Here's the complicated answer + A growing directory of work published in lit journals, mags & anthologies by WITD writers + What's next at WITD (i.e., how to REALLY Write in the Dark)
I’ve earned my living as a writer since I graduated from college with an English degree at 22. But it has never been as the kind of writer I’ve wanted to be—a creative one. Instead, I was lucky enough to pay my bills and raise my kids on technical writing and marketing copy. And along the way, I paid great teachers such as Cheryl Strayed and Lidia Yuknavitch and Dorothy Allison to help me hone my creative craft. I wanted to teach writing, but I found out I am not a teacher. I am a learner. So, I am so grateful for the truly gifted teachers out there—including you—who help me see my words in a different way. I’ve been writing since I was a child, and I will write, I’m sure, on my deathbed. And I may or may not ever sell words that will help me retire, but I still have so many words within me to share. ❤️
Brava, Katrina! For the writing, for the bravery to try to teach, for the even deeper bravery to know it was not for you (it's not for everyone!!), and for the persistence to keep writing creatively with or without $$ attached. Sounds like our early years in writing were not dissimilar--not exactly what we wanted, but what we needed and were grateful to have. xoxo
“Creativity is our human birthright. Never forget that. And never let anyone make you feel small or not good enough for a place at the table of language as an art. This table is ours—all of ours.” You named what makes the experience here different than any other I have had writing. But at the same time, the joy feels like a much more propulsive engine than the syllabuses and assignments of angst in an MFA. ( like the ending of Monsters, Inc. ?! (for those who celebrate)And paradoxically it makes me want to work harder, like in your dream of The School. Maybe because the work I am revealing to myself and others here feels truer, weirder, and from the hidden voice of my heart. All that is to say- rock on! Sorry I can’t be there tomorrow but I am very much there in spirit- I can’t want to read what comes out of it. And I am already down for August. Thank goddess.
I just spent an afternoon--three adults and no kids--on go karts and at the batting cages, and that's what it felt like: "laughter lights up the whole power grid!"
That sounds amazing. And there’s more to it, of phrase. It is joy in the work, not harm. I did my share of crying in the last intensive but it was a release and discovery as the work flowed out—but tears were not the WAY IN to the work, pain was not the process and agony was not the raw product on the page.
Oh I love this Emily - tears were not the WAY IN to the work. Tears are my usual MO for getting in, too. But yesterday I started something from a place of… playfulness and… dare I say awe? And delight. Delight! The tears will come through, I know they will, but it feels good to start from a lighter place.
I love this for you, too! And yes- the tears come but they feel safer somehow? The remembering and the being in it is a head trip and hard, but having playfulness in the writing feels like the lightest armor. Happy happy for you!
You know, because of the lessons I am learning here, I made a bullet point list of observations—“shimmers and shards”—and captured some dialogue, because I could see a flash piece/short essay in the experience! So maybe you will someday 😊
Now THAT is what I am talking about. This is how attention practice and the shimmer/shards we collect from it start to fuel our writing, start to connect it to the world more intimately, start to make it more real, and, maybe best of all, start to make it ... happen. Can't wait for this one, Monica!
Jocelyn, you don't have to sign up for the August flash intensive! It will be available to all paid members, just like visceral self, etc. All you have to do is be subscribed and open the emails!! WITD: The School, that is a much bigger thing, a 9-month synchronous program based on close reading and structured writing exercises, it is tuition-based, on Zoom + a designated Substack section, and THAT you would sign up for, but we're not *quite* ready with the webpage yet. Coming July 8, so that's the one you want to watch for. It will go out to all paid members then.
I have a memoir writer group of 4 of us. One came from a course called Memoir Writing for Geniuses. Highly recommend. One came from a substack by George Saunders called Story time with George Saunders. One came from my Recovery Writers group. We post a piece monthly on Google and comment online. Then we meet to discuss. This is just to say that the people you meet here on writing in the dark may well turn out to be your next small writer group. These connections are invaluable.
I got the idea from Anne Helen Petersen's Culture Study classifieds. I want to get it rolling next month, it's not that hard. Thank you for the reminder and clear example of why this matters!
