Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Writing and Gifts from Old Friends and Sisters



I started meeting once a week for a few hours with a group of writers. It's not a workshop group but, rather, a real writing group. We really write. At the beginning, we sit down and chit chat for a few minutes, catch each other up, briefly, on what's happening. Then one person tears up a few strips of paper and we each grab one or two. We write down phrases or words, anything that comes to mind and can be used as a prompt. Then someone picks up a piece of paper, opens it and reads it aloud. Then we write -- the first prompt is for five minutes, the second is for ten minutes, then it's fifteen and then back to five minutes. When the buzzer goes off, we stop typing or writing and read aloud what we've written. We don't comment, except to sigh or smile or laugh or draw our breaths in. Then we're on to the next. We follow in a specific order -- whoever opens the prompt and reads it aloud is the first to read aloud what she's written. Then we go counter-clockwise. It works. This is so good, you writers out there -- so good and so inspiring in the way that writers need to be inspired. You just start with something, anything, and then you write. I've always thought there's way too much discussion about writing in general -- about how difficult it is, about whether or not you're good enough, about the anxieties and insecurities of The Writer. Lately, I've noticed a whole lot of hullabaloo about writing for free on the internet, how resentful "writers" are when they're asked to write online and not get reimbursed. My opinion is that there haven't been too many writers in history that got paid enough money to support themselves and that if you're a writer, you'll just write, whenever and however you can. If you're getting paid and can support yourself, I envy you. If not, get a job, but don't stop writing.

Here are the prompts from a week or so ago:


  1. My skeleton
  2. Blood-shot eyes
  3. A Sense of place
  4. The Rain They Say is Coming
This week, I got a spark of a short story from the prompt It Goes Like This. Think a man, tattoos, a bald head, the goods, the threat of a cult, Jesus freaks and the slippery slope of desire -- that's what I wrote about for five minutes.

When I got home this afternoon from the usual driving around the city, I had a pile of mail, including two mysterious packages. One was for Sophie, and when I opened it up I saw that it was from one of my oldest and dearest friends with whom I backpacked through Europe in the Let's Go Europe! days. Do you remember those? This beautiful, brilliant woman sent that mermaid to Sophie, and I'm taking it as a token of luck. Sophie did really well today, too, but who's noticing? The other gift was from my funny sister Melissa. She sent me a Ryan Gosling coloring book. She knows me all too well. Henry and Oliver took one look at the gifts and rolled their eyes. Are you really going to color that? Henry asked. I told him that I imagine it will be enormously relaxing to sit and color in Ryan Gosling's lines. You'd think I was stoned, but I'm not. I'm CBD'd excited.

16 comments:

  1. YES! Practice. Writing practice. I told my workshop writers this constantly and none of them ever believed me. PRACTICE EVERY DAY. I had a friend I used to meet with once a week at The Honeybear Bakery. We take a seat by the window and break out our notebooks and write like fiends and not talk at all. It was so good to have company in the going at it. The hard part. Sitting down to the blank page that part the effing SCARY PART. Practice helps and it must continue in any art. Mastery of art any art boils down to mastery of practice.

    Oh damn Rebecca Hot Button.

    love,
    Rebecca

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  2. This makes my soul glow to hear. All of it.

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  3. I don't know whose brilliant idea that writing group was, but it speaks to me! Now I have to find some writers and get one of my own going.

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  4. I spent the afternoon with a piece about writing, that so perfectly captured the urgency to write, so to come here and read this tonight, it's like the universe is sending me a message, or maybe a smile. and i love that whispered sentence in the midst of it all. So fragile a beginning, but a beginning nevertheless.

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  5. I love that coloring book. And that small print? Well I really love that. You express more into the words even by the size of your font - brilliant.

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  6. I love both those gifts. My birthday is in July. But don't take that as a hint or anything.

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  7. This may be the first time in my life that reading the fine print has brought me joy...

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  8. I can't access your blog at work anymore. Wanna guess why? Yep, because you discuss marijuana. But I can access, say Bacardi Rum's site. Because you know a blog about efforts to use medicine for a disabled child is not suitable for work but that Bacardi site. Awesomely professional

    XOXO, Annie (who has no profile but Anonymous)

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  9. I love the writing idea, though it sounds like it would stress me out a little bit. I don't love time limits. I had an English class when I was a senior in high school where the teacher assigned us "timed writings," and we had xx number of minutes to compose an essay. I always did well on those, and indeed they were great training for deadline journalism, but we didn't have to read aloud afterwards!

    LOL @ the Ryan Gosling coloring book. I wonder if Ryan makes any royalties from those?

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  10. this is so good to hear, elizabeth. a sanctuary for you.

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  11. Nothing to see here, folks, nothing to see.

    I am intrigued by your short story and would love to read your fiction. Lately I've had an few acquaintances who keep telling me they want to write. They talk about it a lot, set up their writer's room, think about plot points and markets. Just write! I want to tell them, but of course I can't. I want to be encouraging but I really believe that if you are a writer, you write. You can't help it. You don't know how to live without it. Of course every writer has dry spells that might last years when it comes to fiction, but they are still writing, probably, in journals or blogs. You get my drift.

    So much for an eloquent comment.

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  12. Ditto Kario! I feel the energy shift in you, and couldn't be happier!

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  13. ditto - and yet it is "curious" that we live in a world where writing (and teaching) are considered not worthy enough to be paid for.

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  14. and by the way, I'm very excited that you are taking part in these writing group meetings!

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  15. Would love to come with you to one of your writing classes, sounds very cool.
    And what on earth could be better than a Ryan Gosling coloring book?

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  16. I'm jealous of your writing group - can't imagine anything like that here

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