Rejecting the 'lone writer' ideal

I have never been comfortable with the 'lone writer' image. For me writing works best as a collaborative experience. Writers need feedback from other writers on their stories. Critique groups are one way to collaborate as is enrolling in a writing class. A third collaborative options is co-writing stories with another writer. Writing stories together may sound risky to those writers who have not experienced this collaborative process, because our 'writing ego' gets in the way. My writing partner and I agree our co-writing experience works for us. Often she reads aloud what I have written, suggests edits, and I do the same for her. When she suggests I "kill a darling" I put my ego aside and discover I often agree with her analysis. Because we are writing a novel together, this helps me refine my characters, story threads, and offers ideas about how my characters might react to the characters and scenes my colleague writes. Co-writing our novel keeps the story moving, provides valuable feedback, and keeps me laughing as I write.

Keeping the winter blues away!

January ends tomorrow and my writing has moved forward significantly during the month. Writing several pieces at various stages of story development has kept me on my toes. Most helpful has been designating specific days and times for each project. Two days a week I write/revise with my writing colleague. One day I work on my Dubious Grief material and this keeps my memoir project moving along even without the writing class I usually participate in. In the evening I ponder new story ideas and file them away for a later time. I have also taken up watercolor painting - so nice to have a truly free creative activity outside the structure of writing. All in all this month has confirmed my belief that variety in my writing and other creative activities is key to keeping the winter blues away.

Writing together using the internet

I am collaborating with another writer on a novel. Since it is winter and the weather can be terrible, we are using the internet to write scenes together and organize our materials. This method has worked great for us. In the past we'd meet at either my or her house and write once a week. Now using the internet and Google's gmail allows us to store and share materials and write together several times a week on our novel. It's great to be able to write and edit the same document together. No need to deal with the cold, frigid weather. And we are making better progress on our novel than meeting once a week in person. Love this method of collaboration!

Self Motivation

I usually start the new year by taking a memoir writing class at the local community college. Because the tuition has nearly doubled, I skipped enrolling this year. Instead I will proceed with my writing as if I am enrolled, cranking out my words and reorganizing Dubious Grief. I dug out my class notes from the previous four years and will do the exercises, pump out the word count, and see where it leads. Since the class meets on Tuesday evening, I have dedicated my Tuesday writing to my memoir, Dubious Grief, to strengthen the illusion and hold myself accountable. Another year, another challenge.

Reflection in poetry

December 27, 2013

Harder to Live

A karate kick

to my heart

delivered

the day Glen died 

taught me 

I do not want to be 

the last one standing. 

Watching  

mom’s health decline 

illuminates  

what it is like to be 

ninety-three

I do not want to be

the last one standing.

I do not want to live 

without 

my sisters 

my children

my family 

I do not want to be 

the last one standing. 

Jean Louise Blanchard

remembering Glen’s words: “it’ll be harder for you than for me...”

Holiday Reminiscing

The end of the year is for me a time of reflection. Lately I've been reminiscing about the holiday time when I was a kid in the 1950's. A lot has changed yet much remains the same. Lots of material for a short holiday story. When did we get a christmas tree? I remember Dad brought a tree home the weekend following Thanksgiving. He'd trim branches then cut several inches from the trunk and put it in a bucket of water out on the porch. He said the tree needed at least a week to soak up the water and replenish itself after its long journey from the forest to our house before we decorated it. Do folks still immerse their trees in water today? We kids spent a lot of time hunting for signs of christmas packages. Mom hid them in a closet, high up on a shelf in her sewing room. Today I see parents shopping for gifts, with their children in tow. Some kids even tell their parents what to buy as they shop! Mom put electric candles, with blue bulbs, in our windows. (Where the bulbs blue or am I misremembering?) Last year when I visited my Mom before the holidays we looked through the various decorations she still kept; the small items she would display around the holiday. My most vivid memory is standing in the darkened living room, looking at the christmas tree all decorated and lit with multi-colored lights and hearing a voice tell me, "you have alway been and will alway be." I was five at the time. These collective memories could make a fine story.

See new post on Dubious Grief page.

Let it snow!

Holiday time from Thanksgiving through the end of the year is typically a time when my attention shifts away from writing and onto daily life. I spent Thanksgiving week visiting my son and his family in CA. When I returned I began my frantic holiday beading - necklaces for the women in my family. It's a tradition I keep up year to year. Not so different this year until the end of last week brought snow to Eugene OR. This is a city where everything stops when snow falls. We are totally unprepared for it. Since the storm hit on Thursday night the temperatures have not gotten above freezing so the snow remains on the roadways, packed down and slippery. This year in particular we are stopped in our tracks - last night the temperature fell to a record shattering minus 9 degrees. Just keeping the pipes from freezing and staying warm is a challenge. No holiday shopping here. Instead several days to write, write, write. This may be my most productive writing time during the holidays ever!

New post on Dubious Grief page.