I don't know why, but this line from Ann Patchett brought me to tears: " I can’t write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing. Again and again throughout the course of my life I will forgive myself."
I'm feeling overly sensitive today. A bad night sleep and a comment from an editor of a magazine where my short story is about to be published got me into a big philosophical debate with myself. I actually enjoy the editing process and working with editors, but this particular suggestion didn't sit well with me. It made me sad. I'm still processing this, but I am encouraged by this line: "Curiosity and playfulness can keep us happily struggling." Oh, how true I find this to be. Thank you for the reminder Jeannine.
Thank you for your creative heart, your trust, and your words, Imola. Also, your heart. I look forward to reading your story when it comes into the world. xoxo
Taught the Suzuki method, I started playing violin in second grade, but when I transitioned from middle to high school, no amount of practicing could help me read sheet music, conquer scales, or master vibrato. Worse yet, I could not approach the acquisition of these skills with playfulness; my notes were sour, my timing and rhythm were way out of whack, and my vibrato was whiny.
(Even my cats would flee from listening to me.)
Although I enlisted my music teacher to run off mimeographed purple time charts and I rewarded myself with foil stars daily for every hour I practiced these musical techniques, by summer's end, I could no longer tolerate my inability to replicate the mournful melancholic sounds of vibrato that eluded me. Self-forgiveness and persistence proved the hardest qualities to cultivate, so when I crashed into that insurmountable vibrato wall, I gave up the violin completely.
I'd rather learn to make my words warble with the vibrato of yearning.
"make words warble with the vibrato of yearning" -- how beautiful. I am sorry you crashed into that insurmountable wall, but I am glad you have words and are here to share them.
"But what if studying and practicing creative writing makes you less certain about your writing?
What if the writing advice you encounter is often confusing and contradictory, and every time you try to apply someone else’s ideas about about the craft of writing to your own work, you feel less confident instead of more?
Then you’re doing it right.
Creative friction is how we grow."
I will tuck that away for days when I doubt myself and my ability. I pretty much go through some level of doubt on a daily basis--about my creative work, whether I am "good enough" as a writer to get published mainstream, that is.
What I've discovered is that, the deeper I delve into shaping and sharpening my voice as a writer, the less confident I feel about what I create. But what also helps is knowing I can fail every day. I give myself permission to have days and weeks and even, on occasion, entire seasons where I write garbage and drivel, and it's all okay.
I think what you shared here clarifies the difference between writing as an act and writing as an art. We don't have to perform as artists every day, but practicing through the rough drafts and tenth revision is helpful. And necessary if we are to be writers in the sense of making it a profession.
Yes to all of this. The permission to write badly, oh, how I wish all "serious" writers would grant themselves this gift! We can't break through our own barriers without it. And then the perseverance, the ability to keep going, to wrestle through those drafts and tenth revisions, and remain joyful even in the impossibility of it. That's the art of writing. xo
I really think that your exercises have brought back to me a love of writing that left me when I tried to get an MFA many years ago. Those workshops were complete agony for me. But now every day I pick an exercise and start to think, maybe I can write something? Just a little something, it doesn’t have to be good. I took up painting and drawing because there is always something to learn and expand to but it was okay with me if it was bad. I really had forgotten how to do that with writing, it’s always had this other place in my mind. This is a real life changer here 🧡 thank you.
Hannah, this is a beautiful comment and I am so glad and grateful you shared it with me. This is truly why I do what I do here. I experienced this years ago when I met Paul Matthews. I had not been in an MFA program yet, but, after 20 years of successful journalism and technical writing, I had forgotten how to love writing, I had forgotten what it feels like to be like a kid on a two-wheeler, a little out of control and knowing I would likely fall, and, yes, afraid of the landing, but also filled with too much delight and possibility to ever want to stop. That's what I wanted, and still want, to share with others, while also acknowledging the genuine power of craft, and the study of craft, which undergirds writing as an art, but which cannot be accessed fully unless we are safe enough to be free. Thank you.
You break my heart open in the best way saying this. That’s exactly it. I never entirely gave up writing but I definitely didn’t love it like I once did, and I really couldn’t figure out how to get back there by myself. My husband used to write plays and man he would be just savage in his own editing, it would shock me sometimes. But it was joyful, he really enjoyed it. I always watched him with such admiration and thinking, I want to be where he is with craft. To embrace the delight in language. To edit without devastation and fear of the imperfections. And so I am happy there is a place to learn the ‘how’ of it and I am glad my road has met up with yours.
