From the Archives | Lit Salon on evoking emotion with our writing + the mysterious balance of inner, outer, and other mode + what writers know about broken swings + why music is more than music
Awwww- thank you- you know how much I am thinking of you! I so wish I could attach a picture of the Red Canyon we saw en route today/ the slants of gold catching the sun between cloud cover, the slant of a green ramp of grass cutting into the pale rock at the bottom. And the scale of things is dialed to 11. Now chilling with my boys and a glass of wine in a dive. And you are all here! My heart is full.
There's so much here, as always! Trauma as zombie embers, wow. (and the existence of zombie embers, yikes) I'm inspired by the way you hold space for yourself in the midst of a triggering situation.
Yes. Wow. Zombie embers, old fires blazing anew. Every time I think I’ve explored all the metaphors there are for living through trauma, you lead me to another one, Jeannine. This one is so stark. Yet, perhaps oddly, I take comfort in the fact that we can’t trounce huge mechanical equipment across the ground of it, that solutions will be of a softer smarter variety… 🔥 💦
This one really really got me, too, but almost in a comforting way? Like, it's kind of empowering to know what's deeply alive in there, even if it can be destructive, I like trying to love all the parts of myself, and Z's self, and all ourselves, it's like, it calms the zombie embers, I think--the love does. But we can't love the embers if we pretend they're not there ....
Yes, so much this. Loving all the parts is soothing to the whole… then it’s like, okay, those fires can be destructive but they’re also hella sparkly… ✨💖✨
“working with our material in this way is an emotional journey for us as writers”, and as human beings… this is the real gift/ magic of writing. And your gift to us Jeannine
This was so wonderful, and so helpful. I just joined this week, and this was the first post I read - it was everything I was needing and more. Thank you thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
That's kind of amazing. The human body, the connection between emotion and physiological processes, and the way we can be connected to each other through language. It is actually a miracle.
This resonated with me because I wrote this past weekend about impregnating someone who wasn't of my religion in my early 20s, and included a hymnal that my late mom often sang during times of stress [Sweet Hour Of Prayer]. It was tied into the situation surrounding Duke basketball center/Utah Jazz draft pick Kyle Filipowski and his Christian parents' now-public complaints about his girlfriend who's seven years older and Mormon like my girlfriend was. Readers either loved the story or hated it; I received more emails pertaining to this story praising it and/or deriding it and so I lost several subscribers. That said, I still feel like I did the right thing by publishing it and showing people a different point of view, one that hasn't really been broached in the nat'l media.
Writing material that is "hot" can be polarizing. One of the elements of craft that I teach is how to write the hardest stories in ways that are safe for both writers and readers. I have not read your piece so I don't know anything and am not giving critique to you! Just saying that, because I write about many difficult topics, I have taken up the study of "writing hot cold" and am passionate about it. It is the only way I could ever have written my book. I am glad that in the end, you feel good about the story you wrote, Brian. Writing is not for the faint of heart!
A writer that I help asked me how I write the way I do after he read my latest book. I just told him that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong; that’s just me.
Re your post, I just felt that you made a great point about including music in your writing. A dear friend uses it often in his poetry but he’s been at his craft for four decades. I have three in the game [decades, that is] but I felt comfortable writing it in that way. I’m certainly open to criticism, either way.
Oh, yes, it seemed to me you were happy with the piece! My book is about a topic many people don't want to come near, which is something I knew as I wrote it. I think I let that burden stop me for a long time. And then, I didn't. But part of that for me was the learning how to tell it--I could not change the what! And art is often uncomfortable, I think. I used to teach a workshop called "Ugly, Beautiful."
( popping in to say I will miss you all this week— I am in Wyoming for a quick trip. But thinking of you all.💜)
Have the best best best travels and much love to youuuu!!!
Awwww- thank you- you know how much I am thinking of you! I so wish I could attach a picture of the Red Canyon we saw en route today/ the slants of gold catching the sun between cloud cover, the slant of a green ramp of grass cutting into the pale rock at the bottom. And the scale of things is dialed to 11. Now chilling with my boys and a glass of wine in a dive. And you are all here! My heart is full.
Happy travels Emily!
Thank you thank you!! So far so good! I feel grounded touching base with you lovelies.
There's so much here, as always! Trauma as zombie embers, wow. (and the existence of zombie embers, yikes) I'm inspired by the way you hold space for yourself in the midst of a triggering situation.
Thanks, friend ❤️
Yes. Wow. Zombie embers, old fires blazing anew. Every time I think I’ve explored all the metaphors there are for living through trauma, you lead me to another one, Jeannine. This one is so stark. Yet, perhaps oddly, I take comfort in the fact that we can’t trounce huge mechanical equipment across the ground of it, that solutions will be of a softer smarter variety… 🔥 💦
This one really really got me, too, but almost in a comforting way? Like, it's kind of empowering to know what's deeply alive in there, even if it can be destructive, I like trying to love all the parts of myself, and Z's self, and all ourselves, it's like, it calms the zombie embers, I think--the love does. But we can't love the embers if we pretend they're not there ....
Yes, so much this. Loving all the parts is soothing to the whole… then it’s like, okay, those fires can be destructive but they’re also hella sparkly… ✨💖✨
And I do love sparkly things, very much.
“working with our material in this way is an emotional journey for us as writers”, and as human beings… this is the real gift/ magic of writing. And your gift to us Jeannine
Oh my goodness, thank you so so much, Imola!
This was so wonderful, and so helpful. I just joined this week, and this was the first post I read - it was everything I was needing and more. Thank you thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
wow, that's really (really!) nice to hear Cici, and welcome!!
My eyes watered when I saw your tears fall. My mouth watered when I imagined putting the lemon in my mouth. Thanks Jeannine 🍋
That's kind of amazing. The human body, the connection between emotion and physiological processes, and the way we can be connected to each other through language. It is actually a miracle.
This resonated with me because I wrote this past weekend about impregnating someone who wasn't of my religion in my early 20s, and included a hymnal that my late mom often sang during times of stress [Sweet Hour Of Prayer]. It was tied into the situation surrounding Duke basketball center/Utah Jazz draft pick Kyle Filipowski and his Christian parents' now-public complaints about his girlfriend who's seven years older and Mormon like my girlfriend was. Readers either loved the story or hated it; I received more emails pertaining to this story praising it and/or deriding it and so I lost several subscribers. That said, I still feel like I did the right thing by publishing it and showing people a different point of view, one that hasn't really been broached in the nat'l media.
Writing material that is "hot" can be polarizing. One of the elements of craft that I teach is how to write the hardest stories in ways that are safe for both writers and readers. I have not read your piece so I don't know anything and am not giving critique to you! Just saying that, because I write about many difficult topics, I have taken up the study of "writing hot cold" and am passionate about it. It is the only way I could ever have written my book. I am glad that in the end, you feel good about the story you wrote, Brian. Writing is not for the faint of heart!
A writer that I help asked me how I write the way I do after he read my latest book. I just told him that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong; that’s just me.
Re your post, I just felt that you made a great point about including music in your writing. A dear friend uses it often in his poetry but he’s been at his craft for four decades. I have three in the game [decades, that is] but I felt comfortable writing it in that way. I’m certainly open to criticism, either way.
Oh, yes, it seemed to me you were happy with the piece! My book is about a topic many people don't want to come near, which is something I knew as I wrote it. I think I let that burden stop me for a long time. And then, I didn't. But part of that for me was the learning how to tell it--I could not change the what! And art is often uncomfortable, I think. I used to teach a workshop called "Ugly, Beautiful."