I read something on Substack the other day on this topic that bothered me–I was ready to go on the defensive!–so I am very happy to see/read this post. I am not a writer who aims to make a living writing. I have a day job that I love, and that affords me, at this point in my career, lots of autonomy and time for creative writing. I wrote something creative, for the first time since my twenties, when I was 45, and on a whim submitted it to a writing contest, and that experience just spurred me on for more. I set a creative goal for myself to get something (anything!) published by the time I was 50. I felt so alive–I was writing again, finally, and I’d also just had cancer successfully removed from my body!– and everything felt so possible! But, this newfound drive, plus the isolation of the writing process definitely put me here: “Because desire is fueled by what Jane Hirshfield calls “heat”—and, listen, anyone who’s ever felt heat can tell you this: it makes you vulnerable, it makes you hungry. Heat makes you willing to pay.” Much of what I’ve done–online writing classes and workshops–has not been helpful; one was even a huge setback. What I’ve learned about myself from these experiences, however, is that I am not just looking for a teacher (which I am), but also a community. I do not not have any writers in my personal milieu and that feels like a big gaping hole in my life, and I am trying to remedy that. I want fellow creatives to be nerds with and to bounce ideas off of, and maybe, if I’m lucky, to share our writing. I’ve been seeking this out for three years now and WITD is the first place I’ve truly felt hopeful about finding it. I feel like I am building something, both in the flash writing I’ve done via the writing exercises and in the community engagement with fellow writers. I do know a little bit about pedagogy–I teach Sociology, not writing–and I would absolutely second what Jill Swenson said about WITD as a space of true learning. I know the feeling I want my students to feel in my classrooms–I know what I want them to learn, of course, that’s the content expertise part, but it’s the feeling (about themselves, about the world) that so often gets passed over, but that is just as important–and I feel that in this space. I am very excited to learn more about WITD: The School! In gratitude.
Oh I love love love all of what you have said here. I am sure we saw the same thing btw and this is in response to that thing, but trying not to do it in a combative or obvious way because that is the LAST thing I need, haha. But I had to write about it. And I had to acknowledge the part that's true ... while also acknowledging the HUGE part that is not true for some of us, including me. I am so glad you are here and starting to find this community -- and, yes, School is going to be good. I'm super excited. I've really missed the synchronous workshop but needed to take the time to reimagine it in a way that is 1) sustainable post pandemic (I was teaching two nights a week through most of Covid!) and 2) in a way that can intersect with what we're building on Substack. It does not make sense to keep them entirely separate--too much waste, and I am a zero waste writer. So, anyway, yes, I am excited. More soon. Really a treasure to write with you.
While not everyone who is a writer earns an income, there is no guarantee that a writer who does earn money from the sale of their writing knows anything about being a teacher. You, Jeannine, are an educator as much as a writer. With creative writing classes it is too easy to focus on an instructor's fame instead of their talents as an educator who elicits the best writing from their students. Not everyone who is a writer is a teacher. Best wishes for this new 9 month extravaganza.
Jill, that's not just praise from you. It's something else. You know what you are saying, you have real knowledge of the "creative writing industrial complex," and this means a lot. Thank you.
Thank you for your honesty and inspiration Jeannine! And you are so right: writing for joy, writing together is good enough reason to write. Love this community and am so grateful to be part of it!
Love all of this, Jeannine! I grew up in the lyrical rhetoric of a conman minister, so my spidey senses have a particular inner alarm system for when *something* is compelling and resonant but also just OFF. But of course it took a long time for me to trust that gut instinct — to not just trust the sound and feeling of what someone says but to also trust what I observe. To trust the patterns that string together and sometimes add up to someone who may not quite be what they seem.
Your piece also reminded me of an Amish saying I learned long ago: "Speak from the ground you stand on." I love that kind of integrity, in friends, writers and teachers.