I loved this essay, Jeannine, and wholeheartedly agree. I have been studying the craft of writing for over 40 years now and I will never stop because there is always more to learn. It excites me, humbles me, inspires me, to keep learning, to gratefully embrace instruction, especially yours. Thanks for sharing the Ann Patchett essay which I will read in full: "Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art you must master the craft." Appreciated this so much!
Resonant. The internet is filled with all kinds of shortcuts and hacks but it really takes the muscle memory of experimenting, abandoning, embracing, pivoting, giving up, getting back up again, over and over and over again to encounter the true sound of your own voice. And it never ends!!!! How exciting!!!
I am taking away so much wisdom from this post & the comments that follow.
I especially want to highlight how much I needed to be Reminded of: PLAY, of CREATIVE FRICTION, & of FORGIVENESS.✨
My how these concepts apply to life too! I need more Play. I need more Self-Forgiveness.
I think we all do in these times of uncertainty, and well, it occurs to me that my ‘default mode network’ when under stress is not congruent with play.
I must remember I Need it. Schedule it if necessary.
Because Yes! Play is just the thing to bring about the magic mix of: imagination, exploration, ease, & a sprinkling of excitement.
And I forget this! 🤦♀️
I think now of how breathless my nephew becomes in his bursting belly laughs when wrestling around/playing with my husband & our golden retriever;
how this requires a delicate balance of freedom & trust. There is relaxation, rather than tension. There is trust.
If someone takes it too far, if even my dog thinks things are getting too heated, he will give a frazzled bark. Tension has entered, safety is in question. Fun over.
Applying this to writing, I can see where when I set out in a mode that is “Too serious,” I viscerally Feel Too Tense to “Play;” to be curious, to create, to be in a state of ease, a state that would allow for use of my imagination, of wonder brain, or a fun exploration of how I might apply creative use of craft techniques. I’m pretty sure I start to clench & not breathe fully.🙃
It feels frustrating. And not always the sort that friction that leads to creative growth.
(What I’m musing on as ‘That perfect balance between ‘effort’ & ‘ease’ that allows one to persist.’ And I’m thinking too of yoga & how the difference between tension and engagement is breath.)
So I think I’ve had some new insight today~🤯one of those moments where you encounter something again in a new way, and it’s like you’ve been given the secret decoder ring, & Ahhh, now I see!
It struck me in reading this, that along with these elements (of Play, creative friction & forgiveness) which feel like ancient secret ingredients,
there is also the backdrop of Our “Expectations”~which you humorously, yet accurately pointed to in your list of: pull a tooth- you’re a dentist; fix a leaky pipe & you’re a plumber😂 etc.
Like Wow!! Am I expecting myself to be a ‘surgeon’ because I’ve removed a splinter? Am I comparing myself to a member of the Amadeus Quartet after 3 violin lessons? Yikes! I’m afraid so!🤦♀️😂
So there is a self-cruelty in ignoring this truth that I think I have ignored; or rather, simply didn’t see so plainly.
And yes, I actually Do want to call myself a writer simply because I write, (for reasons that speak to identity & inspiration) but in my heart of hearts,
I will Not wear that title (for me) until I feel I’ve earned it.
And not by the merit of mass appeal, or publication; but through my own study & rigorous application of craft.
I will feel as though I have earned the title of ‘writer’ when I create something *on purpose* and am satisfied, perhaps even fulfilled after having done so.
I am aspiring to Feel changed in the making, and by the “having made.” And of course, wouldn’t I love to bring forth something special in a reader too? Surely I would.
I see, as you said here, that this will be a life-long endeavor.
Thank You for all of your wisdom, your heart, & your words. Letter by letter I am learning to write.
My dear Colleen, you are so right that not all frustration is productive, and you are wise to discern for yourself the difference. And ... you do not need to earn the title of writer, it comes from doing the work with sincerity. That is all. It is a verb, it is a process, it is a becoming, it is not an end point. That much, I can promise you.
I love this. First the craft then the art. I have a looooong way to go and yet I have found this to be true. When you ask us to imitate the cadence and structure of another writer, for example to use the same number of words in a line, this very difficult task (which I have yet to successfully pull off) makes my voice stronger. When I learn to follow those that walked before me, only then, can I stand solidly on my own two feet. Well not quite solidly, who am I kidding, but at least be able to stand and take a few steps.
Man. I just love this post. Probably most of us here love learning and getting help from teachers. It’s such a struggle for me without helpers! That whole “go it alone” isn’t for me. I need a writing coach. I feel lost as times.
Going in the moleskin: “Because there is no way out of creative friction but through it, and we never get all the way through it, and we should not even wish to, because there is always, always, more to learn, always another rung to reach for, and always a rung we will never reach no matter how long and hard we try.”
