Writing - right?

“If a book about failures doesn’t sell, is it a success?”

- Jerry Seinfeld, the humorist

One of the walls is covered with a mural depicting the Western Slopes of the Catalina Mountains.  The adjacent wall is glass, exposing a great view of those same mountains, giving the room an open and inviting feeling.  The folks are assembling and small talking amongst themselves as they find seats around long tables set into a square, taking up most of the room.

A somewhat raspy, yet commanding voice oozing with an authoritative tone calls everyone to order.  “Okay, let’s get going!  We have a lot of people here today, and be sure to use the microphone, because as you know I am deaf and can’t hear you!”

She asks if anyone is new, and if a hand goes in the air, she says, “What’s your name?  I don’t want to know about your life, your dog, any illnesses you have or what your hobbies are.  I just want to know what you are working on!” 

Alexis Powers is aptly named, because this 5 foot tall sixtyish woman is a powerhouse, with the presence of a field grade military officer instructing his or her junior troops.  Having published 10 books, taught creative writing and worked in the legal field and real estate for decades, this woman is strong…in charge…seems to speak from a stream of consciousness…is highly opinionated, and has the feel of a lioness prepared to defend and protect her cubs.

She leads the writer’s workshop I have joined at the public library in the town where I live.  The second and fourth Thursdays from 10AM until noon, a group of aspiring writers, and other folk, already published, show up to read a few paragraphs of their current projects.

This isn’t a place where one learns hints about how to write, but rather a support group where people read a little of what they are working on, and find a kinship with others who spend time in this most lonely of tasks – writing.  It’s a place where ‘those that have gone before’ also share hints to those of us still looking to get out of the starting blocks!

Why this workshop…

I truly enjoy writing this blog.  Sometimes things come to my mind so quickly that I cannot seem to get them down fast enough.  Sometimes I start something and it takes a completely different direction.  Sometimes there is the seed of an idea that I find interesting and just tinker around.

Other times, and this would be the case more often than not, writing weekly is just hard work…good work…meaningful and fulfilling work…to be honest edifying work…BUT hard work nonetheless.

My old friend, and frequent companion Marcus Aurelius says that while many feel they have to travel to see new things and have new experiences in order to really be fulfilled and have something to share with others, if they just took a little time to explore themselves, they would find the greatest and most exotic of places to roam is in the reaches of their own minds. 

I get that, but I am uncertain he was talking about the blank sheet of electronic paper that stares mockingly back at me from the computer, as if to say, “Sure go ahead. I dare you to write one meaningful thought on this screen!!  Your head is as empty as my virtual page.  You’ve got nothing, do you hear me NOTHING!!!

I would like to write something a little more.  Maybe put together a small book of some of these weekly wanderings…maybe find a short story or two that could go into a small publication…maybe the next “great American Novel,” uh, maybe not, but something!

So, I’m taking this workshop to see if maybe there is another voice I can explore, that might take me on a journey to a different place.  I’ve tried this a couple of times.  My friend Bob from Texas and I began writing two different novels.  We took turns doing chapters, building the stories.  It was kind of fun, because we didn’t talk about the plot, we just read the other guy’s chapter and wrote when it was our turn.  We didn’t finish either one, but a great experience nonetheless, because until we heard from each other, we had NO IDEA what we were going to write next.

I digress…back to class…

Alexis is partly mentor, cheerleader, and ‘kick in the pants’ motivator for this group.  She tells everyone she is famous and has done a lot of amazing things, but says, “This workshop is the best thing I have done in my life.  I LOVE IT!!”

Advice from General Alexis:

“Write every day for at least 30 minutes or you will lose your characters…”

“Make a character list.  The worst thing you can do is give your main character blue eyes in chapter two and brown in chapter 44!”

“Nobody in this workshop is a good enough writer to criticize someone else.  That’s my job!”

“I am here to encourage you to write!”

“Hey, there’s no cross-talking in here.”

“You’ve got three minutes to read.  I’ll stop you if you go too long.”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough, we got the idea.  I like what you have written, but we have others who need to read today.”

“There is nothing greater in the world than holding a book you have written, in your own hands!”

The most coveted thing she says however is this:

“Oooh, I like that.  See me after class.  Next!”

Not smart, but obedient…

So with as much dedication as I can muster, I have been showing up now for three months or so.  Initially I just listened, but found quickly Alexis would have none of that.  “You mean you don’t have anything to read today?”  “Are you writing everyday?”

By now, I’ve read some of these blogs to the group, and found that while it is sometimes hard to write, it is almost harder to read what you have written in public!  Having said that, it is easier to both write and read than to have Alexis give you ‘the eye’ for not having something ready to go.

“That’s why we’re here,” she says.  “Everybody comes to this workshop, not just because they are writing, but because they are going to publish.” Emphasis on “GOING…” her foregone enthusiastic conclusion!

I started going to this workshop to learn from others, and surely I have, yet as with so many other things in life, it has had unintended consequences.  Alexis, this woman who seemed somewhat distant and commanding in the beginning said a month or so ago, after I read about a little girl I met on a subway in Berlin, 

“Oooh, I like that, see me after class.” 

I was so excited, I didn’t even hear her say, “Next!”

- ted