Over time, I've learned that even if someone is very experienced, knowledgable or educated, if they haven't been personally impacted by their work, I will struggle to connect with their guidance. I learn best from people like you who have been immersed on the path longer than me ... the insights just land differently. ☀️
Can writing be taught? I believe that imagination is a process that sometimes takes time to unfold. That said, craft can be taught, and it is through craft ideas that the imagination often takes flight. When I changed my direction in life from being a lawyer to creative writing in the year 2000 I took my first creative writing course and said at that time “I don’t have any stories to tell. “I believed that at the time. My creative writing piece was about Teresa of Avila, which now strikes me as the best I could do with what I knew at the time. Did my MFA make me a better writer? I can’t answer that question, but I can say that being in the company of other writers, and offering comments to help them fashion their writing into its full intent was both exciting and educational. today I facilitate groups of writers in recovery who respond to a prompt and then meet in breakout rooms on zoom of three people each to respond in a loving and affirmative way to their work, very similar to what Jeannine does here in writing in the dark. Am I “teaching “anything? They say that I am, even though I often feel as if I am simply holding a space for their work.
Sometimes holding a space is the most important part. I am really really glad you are here in WITD, Christine. You offer so much to so many. We're lucky.
There's so much to say here and so many beautiful heartfelt things have been said, that I'm going to keep it simple. I don't know if I can wait until July 8th to register for School. Jeannine is pre-registration available? Because here's the thing. I want to be ANYWHERE you are going to teach. You are that good and generous and safe and inviting; and this community is all of that too. And I am just ALL IN.
Hi, Jocelyn, we're not ready to take deposits because we have to build the webpage still, but I will put your name down, I promise--we can do this on a handshake. I am really glad you want to do it because we're really excited about it. I've missed the synchronous workshop a lot and this, I think, will be even better. Different, but deeper. I am glad I waited until the pieces formed a picture in my imagination!
Thank you for the sweet mention, Jeannine! I'm honored to have my name mentioned among such fabulous writers. And the list at the end of your piece is amazing! Can writing be taught? Well, it looks like you've answered that question. My take is that a student of writing learns when willing to open themselves up--when they are "teachable." You, Jeannine, find so many ways to enter the human heart and mind here in your substack, and people are responding. You show writers how to be teachable by providing multiple ways for knowledge to seep in. (And you do it in a very supportive way.) Very inspiring around here! Looking forward to the next intensive. xo
I agree Mary! "My take is that a student of writing learns when willing to open themselves up--when they are "teachable." You, Jeannine, find so many ways to enter the human heart and mind here in your substack, and people are responding. You show writers how to be teachable by providing multiple ways for knowledge to seep in." I feel like a sponge!!
"Not earning a living as a writer does not make you less of a writer" Thank you, I very much needed to hear this today ❤️ And thank you for this list! I can't wait to read everyone's incredible work!
I'm glad you heard it--make sure you really take it in. Capitalism is a lie when it comes to art (and maybe just a lie in general, that's a talk for another day). Really honored to write with you!
I find the free for all in teaching writing really interesting. In medicine, licensure really restricts who can teach medicine to people who are licensed, but just having the license has nothing to do with whether you area skilled teacher,so there are still some brilliant teachers and some duds. It's different too because for the most part once you are in medical school you will become a doctor so there's not that same opportunity to prey on someone's dreams. You can really feel the manipulation of this from some writing teachers and to be honest, before Visceral Self, I resisted signing up here because of fear of that (based on seeing how some other people sell their writing courses, not you). On the other hand, that free for all empowers people to be really innovative and create incredible things that regulation would stifle.
Yes, to all of this. Re medicine, as Jill said, just because someone can do something does not mean they can teach that thing. Teaching, too, is an art. But the predation is real. It really is a complicated answer--I wasn't kidding. This is why my posts will never go viral. I am too nuanced, haha. But it's for real. It's complicated. I just wanted to acknowledge that there are some really incredible writers out there teaching, like, really throwing their whole selves into it, and that's real, too.
For sure, I would like to be much better at teaching than I am, but it is really hard for me to unknown something once I know it, my brain sort of assumes that once I've learned something everyone else has too.
I once read that the best math teachers are those who struggled to learn math, because of this exact thing you are describing. I have an MFA, but I am largely a self-taught writer--I really had to work to name what I was doing on the page, and that is part of what makes me a good teacher. The other part is just this thing inside me that believes in people, like really believes in people. I don't know how it got hardwired in, but it is. My kids and former students would all universally agree. I will always think someone can do more than they think they can do, and I will very often be right.
