But it was a great experience. Distance education, with some in-person of what would now be called "rigorous" 3- to 4-day classes (where there were pre-reading requirements, post-attendance assignments which were lengthy to prove that you did your homework and understood it), some online classes, even a correspondence course via regular mail, and a little bit online. It worked. My advisor was very helpful and encouraging. It was great.

Anyway - see, rambling, meandering - I checked their website and, nada. Until now. They recently were approved for the MFA in writing. And someone I would love to take a workshop with, a class with, is one of the professors.

And I was tempted.

But I've decided that right now is not the time for me to jump in. I thought I would when I saw it, even with the two week application deadline. I know I could write up two 750 word essays and find work to submit and all of that. And it would be kind of cool to be in the first cohort. And the curriculum looks good. Looks like what I want in an MFA if I do that - and I've been thinking about it for a while; I like the look of the curriculum, a lot.

Now is not the time and having the first two week residency in June - no, not a good time. I will just be at the end of a busy theater season and starting the process for scheduling the next season. I also have a summer theater workshop in the development phase and will be (hopefully) doing final preparations right at that time for the workshop. And I am on a national committee which is putting together a standard practice paper on performance interpreting - which has an early August deadline for getting the first draft written up before our national conference.

So this June - not a time to start an MFA.

I'm not ruling it out for later. Just not now.

Okay - maybe I did have a focus for this writing. The MFA.

To MFA or not to MFA, that is the question.

Short answer: not now. Long answer: maybe.

I'd like an MFA and there are factors to consider. I'll pose some of my questions and I'd love to see what others say. I know someone in an MFA program and I drool when I see her posts. And sometimes I think, whew, glad that assignment isn't mine (at least not now).

I read about the inspiration of an MFA. The community. The camraderie. The knowledge about the business of writing and publishing and, yes, networking. Confidence building (that one I really want; don't guffaw - I really could use it!). Feedback. Energy. Creative momentum. The paper which says I did it and validates that I Can Write.

I read about the negative aspects of an MFA. It's not the real world. It's sterile. It dilutes creativity and replaces it with an academic mandate or style of writing which can swallow the soul. It's too expensive. It creates a false sense of quality or expectations. It's unnecessary. It's insular and isolating (within a context of others of similar experience). It's not real world and there are other ways to write outside of academia.

Oh - and an MFA gives your permission and time To Write. For me the time is not an issue; an MFA wouldn't give me time. It would give me a Timeline and it would be one more thing in the list of things I'm doing. And that's one key for me right now : not wanting to add anything in because I feel like I've just reached a point of some relative balance and sanity in my schedule. Balance like a teeter-totter with evenly weighted ends, not flatlined.

So I did have something to say, after all.

What do you think about an MFA in writing? Is it worth the time and money? Why or why not? What is on your list of pros and cons?

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Renewed

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The decision to get up early on a Saturday morning to attend the "Making it in Changing Times" one-day writing conference was worth it. It was a day filled with books and writing and inspiring and knowledgable speakers. And food. As we were reminded several times, there's lots more food left, eat more.

But it was the people who made the day. The "writers' tribe" as Jessica Morrell called it - yes, these were my people even though I only knew two others and knew of (had met, have read their work) the speakers: Jessica Morrell (who put this conference together), Lidia Yuknavitch, Polly Campbell, Deborah Reed, and Kevin Sampsell.

And thanks to Wallace Books, my bag was a little heavier as I left the building and was walking back to my car, thinking, Why is this bag heavier now than when I went in - I drank my coffee and the bottle of water? Oh - books.  I didn't buy all of the books I wanted today, but I bought several.

Jessica is an entertaining and straightforward writer and editor, who had much to say. I've heard her speak before at the Willamette Writers Conferences. And I'll hear her again. I'm hoping that the next time she offers Line by Line I'll be able to take it; and if not the next time, then the time after that.

Lidia was, not surprisingly, powerful. The is entertaining and puts it all out there. She is the badass for sure. And inspiring. I'd also love to do a class or workshop with her. One in person, rather than online. She had a lot of really good things to say.

They were all good.

I'm still absorbing information from the day and may post some favorite quotes later. But not now.

And it did inspire me. It took a little bit of down time, and dinner. And watching another episode of my current streaming Netflix TV program. And then I dove into revising my current WIP.

And I mean I really dove in. I have been working on this for a while and the revision stage is slow and sometimes difficult and sometimes overwhelming. But I'm doing it. In this current set of chapters I'm revising for the Monday writing group there is one particularly rough to edit chapter. It was written early in this process and it shows. It was written with a workshop prompt in mind, and that shows, too. So I have to take out those obvious assignment elements. I had to clean up the awkward language - actually clean up the voice which no longer fits with how my writing has evolved and the voice of this WIP has evolved.

I also cut some monumental chunks. Nearly one entire page and several entire paragraphs. And I rewrote several paragraphs as well. It needed it - they weren't frivolous or temperamental cuts; they were necessary.

I made progress. Significant progress. And it felt good.

Thank you, Jessical Morrell for a well-spent and inspiring day.

Thank you to all of the speakers - I enjoyed them all. But a special thanks to Lidia and her idea that "the page will hold you (when you write your truth)" and to identify one risk we can take in our writing today; her talk on The Worth of Risk.
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