Writing Salon Mistress Muses

On Teaching & Creativity/Self-Expression

Some words (about teaching and also about creativity) from visual artist Sam Winston -- I like what he says:

“I have been teaching for close to 10 years and as time goes by I am realising what I can and cannot do.  I certainly can’t change people – I can’t give people things they have never had and I can’t make ‘things better’. My ambitions of help, are lost in a sea of complexity way beyond my control.  I often find teaching endeavours blossoming into both beautiful and stupid fruits. One of the more ironic harvests of this pursuit is that it’s changed me far more than it’s changed anyone else.

Best poetry & fiction books of 2011 - Books - The Boston Globe

Best poetry books of 2011 - Books - The Boston Globe

Best fiction books of 2011 - Books - The Boston Globe

 

Writing class from hell - Salon.com

I found this piece amusing and interesting, which of course makes sense since I run an entire school that offers nothing but creative writing classes. It made me muse, again, on the difficulty of trying to please everyone all of the time. . . an impossible goal, of course.

All the people who come to our classes have different expectations and ideas about what a writing class should offer, how it should be constructed, what the teacher should or should not do or say or emphasize or de-emphasize. They also have different ideas about what a class should cost, what they think it should be worth, in dollars.

All I can say is: We, the teachers (and I, the administrator as well as a teacher), do the best we can in the face of all these varied expectations.

So anyway, on to the article, which is about a play that is all about writing classes, of all things!

“Seminar,” a play starring Alan Rickman as a preening, acid-tongued teacher running roughshod over a group of tender aspiring writers, opened a few weeks ago on Broadway. Reviews have prompted all the usual observations about the difficulty of dramatizing both writing and reading, activities so internally momentous yet so physically inert. Why, then, do people keep doing it? And do the depictions of writing classes in stage, film and television — from “Wonder Boys” to “Bored to Death” — bear any relationship to real life?

Read entire article here:

via www.salon.com

No Choice? Really?

More words of wisdom from Seth Godin:

"I had no choice, I just couldn't get out of bed."

"I had no choice, it was the best program I could get into."

"I had no choice, he told me to do it..."

Really?

It's probably more accurate to say, "the short-term benefit/satisfaction/risk avoidance was a lot higher than anything else, so I chose to do what I did."

Remarkable work often comes from making choices when everyone else feels as though there is no choice. Difficult choices involve painful sacrifices, advance planning or just plain guts.

Saying you have no choice cuts off all options, absolves responsibility and is the dream killer.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

I would add to Seth's list:

"I had no choice, I just didn't have time to do my writing class assignment."

"I had no choice, it was either buckle down and earn a living, or become homeless while trying to be a poet."

"I had no choice, I had to watch the next episode of Breaking Bad, and the thought of trying to write anything made me sick."

"I had no choice, I spent every cent on those new shoes; no way could I afford that one-day writing workshop."

Etcetera, etcetera. You get my drift.

Essay Contest

This just came in over the transom from: http://www.bookwish.org

Message   Essay Contest for Aspiring Writers -- Feb. 1, 2012 deadline

______________________________

Win a literary agent or acclaimed author's feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers. This rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation. See http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.

You could win a manuscript critique from:

Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot

Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau

Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust

Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe

Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue

A Bit of Inspiration for our Memoir Writers

This just in from one of our Memoir Class students:

I am a memoir student at Writing Salon with Kathleen McClung. My memoir essay "The Deal We Made" about my relationship with my mother was included in an anthology titled Wisdom Has A Voice, Every Daughter's Memory of Mother.

The knowledge, encouragement and feedback that I received from Kathleen not only helped me shape my work but also gave me the support to submit my writing for publication.

If you like you can learn more about this publication by visiting the website http://wisdomhasavoice.com/anthology
 
Marilyn J. Curry


Thanks for sending this to us, Marilyn! We love getting the lastest success stories from our students.

Strumming to the Metronome - Jane Muses on the Value of Practicing

I was counting out my daily dose of pills at the kitchen counter this morning when I heard Jack (my sweetie/significant other) practicing on his new guitar upstairs, the one that Chris, his friend-since-childhood, gave him a couple of months ago. I've been impressed by Jack's commitment and determination, at the age of 56, to try and learn to play an instrument. He loves music, especially blues, and can play a bit of harmonica, but this is his first true foray into learning music. He's even taking weekly lessons.

Hearing him strumming to the metronome made me think yet again about the value of practicing, of having a "practice" relationship with your art. Practicing requires a great deal of faith in the unknown, faith that you will progress, slowly but surely, even though you usually can't see any evidence (or very little) of that progress. But too many people give up too soon. You have to keep going, having faith that you will periodically be blessed with a leap or a bound in your progress.