That must be my problem, I'm too quick a study ;) but for real my mom was talked into being a math teacher because no one else would do it and she didn't want to because she was bad at math, but ended up being a phenomenal math teacher because of being able to spot where people get hung up.
I know that feeling! I teach at a community college and my primary task is to teach Introduction to Sociology, over and over again, and that was a true gift as far as developing my teaching skills. I always know that I am starting from scratch.
There's something so beautiful about starting from scratch. That's also why I make WITD open to all levels. There's so much more to be learned, too, when we don't forget where we start. Writing, especially, is conducive to this, as long as the person in the room makes it so.
Yeah, knowing that you are starting with a blank slate is actually super helpful. I had a student on his first day of his first rotation and that was super fun because everything I said was brilliant and interesting.
I´m a new subscriber. On day seven of writing out my "shimmers and shards" with a plan to work through the Lyric Essay in 12 Steps mini-program. This business of external attention is new to me, and not my usual way of writing, but I´m willing to give it a chance and see what emerges. I´m certainly learning something, now whether that something is how to write an easy? Stay tuned.
This post reminds me of something I´ve noticed reading Yelp restaurant reviews. Sometimes I read reviews of my favorite places, my go-tos where I consistently get great service and delicious meals. And ya know what, there´s always someone who had a bad experience there and took time to write about it. It´s bizarre! How could someone not like Lemongrass? Anyway, the takeaway for me is that if you´re in business there will be people out there with critical stuff to say. It just goes with the territory.
Hahaha I shall stay tuned. All through the essay challenge, Billie Oh and I were like, "What if anyone actually DID all of these steps? They would get the most incredible essay material" -- and when we did our reading, wow, did we ever hear some incredible work in progress. But, as I say, no guarantees. Art is weird. But attention? Exteriority? Well, that I know changes everything. I am glad you are here and will be interested in what you come up with in the essay challenge!
This is exactly where I was at a little over a month ago when I joined WITD: "This business of external attention is new to me, and not my usual way of writing, but I'm willing to give it a chance and see what emerges." I'm getting so much out of it!
So many moments of wisdom in this post. But I loved the image of ‘a table of language as an art’. I could imagine you hosting a dinner party. And I’d be there.
I have discovered writing in my mid 30s. Haven’t been paid for any of it, but have got so much joy from the process of writing and sharing my work, especially here on Substack. One day I dream of being paid for my creative writing, but I know it will be something small, and that’s okay. Writing has become a kind of life line for me and discovering this is the real gem.
This is beautiful, Kate, and that's exactly what was in my mind when I said that about the table. We have a huge family, and a giant dining room table. That's energy I feel when I think about the art of language, and doing it together. I am so glad you are here.
Hands up to you and Billie for your upcoming publications!🙌🙌 And for your insightful essay this mornings. I really appreciated your POV on writers having more than one voice. For the last three years, I have been writing my memoir with a voice and find that many of my WITD snippets are in a different voice. The latter is starting to influence the former(which I am happy about!) It will be interesting to see what emerges when I begin the revision process. Looking forward to continuing learning from you with tomorrow’s session and learning more about your four week flash session in August and The School in fall!!!
Oh, I can relate to this a LOT because I had to reconcile voices in my memoir (esp child vs adult) and also my novel just went through a major MC voice overhaul. Voice is magical and also challenging. It's endlessly pliable!
I’ve earned my living as a writer since I graduated from college with an English degree at 22. But it has never been as the kind of writer I’ve wanted to be—a creative one. Instead, I was lucky enough to pay my bills and raise my kids on technical writing and marketing copy. And along the way, I paid great teachers such as Cheryl Strayed and Lidia Yuknavitch and Dorothy Allison to help me hone my creative craft. I wanted to teach writing, but I found out I am not a teacher. I am a learner. So, I am so grateful for the truly gifted teachers out there—including you—who help me see my words in a different way. I’ve been writing since I was a child, and I will write, I’m sure, on my deathbed. And I may or may not ever sell words that will help me retire, but I still have so many words within me to share. ❤️
Brava, Katrina! For the writing, for the bravery to try to teach, for the even deeper bravery to know it was not for you (it's not for everyone!!), and for the persistence to keep writing creatively with or without $$ attached. Sounds like our early years in writing were not dissimilar--not exactly what we wanted, but what we needed and were grateful to have. xoxo
That's just beautiful, Katrina.
