Sunday, January 23, 2011
Learning New Things
So, here's what's happening: I am in this writers workshop now....led by the delightful Adair Lara...and I am writing so much on the many assignments we are given, I seem to have totally forgotten about writing in this blog !! Therefore, this lovely Sunday morning in San Francisco, I decided I'd better rectify that situation and do a little catching up , so you faithful readers will know why I've been absent for a while. My head is whirling with new stuff I've learned and am learning, and each day is centered right now on writing, writing and more writing....I want you to be included in on some of it, and where it comes from in the workshop process.
First, let me say I'm sorry for ignoring you. You're the people who have been so faithful in listening to whatever I've had to say in these spaces, and you've never stinted in your support and praise...i feel there are friends I've made through this blog that I would not have otherwise...and I want to keep you both as friends and readers. So let me assure you of one thing: what I am learning in this writers workshop is fantastically interesting and can only benefit my future writing, so hopefully all of you who read it will benefit too. But it's interesting in another way as well.
When you focus on something, you see it in more detail, and you notice its flaws as well as its beauties. And right now, with a specific audience to write for (my workshop group) and certain goals to achieve (the exercise work we are assigned in large amounts every week), i have become more self-conscious of how and what I write.
This is not a bad thing. No, not at all.
But it is a different thing. A different way of my coming to my writing. A different set of awarenesses and considerations about it. And more often than I can ever remember before, I am wanting it to be "good"...to follow certain rules...new rules I am learning on what good writing is made of....in the workshop , we read as well as write, and with each new essay I read, I am overwhelmed by the craft it takes to write it.
I am not dismissing my talent -if I dare to call it that - I know I have a way with words and how to make them flow.I understand rhythm, a certain kind of "voice" and I am relatively literate: I know how to put words together to form thoughts, some of which, at certain times are not uninteresting. If I didn't like what I've already written over the years (in my 38 or more years of journal writing, and my decade or so of writing on line journals), then I'd stop doing it! But I do, so I won't.
But, I'm in this learning place, y'see...and what I don't know - or more to the point - what I don't DO , is beginning to make me want to do more and know more. But the main verb here is "do"...i need to write , yes...but then I need to re-write and re-write and re-write some more to make it better, tighter, more focused, deep, richer. I am so used to simply letting my thoughts just flow out onto a writing surface, that I have spent very little time both considering what I write and re-writing it to make it better, and now I have the time to learn how to do that, I want to do it. So I spend my days at my writing desk learning by doing.
The flow is of course an extremely important thing to never stop....I am not saying I must stop the flow of my thoughts and words onto pages, wherever the pages may be....no, the flow of course matters deeply. But I need to think and learn now how to capture the flow and make it serve an art form I have always adored, but never taken the time to truly master. I've picked up just enough along the way to serve me well - and to bring my thoughts to others in ways that have mattered to me, and to those others ( you among them). Now, I want to become better at it. So, let me tell you about this workshop, and why it has taken me away from these particular pages for a while lately. This will be the subject of the next few blog entries: the Adair Lara Winter 2011 Writers Group, and what goes on there!
So stay tuned! And, once again...thanks for listening.
First, let me say I'm sorry for ignoring you. You're the people who have been so faithful in listening to whatever I've had to say in these spaces, and you've never stinted in your support and praise...i feel there are friends I've made through this blog that I would not have otherwise...and I want to keep you both as friends and readers. So let me assure you of one thing: what I am learning in this writers workshop is fantastically interesting and can only benefit my future writing, so hopefully all of you who read it will benefit too. But it's interesting in another way as well.
When you focus on something, you see it in more detail, and you notice its flaws as well as its beauties. And right now, with a specific audience to write for (my workshop group) and certain goals to achieve (the exercise work we are assigned in large amounts every week), i have become more self-conscious of how and what I write.
This is not a bad thing. No, not at all.
But it is a different thing. A different way of my coming to my writing. A different set of awarenesses and considerations about it. And more often than I can ever remember before, I am wanting it to be "good"...to follow certain rules...new rules I am learning on what good writing is made of....in the workshop , we read as well as write, and with each new essay I read, I am overwhelmed by the craft it takes to write it.
I am not dismissing my talent -if I dare to call it that - I know I have a way with words and how to make them flow.I understand rhythm, a certain kind of "voice" and I am relatively literate: I know how to put words together to form thoughts, some of which, at certain times are not uninteresting. If I didn't like what I've already written over the years (in my 38 or more years of journal writing, and my decade or so of writing on line journals), then I'd stop doing it! But I do, so I won't.
But, I'm in this learning place, y'see...and what I don't know - or more to the point - what I don't DO , is beginning to make me want to do more and know more. But the main verb here is "do"...i need to write , yes...but then I need to re-write and re-write and re-write some more to make it better, tighter, more focused, deep, richer. I am so used to simply letting my thoughts just flow out onto a writing surface, that I have spent very little time both considering what I write and re-writing it to make it better, and now I have the time to learn how to do that, I want to do it. So I spend my days at my writing desk learning by doing.
The flow is of course an extremely important thing to never stop....I am not saying I must stop the flow of my thoughts and words onto pages, wherever the pages may be....no, the flow of course matters deeply. But I need to think and learn now how to capture the flow and make it serve an art form I have always adored, but never taken the time to truly master. I've picked up just enough along the way to serve me well - and to bring my thoughts to others in ways that have mattered to me, and to those others ( you among them). Now, I want to become better at it. So, let me tell you about this workshop, and why it has taken me away from these particular pages for a while lately. This will be the subject of the next few blog entries: the Adair Lara Winter 2011 Writers Group, and what goes on there!
So stay tuned! And, once again...thanks for listening.
Labels: SF Writing
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