Beyond Writing

Hi, friends,

Yesterday, a community member —Monica—wrote down her reasons why Writing in the Dark is like getting an MFA, but better. What she wrote was inspired by our Thursday Thread on the topic of whether MFAs are worth it (spoiler: there’s not one right answer; it varies by situation!).

And I found Monica’s list so inspiring that I need to make a little happy noise about it.

Disclaimer: Writing in the Dark isn’t a place to come for networking with agents or landing book deals, which some MFA programs can help with, especially the very prestigious ones. Writing in the Dark is a place where you can start and finish publishable work—our Big Beautiful Directory of work born in WITD shows that again and again.

But Writing in the Dark is above all a place where people learn the craft of writing in a way that goes beyond writing—a way that intersects with how we live our lives and who we become. Because writing is about more than writing, and the key to unlocking that “more” is, paradoxically, a devotion to the craft. This is how writing transforms us: when we learn that so much of writing is what happens when we are bringing tomatoes from one house to another, and arranging them as carefully and intentionally as we arrange words and sentences to create something true, resonant, and real—something that sings and seethes.

That’s what we do at Writing in the Dark. And I’m so proud of it. I really am. Not in a grandiose way, because this place isn’t just mine. It’s all of ours—everyone here makes Writing in the Dark the place that it is, this vibrant safe container in which we can truly and openly wrestle (and play) with the craft of language until that singing and seething starts to happen.

So, yes, I want to share Monica’s words with you—she sent me a photo of what she wrote—along with a few other observations from the comments in the thread. Because if you have been hanging out on the edges wondering what it is we really do here, these comments start to reveal it. And you know I would love for you—whoever you are—to write with us.

Below a bit more about Monica, and here’s what she jotted down—and also a few more words from others on the Thursday Thread, sharing their experience of Writing in the Dark.

Dr. Monica Edwards is a Professor of Sociology at Harper College. She received her M.S. in Sociology from Illinois State University and her PhD in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Edwards has been at Harper College since 2010, and has been teaching Sociology since 2000.

Dr. Monica’s areas of sociological interest include: critical and compassionate pedagogies, food systems, the sociology of the climate crisis, gender, sexuality, intersectionality theory, and social inequalities. Monica's dissertation focused on how popular culture is used as a tool/resource in negotiating relationships across sexual differences. Her current work focuses on social justice pedagogies.

In her free time, Dr. Monica enjoys camping, hiking, biking, travelling, reading and listening to and playing music.

And a few more:

Jeannine, your words always move me, sometimes to tears, and I deeply appreciate what you offer here. It’s the one publication I try to read each day, no matter how tired I am. Thank you so much for offering the lessons that help me and so many others with our writing. ~Taru

The WITD program has been one of the very best personal and educational experiences of my life and just at the exact time in said life I needed to find meaning and usefulness again …. Most of what I have learned about writing to this point, I owe to Jeannine--it is a debt I can never repay. I can see my craft and skills increasing thanks to WITD and Jeannine. ~Craig

This community is what I hoped for from the MFA and the exercises remind me of my favorite poetry classes. And here there is an element of play which was only present in the poetry classes. And you don’t need student loans or to deal with some of the drama and posturing that can happen in a room of desperate creative folks. I recognize and appreciate so much of the hard work that goes into making our experience here feel effortless because of my MFA time- I see the value, depth, and love we experience daily and will never take it for granted. ~Emily

So, if you’ve been thinking of joining us and want to dip a toe in the water, we have a bunch of exciting stuff coming up starting later this month and through the fall—starting with our subversive gratitude practice based on Melody Beattie’s book, Make Miracles in Forty Days, which starts late August.

I hope you’ll join us!

Love,

Jeannine