“Creativity is our human birthright. Never forget that. And never let anyone make you feel small or not good enough for a place at the table of language as an art. This table is ours—all of ours.” You named what makes the experience here different than any other I have had writing. But at the same time, the joy feels like a much more propulsive engine than the syllabuses and assignments of angst in an MFA. ( like the ending of Monsters, Inc. ?! (for those who celebrate)And paradoxically it makes me want to work harder, like in your dream of The School. Maybe because the work I am revealing to myself and others here feels truer, weirder, and from the hidden voice of my heart. All that is to say- rock on! Sorry I can’t be there tomorrow but I am very much there in spirit- I can’t want to read what comes out of it. And I am already down for August. Thank goddess.
August should be fast and fun! I am looking forward to it. And now I have to look up the ending of Monsters, Inc. It's been a long time... haha!
Can’t wait. And it is laughter is more powerful than screams! Laughter lights up the whole power grid!!
I just spent an afternoon--three adults and no kids--on go karts and at the batting cages, and that's what it felt like: "laughter lights up the whole power grid!"
That sounds amazing. And there’s more to it, of phrase. It is joy in the work, not harm. I did my share of crying in the last intensive but it was a release and discovery as the work flowed out—but tears were not the WAY IN to the work, pain was not the process and agony was not the raw product on the page.
Tears AND laughter, that's the ticket, I have found. Gotta be lots of room for both!
Oh I love this Emily - tears were not the WAY IN to the work. Tears are my usual MO for getting in, too. But yesterday I started something from a place of… playfulness and… dare I say awe? And delight. Delight! The tears will come through, I know they will, but it feels good to start from a lighter place.
I love this for you, too! And yes- the tears come but they feel safer somehow? The remembering and the being in it is a head trip and hard, but having playfulness in the writing feels like the lightest armor. Happy happy for you!
I love this for you, Monika!
Oooooo I’d love to read about this, Monica!
You know, because of the lessons I am learning here, I made a bullet point list of observations—“shimmers and shards”—and captured some dialogue, because I could see a flash piece/short essay in the experience! So maybe you will someday 😊
Now THAT is what I am talking about. This is how attention practice and the shimmer/shards we collect from it start to fuel our writing, start to connect it to the world more intimately, start to make it more real, and, maybe best of all, start to make it ... happen. Can't wait for this one, Monica!
“the joy feels like a much more propulsive engine” - I feel this too!
💕💜
What's happening in August? That's my big takeway from your post Emily 😂
Hahaha- the next writing challenge! Flash!
How did I not know about this? EEek. Do you know if we can still sign up?
Jocelyn, you don't have to sign up for the August flash intensive! It will be available to all paid members, just like visceral self, etc. All you have to do is be subscribed and open the emails!! WITD: The School, that is a much bigger thing, a 9-month synchronous program based on close reading and structured writing exercises, it is tuition-based, on Zoom + a designated Substack section, and THAT you would sign up for, but we're not *quite* ready with the webpage yet. Coming July 8, so that's the one you want to watch for. It will go out to all paid members then.
Thank you for explaining this. I'm just so excited I don't want to miss anything! ❤️🙏
You won't, I promise!
Hey! First mention was today in this post at the top. Plenty of time and more details coming soon.
Okay! Thank you! ❤️
“Maybe because the work I am revealing to myself and others here feels truer, weirder, and from the hidden voice of my heart.” I feel this Emily!
💜💜 the last intensive really was transformative, wasn’t it?
It sure was!!
I have a memoir writer group of 4 of us. One came from a course called Memoir Writing for Geniuses. Highly recommend. One came from a substack by George Saunders called Story time with George Saunders. One came from my Recovery Writers group. We post a piece monthly on Google and comment online. Then we meet to discuss. This is just to say that the people you meet here on writing in the dark may well turn out to be your next small writer group. These connections are invaluable.
Yes! Actually we're going to start a classifieds for that. Stay tuned!
That gives me even more hope! ;)
Agreed :)
Great minds!!!
I got the idea from Anne Helen Petersen's Culture Study classifieds. I want to get it rolling next month, it's not that hard. Thank you for the reminder and clear example of why this matters!
