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)
Thank you for this post Jeannine. I'm new to your community and I look forward to participating in one of your writing retreats. While I've been paid for writing and I've written for free, it's the writing life that is most important to me. Writing is my doorway into the examined life and helps me to make sense of the world. My love of words is the sacrament of language, communication and the poetry that births in my heart.
I too have taught in prisons, and also in half-way houses and senior centers. I've had a few good writing teachers along the way, though I believe you're correct -- you can't really teach writing, though you can teach form, structure and the art of creative play. That last bit is what draws me to your work. Though I've been reading you for short while, albeit a little bit intimidated, this is my first comment on your Stack. Approaching writing with some humility and an open heart is a good thing, I believe. May your day be sweet. All good wishes and goodwill. Write on . . .
Thank you for all of this, Stephanie, and for your service in prisons and halfway houses and senior centers. I do think writing can be taught, I have seen it. But it requires an openness on the part of the one learning--an openness to writing in ways they have not already memorized. So, that is why I always start with teaching attention, play, etc. Otherwise we are interminably stuck in saying the same thing in the same way, while telling ourselves we're not. Ah, humans are so complicated! I am glad you are here.
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.
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!
Second, this was a great come-to-Jesus essay. The hard truth of not only being a writer but any kind of artist. I remember when I was a theatre major at NYU in the 80s, one of my teachers said to our class of 25–“…maybe one or two of you will be working actors. That’s it.” He was spot on.
Right--there's such a big difference between practicing an art and earning a living from that art. They don't have to be the same thing. Thanks for this, CK!!
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!!
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!
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. ☀️
"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!
Maybe it’s not so much being taught to write, but being supported through one’s journey of awakening to writing?
I think about these ideas often. I very much write for myself first and foremost. Writing helps me make sense of myself, my life and the world around me. It’s hard to see myself making a living wage off of it, but never say never. For now, I’m happy to make life come alive through my writing.
I was just thinking about productivity as a writer and what it means (to be productive as a writer). I was comparing 2023, where I finished five pieces and published two, to 2024, where I’ve finished nothing aside from a few substack posts. I initially felt rather down on my myself, but then I thought about shimmers/shards and how ideas are coming alive everywhere. The page seems more full of possibility than ever before, despite this year not being as productive in a metrics sort of way.
I look forward to tomorrow evening to the August intensive (I’m a big fan of hermit crab essays). Hugs to all ❤️
Yay yay yay for August, and for shimmer/shards, for gestation, for things taking the time they take, and for showing up for ourselves and for art and not for metrics. Courtney Maum wrote really beautifully about this today (writing in the "delicious dark" of not watching metrics). I mean, do I watch metrics? Yes, some of them, I do. But am I controlled or defined by them? Hard no. The art is why I am here (not just here on Substack, but ... *here*), and the art is why I show up. So glad to write with you.
I will have to look up Courtney Maum, the "delicious dark" sounds.... delicious!
I also wanted to share that instead of working on a new essay I've been planning, I decided to write about some shimmers and shards from this morning instead, because that's what felt right! Very glad I did!
Loved this Jeannine. “and for shimmer/shards, for gestation, for things taking the time they take, and for showing up for ourselves and for art and not for metrics.” Thank you! I had a metric of writing X words a day and realized that was doing more harm than good to my creativity. I’m learning to be in the stew of things, simmering and bubbling.
I’ve been reading some excellent books/essays (Tricia Hersey as one example) about rest & creativity & productivity in the context of capitalism. It really messes us up, thinking we must be producing some tangible and marketable object. We do it in school, too, thinking that daydreaming is antithetical to learning, when it’s so necessary! Cheers to the possibilities of your pages.
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!
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.
I’m motivated to get on the list! Up and writing - playfully, joyously - this morning before work. And yes to progress over perfection. I learn so much from watching you and Billie Oh grow and evolve WITD. xoxo
You 100% will. It's not that hard! It's hard, but definitely NOT that hard! I hope you join school. Billie Hinton, who has the most subs on the list, just said over on Notes that her Submittable is EMPTY since the live synchronous WITD ended, so that says a lot. She was the most prolific submitter of us all. School is going to help with submitting, I know.