I go back and forth on what I want—to be a writer or to write for fun—but I keep coming back to it, week after week, so that’s something :)
Of course that need not be a dichotomy (being a writer or writing for fun), but I’ve yet to get out of the binary zone since I struggle to commit improving in the way that would be required for putting my writing out in the world, beyond here or my own classroom.
Well, yes -- but remember, there is no "requirement" for what makes writing ready to be out in the world. That's a *very* subjective experience, and no one is the final judge of it but you! Writing as writers is a continuum, and the continuum is not a straight line, either. That's just how it is with art, because art is essentially one manifestation of human-ing. That's why I so love the way Ann Patchett talks about it -- we never arrive and we never really are able to make the thing we set out to make. We have to make peace with that. Forgiveness. And we get to share it anyway (if/when we want).
Thanks for that reminder about “requirements” (humans and our “should”). That’s why I wrote that quote of yours (above) in my notebook. Things ebb and flow, as all of life. I love that Patchett essay, which also is a reminder—as this post of yours—that it takes work (wherever on the continuum), and sometimes I just don’t put the work in. I acknowledge that about myself. But I want to, so I have that wanting, which isn’t nothing.
You’ve written about that before, too. Thanks for these ongoing lessons. Something here, in your offerings, always brings me back. I’ve got something unexpected swirling around from last Friday’s SCHOOL prompt. 💜
Ah about to open the Zoom for my writing for public health class, but, real quick, you can do both, you know. Just name which it is when you're doing it!!
Thanks so much for this essay Jeannine. It really resonated with me. I take seriously my self-imposed task of trying to master the skills of writing. I found WITD by chance, but feel so at home here. Your kindness and generosity are a big part of that. I do believe I am learning a lot at an accelerated pace. I still prefer creative non-fiction as my writing format, but learning about scenes has fostered an interest in fiction writing for me. I actually feel I may have heretofore latent talents in that realm. I agree that along the path a student may encounter a "bad" teacher. I certainly did so in high school, college and grad school. I also had some bad leaders in the military, and bad bosses in my civilian careers. Yet, I learned important lessons from all of them, even if it sometimes it was only about how not to behave, teach, lead, or supervise. Again, thanks for this essay. I love it.
Thank you so much, Craig. I'm really glad you stumbled into this corner on accident. It's been quite an honor, really, to be witness to your path of becoming who you are as a writer, and your path of imagining into who you might become.
Yes to learning “ how not to …” So true. Learning who we are involves lots of learning who we are not, or who we are not anymore. And figuring out our own tastes and predilections as readers and writers!
Jeannine, your post is well timed (like they usually are!) as I have been combing through a couple of years' worth of notebooks filled with scribbles, partial stories, quotes and writing lessons aka inspiration. It has been so interesting to see how those penned pages have coalesced into considered, crafted, storied typed pages, only made possible after many dark nights of the soul and much creative friction. Thank you for this reassurance. "What if the writing advice you encounter is often confusing and contradictory, and every time you try to apply someone else’s ideas about the craft of writing to your own work, you feel less confident instead of more? Then you’re doing it right."
With your passionate instruction and well-constructed exercises, my writing has improved immeasurably. I am excited to join you and Emily on the trampoline as we jump into 2025!!
I love learning to write. I am in awe of the numerous ways to express yourself on the page since I joined this community. There are so many different ways I can tell my story or share my opinions and life lessons in a way a reader can connect with me.
If I had not found you Jeannine, I would be still blind in my writing, thinking I new how to write.
I have written several blogs and newsletters that failed, and know why now. I didn't know how to write for an audience/reader.
I am learning so much here about writing in this community and its ignited my passion, curiosity and eagerness to write. And I'm having fun doing it 😂🤣🤪😁
So timely for me! And whole hearted agreement with your expressed sentiments. Where to start? First, I have been a "writer" my whole life. By that, I mean I've loved the magic of words. It's always been the one place that feels like home. That said, other than a few journalism classes in college and creative writing in high school (!), I've never stepped into learning the Art. Maybe I'd have qualified for a master at journaling. haha.
Now retired, I Am stepping into these swirling waters of learning the elements, peaking beneath the covers, of the craft. It is exhilarating and frustrating all at once. (Tho sometimes those feelings take turns and I'm hearing you on making the 'frustrating' part of the 'fun) I have submitted through SCHOOL and on here some really embarrassing stuff. But that's ok because I also see break-throughs and hit upon a "crackle" every now and then. I'm Learning - at my own pace and in the ways I am able to grasp right now, today.