Yay! Classifieds! I’m in!!
Yay!
Yay!!!
That gives me hope!
I read something on Substack the other day on this topic that bothered me–I was ready to go on the defensive!–so I am very happy to see/read this post. I am not a writer who aims to make a living writing. I have a day job that I love, and that affords me, at this point in my career, lots of autonomy and time for creative writing. I wrote something creative, for the first time since my twenties, when I was 45, and on a whim submitted it to a writing contest, and that experience just spurred me on for more. I set a creative goal for myself to get something (anything!) published by the time I was 50. I felt so alive–I was writing again, finally, and I’d also just had cancer successfully removed from my body!– and everything felt so possible! But, this newfound drive, plus the isolation of the writing process definitely put me here: “Because desire is fueled by what Jane Hirshfield calls “heat”—and, listen, anyone who’s ever felt heat can tell you this: it makes you vulnerable, it makes you hungry. Heat makes you willing to pay.” Much of what I’ve done–online writing classes and workshops–has not been helpful; one was even a huge setback. What I’ve learned about myself from these experiences, however, is that I am not just looking for a teacher (which I am), but also a community. I do not not have any writers in my personal milieu and that feels like a big gaping hole in my life, and I am trying to remedy that. I want fellow creatives to be nerds with and to bounce ideas off of, and maybe, if I’m lucky, to share our writing. I’ve been seeking this out for three years now and WITD is the first place I’ve truly felt hopeful about finding it. I feel like I am building something, both in the flash writing I’ve done via the writing exercises and in the community engagement with fellow writers. I do know a little bit about pedagogy–I teach Sociology, not writing–and I would absolutely second what Jill Swenson said about WITD as a space of true learning. I know the feeling I want my students to feel in my classrooms–I know what I want them to learn, of course, that’s the content expertise part, but it’s the feeling (about themselves, about the world) that so often gets passed over, but that is just as important–and I feel that in this space. I am very excited to learn more about WITD: The School! In gratitude.
Oh I love love love all of what you have said here. I am sure we saw the same thing btw and this is in response to that thing, but trying not to do it in a combative or obvious way because that is the LAST thing I need, haha. But I had to write about it. And I had to acknowledge the part that's true ... while also acknowledging the HUGE part that is not true for some of us, including me. I am so glad you are here and starting to find this community -- and, yes, School is going to be good. I'm super excited. I've really missed the synchronous workshop but needed to take the time to reimagine it in a way that is 1) sustainable post pandemic (I was teaching two nights a week through most of Covid!) and 2) in a way that can intersect with what we're building on Substack. It does not make sense to keep them entirely separate--too much waste, and I am a zero waste writer. So, anyway, yes, I am excited. More soon. Really a treasure to write with you.
Three cheers for aboutness!
Glad to hear it. Some people might think it's unsexy, but ... editors do not. It really helps us as writers to try to know what our work is about!
Agreed!
What Monica said. So much.
While not everyone who is a writer earns an income, there is no guarantee that a writer who does earn money from the sale of their writing knows anything about being a teacher. You, Jeannine, are an educator as much as a writer. With creative writing classes it is too easy to focus on an instructor's fame instead of their talents as an educator who elicits the best writing from their students. Not everyone who is a writer is a teacher. Best wishes for this new 9 month extravaganza.
Jill, that's not just praise from you. It's something else. You know what you are saying, you have real knowledge of the "creative writing industrial complex," and this means a lot. Thank you.
Thank you for your honesty and inspiration Jeannine! And you are so right: writing for joy, writing together is good enough reason to write. Love this community and am so grateful to be part of it!
We are lucky to have you, Imola xoxoxo
Love all of this, Jeannine! I grew up in the lyrical rhetoric of a conman minister, so my spidey senses have a particular inner alarm system for when *something* is compelling and resonant but also just OFF. But of course it took a long time for me to trust that gut instinct — to not just trust the sound and feeling of what someone says but to also trust what I observe. To trust the patterns that string together and sometimes add up to someone who may not quite be what they seem.
Your piece also reminded me of an Amish saying I learned long ago: "Speak from the ground you stand on." I love that kind of integrity, in friends, writers and teachers.