Right? Because we are literally making messes in real time, right in front of everyone's eyes. I don't say that in a self-effacing way, it's just the truth. Keepin' it real. Billie is working on their HuffPo revisions this morning. Mastering the HuffPo voice (NOT literary) is a real adventure in and of itself. As for the list, oh, you'll be on it. The work is so diverse, too, and, yes, so playful, so strange, some straightforward, but most not, a testament to the slant, to the five degrees, I feel like you can really see the WITD DNA in the arc of these works!
I aspire to making the same beautiful “messes” on stage with my substack soon. Getting close! Your role modeling helps. As does your encouragement with submitting - thank you! Also aiming to submit to WITD someday. July 8 is circled on my calendar to learn how I can get schooled. 🍎
The publication list is brilliant. I’d love to see a few rungs of the WITD DNA spiral ladder beside each article in the index 🧬 Someday, when there’s time. I bet you and Billi have thought of that already. No rush, no pressure! 💞
Can’t wait to read both of your forthcoming essays. Honestly, how do you do it all…
Oh sorry, got too fancy with building on the DNA metaphor there. I should just say the shimmer 😂 I meant something similar to your WITD submissions where writers name, or you can identify, the WITD exercise(s) or craft technique(s) that inspired or are woven into the DNA. The chemical bases that make the rungs if the DNA helix, as it were.
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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 love this.
Thanks, Tiffany xo
Thank you for this post Jeannine. I'm new to your community and I look forward to participating in one of your writing retreats. While I've been paid for writing and I've written for free, it's the writing life that is most important to me. Writing is my doorway into the examined life and helps me to make sense of the world. My love of words is the sacrament of language, communication and the poetry that births in my heart.
I too have taught in prisons, and also in half-way houses and senior centers. I've had a few good writing teachers along the way, though I believe you're correct -- you can't really teach writing, though you can teach form, structure and the art of creative play. That last bit is what draws me to your work. Though I've been reading you for short while, albeit a little bit intimidated, this is my first comment on your Stack. Approaching writing with some humility and an open heart is a good thing, I believe. May your day be sweet. All good wishes and goodwill. Write on . . .
Thank you for all of this, Stephanie, and for your service in prisons and halfway houses and senior centers. I do think writing can be taught, I have seen it. But it requires an openness on the part of the one learning--an openness to writing in ways they have not already memorized. So, that is why I always start with teaching attention, play, etc. Otherwise we are interminably stuck in saying the same thing in the same way, while telling ourselves we're not. Ah, humans are so complicated! I am glad you are here.
Thank you for welcoming me in.
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.
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!
First, congrats to Billie Oh!
Second, this was a great come-to-Jesus essay. The hard truth of not only being a writer but any kind of artist. I remember when I was a theatre major at NYU in the 80s, one of my teachers said to our class of 25–“…maybe one or two of you will be working actors. That’s it.” He was spot on.
Right--there's such a big difference between practicing an art and earning a living from that art. They don't have to be the same thing. Thanks for this, CK!!
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!!
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.
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!
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" !!!!
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!
Maybe it’s not so much being taught to write, but being supported through one’s journey of awakening to writing?
I think about these ideas often. I very much write for myself first and foremost. Writing helps me make sense of myself, my life and the world around me. It’s hard to see myself making a living wage off of it, but never say never. For now, I’m happy to make life come alive through my writing.
I was just thinking about productivity as a writer and what it means (to be productive as a writer). I was comparing 2023, where I finished five pieces and published two, to 2024, where I’ve finished nothing aside from a few substack posts. I initially felt rather down on my myself, but then I thought about shimmers/shards and how ideas are coming alive everywhere. The page seems more full of possibility than ever before, despite this year not being as productive in a metrics sort of way.
I look forward to tomorrow evening to the August intensive (I’m a big fan of hermit crab essays). Hugs to all ❤️
Yay yay yay for August, and for shimmer/shards, for gestation, for things taking the time they take, and for showing up for ourselves and for art and not for metrics. Courtney Maum wrote really beautifully about this today (writing in the "delicious dark" of not watching metrics). I mean, do I watch metrics? Yes, some of them, I do. But am I controlled or defined by them? Hard no. The art is why I am here (not just here on Substack, but ... *here*), and the art is why I show up. So glad to write with you.