The word "generous" has been applied to you, Jeannine, and this method/offering of teaching through Substack (and SCHOOL). It applies. Because of your allowance to 'bring what we can" and that we are "enough" have, yes, given me full permission to be here. To embrace this love affair at an entirely new level. It is deeply gratifying.
Anyway...a couple three months into SCHOOL and I was just pondering the essence of today's topic. It felt so appropriate for someone like me. Thank You, ad infinitum.
Pam, I agree with you 1000% "The word "generous" has been applied to you, Jeannine, and this method/offering of teaching through Substack (and SCHOOL). It applies. Because of your allowance to 'bring what we can" and that we are "enough" have, yes, given me full permission to be here. To embrace this love affair at an entirely new level. It is deeply gratifying." Thank you!
Pam, I mean this in full sincerity: you are doing exactly what it takes to do language as an art. More curiosity, less surety, will always serve us. Beginner's mind!
“Our job as writers is to be curious as a child, to see things for the first time and to never assume. We must always be willing to surrender our idea of the story to allow the larger story to emerge.” — Alan Watt
As someone who is now frolicking freely through WITD and as someone who went through an MFA program, it really feels like coming home to myself after outsourcing my confidence and markers for achievement, not to mention lots of joy. I didn’t lose my voice but it stalled when I lost my confidence in myself to trust and observe what my voice was doing. I looked outside myself rather than within, and as someone who was still developing that voice, it tamed it before I had a chance to really tap into the entirety of it. The wildness.
Now I feel like that kid on the trampoline (yeah- a different era so don’t come for me) just trying stuff out, asking my friend how it looked but also feeling in my own body how it feels when I try something. Maybe I won’t land a “perfect “flip, but I might invent a really cool jelly fish flop that does its own thing that gives me confidence to develop a totally new sea creature trampoline oeuvre based on what my body can do, not some outside ideal of a perfect trampoline flip.
And there’s so much joy and discovery in the hard work now. It is self discovery which leads to a greater appreciation and understanding of the seemingly effortless work of others. A voracious desire to read and write and understand more.
We write in the dark to feel where the process might lead us but we never write in a vacuum.
I echo you, Emily ♥️ Minus the MFA, which I don’t have. I know the grief Jeannine describes of feeling like my skills aren’t up to my vision or desire. I used to be so stuck in grieving my own mediocrity, as Cheryl Strayed put it, I blocked myself from writing.
I’m also realizing I blocked my voice because I felt like I wasn’t allowed to say what I need to say. The cost was too high. But I kept writing and studying the craft, while healing, on parallel tracks. Now I’ve reached the trampoline juncture. My writing bounces with courage and joy. I’m ready to speak out.
So much of it comes down to the teacher. Jeannine, your teaching feels kindred to me, partly because of the craft elements, but also because of your themes, and how you model how to own our sides of our stories, and—this is crucial—handle the cost. I feel strong and skilled enough to start navigating this now.
I’m ever so grateful the universe led me to WITD ♥️
I appreciate this so so much, Monika--all of it, including the acknowledgment of the cost. Nothing in life is free. But writing has saved me, at any cost. I am so grateful to write with you.
Such joyful writing here Emily! "Maybe I won’t land a “perfect “flip, but I might invent a really cool jelly fish flop that does its own thing that gives me confidence to develop a totally new sea creature trampoline oeuvre" Brought a big smile to my face!
I love this, Emily--and your point about your MFA experience is so valid, and falls into the (very broad and various) bucket of times when writing instruction can get in our way, just like in any other pursuit! But we can always come back to the trampoline (I think you know about me and trampolines?). I love writing with you.
I don't know why, but this line from Ann Patchett brought me to tears: " I can’t write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing. Again and again throughout the course of my life I will forgive myself."
I'm feeling overly sensitive today. A bad night sleep and a comment from an editor of a magazine where my short story is about to be published got me into a big philosophical debate with myself. I actually enjoy the editing process and working with editors, but this particular suggestion didn't sit well with me. It made me sad. I'm still processing this, but I am encouraged by this line: "Curiosity and playfulness can keep us happily struggling." Oh, how true I find this to be. Thank you for the reminder Jeannine.
Thank you for your creative heart, your trust, and your words, Imola. Also, your heart. I look forward to reading your story when it comes into the world. xoxo
Thank you Jeannine! Xox
Taught the Suzuki method, I started playing violin in second grade, but when I transitioned from middle to high school, no amount of practicing could help me read sheet music, conquer scales, or master vibrato. Worse yet, I could not approach the acquisition of these skills with playfulness; my notes were sour, my timing and rhythm were way out of whack, and my vibrato was whiny.
(Even my cats would flee from listening to me.)