Over time, I've learned that even if someone is very experienced, knowledgable or educated, if they haven't been personally impacted by their work, I will struggle to connect with their guidance. I learn best from people like you who have been immersed on the path longer than me ... the insights just land differently. ☀️
"Speak from the ground you stand on" -- that's beautiful. Thank you, Amanda!
Also, Amanda: "the lyrical rhetoric of a conman minister" !!!!
Can writing be taught? I believe that imagination is a process that sometimes takes time to unfold. That said, craft can be taught, and it is through craft ideas that the imagination often takes flight. When I changed my direction in life from being a lawyer to creative writing in the year 2000 I took my first creative writing course and said at that time “I don’t have any stories to tell. “I believed that at the time. My creative writing piece was about Teresa of Avila, which now strikes me as the best I could do with what I knew at the time. Did my MFA make me a better writer? I can’t answer that question, but I can say that being in the company of other writers, and offering comments to help them fashion their writing into its full intent was both exciting and educational. today I facilitate groups of writers in recovery who respond to a prompt and then meet in breakout rooms on zoom of three people each to respond in a loving and affirmative way to their work, very similar to what Jeannine does here in writing in the dark. Am I “teaching “anything? They say that I am, even though I often feel as if I am simply holding a space for their work.
Sometimes holding a space is the most important part. I am really really glad you are here in WITD, Christine. You offer so much to so many. We're lucky.
There's so much to say here and so many beautiful heartfelt things have been said, that I'm going to keep it simple. I don't know if I can wait until July 8th to register for School. Jeannine is pre-registration available? Because here's the thing. I want to be ANYWHERE you are going to teach. You are that good and generous and safe and inviting; and this community is all of that too. And I am just ALL IN.
Hi, Jocelyn, we're not ready to take deposits because we have to build the webpage still, but I will put your name down, I promise--we can do this on a handshake. I am really glad you want to do it because we're really excited about it. I've missed the synchronous workshop a lot and this, I think, will be even better. Different, but deeper. I am glad I waited until the pieces formed a picture in my imagination!
Thank you for the sweet mention, Jeannine! I'm honored to have my name mentioned among such fabulous writers. And the list at the end of your piece is amazing! Can writing be taught? Well, it looks like you've answered that question. My take is that a student of writing learns when willing to open themselves up--when they are "teachable." You, Jeannine, find so many ways to enter the human heart and mind here in your substack, and people are responding. You show writers how to be teachable by providing multiple ways for knowledge to seep in. (And you do it in a very supportive way.) Very inspiring around here! Looking forward to the next intensive. xo
I love what you're doing and what you stand for, and your writing, too. So, thank you for this, mary g. You're the real deal of a human.
I agree Mary! "My take is that a student of writing learns when willing to open themselves up--when they are "teachable." You, Jeannine, find so many ways to enter the human heart and mind here in your substack, and people are responding. You show writers how to be teachable by providing multiple ways for knowledge to seep in." I feel like a sponge!!
Your ideas about defining one’s own writing life — and your personal example— have helped me so much with imposter syndrome.
Best news I've heard all day. Keep that up! Yay!
"Not earning a living as a writer does not make you less of a writer" Thank you, I very much needed to hear this today ❤️ And thank you for this list! I can't wait to read everyone's incredible work!
I'm glad you heard it--make sure you really take it in. Capitalism is a lie when it comes to art (and maybe just a lie in general, that's a talk for another day). Really honored to write with you!
I find the free for all in teaching writing really interesting. In medicine, licensure really restricts who can teach medicine to people who are licensed, but just having the license has nothing to do with whether you area skilled teacher,so there are still some brilliant teachers and some duds. It's different too because for the most part once you are in medical school you will become a doctor so there's not that same opportunity to prey on someone's dreams. You can really feel the manipulation of this from some writing teachers and to be honest, before Visceral Self, I resisted signing up here because of fear of that (based on seeing how some other people sell their writing courses, not you). On the other hand, that free for all empowers people to be really innovative and create incredible things that regulation would stifle.
Yes, to all of this. Re medicine, as Jill said, just because someone can do something does not mean they can teach that thing. Teaching, too, is an art. But the predation is real. It really is a complicated answer--I wasn't kidding. This is why my posts will never go viral. I am too nuanced, haha. But it's for real. It's complicated. I just wanted to acknowledge that there are some really incredible writers out there teaching, like, really throwing their whole selves into it, and that's real, too.
