Sarah suggested the possibility of a Google Group in the last post, so I want to ask you some questions.
If I set up a group, what is the likelihood that you might like to participate in a monthly (or quarterly - I'm not asking for miracles) read and respond thing?
Here's what I think: We wouldn't have to call it a workshop, we wouldn't have to necessarily post finished pieces, and we wouldn't necessarily even have to post fiction. Two good paragraphs, 75 good words, an ancient and confusing first draft, the fragment of a poem, an essay, whatever.
That way, there would be a deadline, but it would not be a deadline for a story. It would be a deadline for whatever you happened to be working on, at whatever stage. And maybe there could be 2-way conversation between author and readers?
So that's what I think.
What do you think?
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just pretend nick is rebecca and meagan is tracy and bearden is hiding behind michael's diploma and that's us
double O'sevens
just pretend nick is rebecca and meagan is tracy and bearden is hiding behind michael's diploma and that's us
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12 comments:
I'm so in.
Of course, there's this part of me that's hoitty toitty...or something...this voice that says to me I don't have time. That's not true. I am a liar.
Jack, you got me with the poem stuff. I recently found an old poem of mine, written 6 or 7 years ago that may or may not be ridiculous. I have sense enough to know that I should probably be embarrassed if Abby reads it or any of you other cross-overs. But I don't know. It's this one and I just care about it more than the others.
What I'm trying to say is this:
I am drunk at 3:30 in the afternoon, and it's finally up to 60 degrees here. True that by Tuesday we'll be covered up in snow but right now it feels like the freedom of summer.
I mean, I like the freedom of your google group. Will you be my friend? Check yes or no.
And pretend boxes are drawn here.
I just checked the temp online. Actually it's 70 degrees isn't this amazing?
OKAY
the italics suggest urgency
I'm hung over and full of funnel cake at 4 in the afternoon. Someone mop my brow.
Sure. I just spent three hours putting together a 3-drawer chest that doesn't fit in my bedroom. That's like a metaphor I'm too bloody thumbed to figure out.
I'm in.
i'll be a part of it.
Maybe it's because I'm at work, and not drinking. I don't have a window. I will say first that I miss and adore you all. I will read for anyone who wants me, specifically, to read their stuff. But I am content, still, to be away from workshop, even if it's not called workshop, or anything like workshop, to think what I think, even if it's just what I want to think, about my writing, to let my stuff breathe (this all may be an excuse for not having finished a new story, one year later, but it all feels like part of the process).
Posting without commentary, letting each other be occasional voyeurs to each others' stuff, I'd be up for. But I'm probably just a freak. Don't let me drag y'all down!
I'm down. Whether for a good read, to answer specific questions, or just to post my thoughts.
This is great. I think we should do it. And I think the group doesn't have to serve the same purpose for everybody - it should be roomy enough do what you need most.
So if you don't want commentary, but want eyes anyway, you just have to say so. Or if you just can't hear Tom's rules over this speculative poem you've written, but you want folks to look at the language, that should be fine, too. Or whatever.
Let's just see how it works. I think we all served our time developing a vocabulary for mfa workshop, but if you're like me, that's kind of fading into the ether, and what is replacing it is something sharper, and more in tune with my gut. And that's how I like to talk about it these days.
How about we post pieces, and ask for what we need?
Jack, what are Tom's rules over speculative poems? As a "lurker" (Michael I'm gonna smack you--with love!) and one of those weirdo poets who now writes fiction, I wanna know! I never had classes with you guys, but I wanna know!
Now. And I love you too!
Tom's rules. I was making stuff up about speculative poetry, but I remember the strangest things about his classes.
Let's see. It's been a while, but these are the ones I remember:
1. Triangulation (true definition still up in the air)
2. Elevated language is a seasoning (like salt)
3. Start out wide angle, then move in for a close-up
4. Traditional plot beats most nontraditional plot
5. We are all ghosts anyway, so what's the point.
Maybe other folks remember other stuff. What I meant by Tom's rules is a sort of marriage to traditional linear narrative. Intro, tension, CLIMAX! resolution. That sort of thing.
Tom's classes were helpful to me - I adored him, and he taught me a lot - but I think some of us are trying to branch these days, and need freedom from the voice of Tom. And Debra, and Dagoberto, and Tim. They all have their ways. Their sweet, wonderful ways. And now we are working on our ways.
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