I will have to look up Courtney Maum, the "delicious dark" sounds.... delicious!
I also wanted to share that instead of working on a new essay I've been planning, I decided to write about some shimmers and shards from this morning instead, because that's what felt right! Very glad I did!
Loved this Jeannine. “and for shimmer/shards, for gestation, for things taking the time they take, and for showing up for ourselves and for art and not for metrics.” Thank you! I had a metric of writing X words a day and realized that was doing more harm than good to my creativity. I’m learning to be in the stew of things, simmering and bubbling.
I’ve been reading some excellent books/essays (Tricia Hersey as one example) about rest & creativity & productivity in the context of capitalism. It really messes us up, thinking we must be producing some tangible and marketable object. We do it in school, too, thinking that daydreaming is antithetical to learning, when it’s so necessary! Cheers to the possibilities of your pages.
I love Tricia Hersey so much.
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.
That gives me hope!
Yes! Actually we're going to start a classifieds for that. Stay tuned!
Yay! Classifieds! I’m in!!
Yay!
That gives me even more hope! ;)
Agreed :)
Yay!!!
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!
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.
Schooooooool! August! This incredible list!
School! Yes! And the list, it's so incomplete, but at least we've started it now, so we have a net for what's to come!
I’m motivated to get on the list! Up and writing - playfully, joyously - this morning before work. And yes to progress over perfection. I learn so much from watching you and Billie Oh grow and evolve WITD. xoxo
I share that motivation—to read my way through the list and to someday be on it!
You 100% will. It's not that hard! It's hard, but definitely NOT that hard! I hope you join school. Billie Hinton, who has the most subs on the list, just said over on Notes that her Submittable is EMPTY since the live synchronous WITD ended, so that says a lot. She was the most prolific submitter of us all. School is going to help with submitting, I know.
I definitely want to join “the school!”
Right? Because we are literally making messes in real time, right in front of everyone's eyes. I don't say that in a self-effacing way, it's just the truth. Keepin' it real. Billie is working on their HuffPo revisions this morning. Mastering the HuffPo voice (NOT literary) is a real adventure in and of itself. As for the list, oh, you'll be on it. The work is so diverse, too, and, yes, so playful, so strange, some straightforward, but most not, a testament to the slant, to the five degrees, I feel like you can really see the WITD DNA in the arc of these works!
I aspire to making the same beautiful “messes” on stage with my substack soon. Getting close! Your role modeling helps. As does your encouragement with submitting - thank you! Also aiming to submit to WITD someday. July 8 is circled on my calendar to learn how I can get schooled. 🍎
The publication list is brilliant. I’d love to see a few rungs of the WITD DNA spiral ladder beside each article in the index 🧬 Someday, when there’s time. I bet you and Billi have thought of that already. No rush, no pressure! 💞
Can’t wait to read both of your forthcoming essays. Honestly, how do you do it all…
Monika, can you explain what you mean by the rungs on the DNA spiral? Do you mean, see some of the iterative drafts prior to publication?
Oh sorry, got too fancy with building on the DNA metaphor there. I should just say the shimmer 😂 I meant something similar to your WITD submissions where writers name, or you can identify, the WITD exercise(s) or craft technique(s) that inspired or are woven into the DNA. The chemical bases that make the rungs if the DNA helix, as it were.
“DNA is a molecule made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). For the two strands of DNA to zip together, A pairs with T, and C pairs with G. Each pair comprises a rung in the spiral DNA ladder. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/doubling-building-blocks-dna#:~:text=DNA%20is%20a%20molecule%20made,in%20the%20spiral%20DNA%20ladder.
So maybe something like “title, publication, author - examples of shimmers & shards, five degrees, etc.”
If it’s not too much work, and only if it feels like a YES in your hearts.
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
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 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.
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!
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”
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.
This: “The other part is just this thing inside me that believes in people, like really believes in people.”