My Personal Writing Life - An Update

A few days ago, on the "News & Events" page of the Writing Salon website (see "Writing Salon Bulletin Board" in the right hand sidebar), I did a post that contained information about what several of our Writing Salon teachers have been up to in their "writing lives," which I left open to broad interpretation. I really enjoyed reading their responses, because even though they work here, I don't know about all the stuff they're doing that has nothing to do with the Writing Salon.

It occurred to me, as I was compiling their info. to put into the post, that I ought to include myself in the mix, since I too am a Writing Salon teacher. But I forgot to do that. Maybe I'll do it now, while I'm waiting for my cell phone to charge before heading out to deliver another huge stack of Writing Salon flyers to the distribution service.

What's up with my own personal "writing life?" Do I HAVE one? Does writing posts for this blog count? Or how about the posts I do for my personal blog? Well, they better count, because otherwise I have written very little in the last year or so. And I pretty much lost interest in trying to get published, long before that. I suppose some would say that I shouldn't admit that here. Publication (esp. PAID publication) is one mark of validation for a writer, and many see it as an essential validation. I used to see it that way, but I don't anymore. It's not essential. It's merely ONE mark of validation. One of many. As many as there are reasons for writing.

I know I can get published if I set my mind to it. When I was more into doing this, I published mostly poetry, personal essays, and erotica. And newspaper features. All you have to do is commit to that goal. It's not rocket science. You learn the ropes for submitting and then you submit. As many times as it takes until someone out there accepts your work. You can get published if you are a brilliant writer. You can also get published if you are a piece of shit writer. No shit. Look at what's out there in print. Whatever level you're at, you can get published if you commit to that goal. It's all about commitment.

I've found that as I get older, it takes very little to satisfy me when it comes to "getting my writing out into the world." I share work with my longtime writing group once every two weeks. I make copies and read it aloud. I find this to be a completely satisfying way to share my writing, in lieu of publishing. I also post occasional "pieces" in my blogs. But mostly I write for other reasons, reasons that have nothing to do with wanting to be published. The main reason is that it satisfies my bottomless urge to immerse myself in the creative process. I feel dead if I don't feel creative.

I've also found that after more than 35 years of channeling my creative urges primarily into writing, that  I want to branch out into other creative endeavors. Like photography, which I discovered almost a year ago and which I have been doing obsessively ever since. Do I want to be a professional photographer and make my living at it? Nope. Do I want others to see it? Sure, somewhat. That's why I put my photos up on Flickr. And why I post them sometimes in my personal blog, or hang them on my walls at home or at The Writing Salon.

I do think think that whatever creative endeavor you're doing at the moment will INFORM other creative endeavors. My years of creative writing undoubtedly now inform my photography, and my photography informs my writing. Lately I've been experimenting with mixing the two, in fact. Here's an example of that.

Okay, gotta go. As you know, I make my LIVING from running the Writing Salon, and it's time for me to get back to work. Spring Session classes are beginning this week, so I have more administrative work to do than usual.