For sure, I would like to be much better at teaching than I am, but it is really hard for me to unknown something once I know it, my brain sort of assumes that once I've learned something everyone else has too.
I once read that the best math teachers are those who struggled to learn math, because of this exact thing you are describing. I have an MFA, but I am largely a self-taught writer--I really had to work to name what I was doing on the page, and that is part of what makes me a good teacher. The other part is just this thing inside me that believes in people, like really believes in people. I don't know how it got hardwired in, but it is. My kids and former students would all universally agree. I will always think someone can do more than they think they can do, and I will very often be right.
This: “The other part is just this thing inside me that believes in people, like really believes in people.”
That must be my problem, I'm too quick a study ;) but for real my mom was talked into being a math teacher because no one else would do it and she didn't want to because she was bad at math, but ended up being a phenomenal math teacher because of being able to spot where people get hung up.
I know that feeling! I teach at a community college and my primary task is to teach Introduction to Sociology, over and over again, and that was a true gift as far as developing my teaching skills. I always know that I am starting from scratch.
There's something so beautiful about starting from scratch. That's also why I make WITD open to all levels. There's so much more to be learned, too, when we don't forget where we start. Writing, especially, is conducive to this, as long as the person in the room makes it so.
“Beginner’s mind”
Yeah, knowing that you are starting with a blank slate is actually super helpful. I had a student on his first day of his first rotation and that was super fun because everything I said was brilliant and interesting.
Ha!
I´m a new subscriber. On day seven of writing out my "shimmers and shards" with a plan to work through the Lyric Essay in 12 Steps mini-program. This business of external attention is new to me, and not my usual way of writing, but I´m willing to give it a chance and see what emerges. I´m certainly learning something, now whether that something is how to write an easy? Stay tuned.
This post reminds me of something I´ve noticed reading Yelp restaurant reviews. Sometimes I read reviews of my favorite places, my go-tos where I consistently get great service and delicious meals. And ya know what, there´s always someone who had a bad experience there and took time to write about it. It´s bizarre! How could someone not like Lemongrass? Anyway, the takeaway for me is that if you´re in business there will be people out there with critical stuff to say. It just goes with the territory.
Hahaha I shall stay tuned. All through the essay challenge, Billie Oh and I were like, "What if anyone actually DID all of these steps? They would get the most incredible essay material" -- and when we did our reading, wow, did we ever hear some incredible work in progress. But, as I say, no guarantees. Art is weird. But attention? Exteriority? Well, that I know changes everything. I am glad you are here and will be interested in what you come up with in the essay challenge!
This is exactly where I was at a little over a month ago when I joined WITD: "This business of external attention is new to me, and not my usual way of writing, but I'm willing to give it a chance and see what emerges." I'm getting so much out of it!
So many moments of wisdom in this post. But I loved the image of ‘a table of language as an art’. I could imagine you hosting a dinner party. And I’d be there.
I have discovered writing in my mid 30s. Haven’t been paid for any of it, but have got so much joy from the process of writing and sharing my work, especially here on Substack. One day I dream of being paid for my creative writing, but I know it will be something small, and that’s okay. Writing has become a kind of life line for me and discovering this is the real gem.
This is beautiful, Kate, and that's exactly what was in my mind when I said that about the table. We have a huge family, and a giant dining room table. That's energy I feel when I think about the art of language, and doing it together. I am so glad you are here.
Hands up to you and Billie for your upcoming publications!🙌🙌 And for your insightful essay this mornings. I really appreciated your POV on writers having more than one voice. For the last three years, I have been writing my memoir with a voice and find that many of my WITD snippets are in a different voice. The latter is starting to influence the former(which I am happy about!) It will be interesting to see what emerges when I begin the revision process. Looking forward to continuing learning from you with tomorrow’s session and learning more about your four week flash session in August and The School in fall!!!
Oh, I can relate to this a LOT because I had to reconcile voices in my memoir (esp child vs adult) and also my novel just went through a major MC voice overhaul. Voice is magical and also challenging. It's endlessly pliable!