Although I enlisted my music teacher to run off mimeographed purple time charts and I rewarded myself with foil stars daily for every hour I practiced these musical techniques, by summer's end, I could no longer tolerate my inability to replicate the mournful melancholic sounds of vibrato that eluded me. Self-forgiveness and persistence proved the hardest qualities to cultivate, so when I crashed into that insurmountable vibrato wall, I gave up the violin completely.
I'd rather learn to make my words warble with the vibrato of yearning.
(Even my cats agreed.)
"make words warble with the vibrato of yearning" -- how beautiful. I am sorry you crashed into that insurmountable wall, but I am glad you have words and are here to share them.
Thank you for these very kind thoughts. And, more importantly, thank you for your essays, lessons, and teaching. I'm trying to listen and learn.
This was so helpful Jeannine:
"But what if studying and practicing creative writing makes you less certain about your writing?
What if the writing advice you encounter is often confusing and contradictory, and every time you try to apply someone else’s ideas about about the craft of writing to your own work, you feel less confident instead of more?
Then you’re doing it right.
Creative friction is how we grow."
I will tuck that away for days when I doubt myself and my ability. I pretty much go through some level of doubt on a daily basis--about my creative work, whether I am "good enough" as a writer to get published mainstream, that is.
What I've discovered is that, the deeper I delve into shaping and sharpening my voice as a writer, the less confident I feel about what I create. But what also helps is knowing I can fail every day. I give myself permission to have days and weeks and even, on occasion, entire seasons where I write garbage and drivel, and it's all okay.
I think what you shared here clarifies the difference between writing as an act and writing as an art. We don't have to perform as artists every day, but practicing through the rough drafts and tenth revision is helpful. And necessary if we are to be writers in the sense of making it a profession.
Yes to all of this. The permission to write badly, oh, how I wish all "serious" writers would grant themselves this gift! We can't break through our own barriers without it. And then the perseverance, the ability to keep going, to wrestle through those drafts and tenth revisions, and remain joyful even in the impossibility of it. That's the art of writing. xo
I really think that your exercises have brought back to me a love of writing that left me when I tried to get an MFA many years ago. Those workshops were complete agony for me. But now every day I pick an exercise and start to think, maybe I can write something? Just a little something, it doesn’t have to be good. I took up painting and drawing because there is always something to learn and expand to but it was okay with me if it was bad. I really had forgotten how to do that with writing, it’s always had this other place in my mind. This is a real life changer here 🧡 thank you.
Hannah, this is a beautiful comment and I am so glad and grateful you shared it with me. This is truly why I do what I do here. I experienced this years ago when I met Paul Matthews. I had not been in an MFA program yet, but, after 20 years of successful journalism and technical writing, I had forgotten how to love writing, I had forgotten what it feels like to be like a kid on a two-wheeler, a little out of control and knowing I would likely fall, and, yes, afraid of the landing, but also filled with too much delight and possibility to ever want to stop. That's what I wanted, and still want, to share with others, while also acknowledging the genuine power of craft, and the study of craft, which undergirds writing as an art, but which cannot be accessed fully unless we are safe enough to be free. Thank you.
You break my heart open in the best way saying this. That’s exactly it. I never entirely gave up writing but I definitely didn’t love it like I once did, and I really couldn’t figure out how to get back there by myself. My husband used to write plays and man he would be just savage in his own editing, it would shock me sometimes. But it was joyful, he really enjoyed it. I always watched him with such admiration and thinking, I want to be where he is with craft. To embrace the delight in language. To edit without devastation and fear of the imperfections. And so I am happy there is a place to learn the ‘how’ of it and I am glad my road has met up with yours.
I loved this essay, Jeannine, and wholeheartedly agree. I have been studying the craft of writing for over 40 years now and I will never stop because there is always more to learn. It excites me, humbles me, inspires me, to keep learning, to gratefully embrace instruction, especially yours. Thanks for sharing the Ann Patchett essay which I will read in full: "Art stands on the shoulders of craft, which means that to get to the art you must master the craft." Appreciated this so much!
Resonant. The internet is filled with all kinds of shortcuts and hacks but it really takes the muscle memory of experimenting, abandoning, embracing, pivoting, giving up, getting back up again, over and over and over again to encounter the true sound of your own voice. And it never ends!!!! How exciting!!!
Thank you, Roz--and yes, exciting indeed!
This is Exactly what I needed to read today. ♥️🙏🏻
I am taking away so much wisdom from this post & the comments that follow.
I especially want to highlight how much I needed to be Reminded of: PLAY, of CREATIVE FRICTION, & of FORGIVENESS.✨
My how these concepts apply to life too! I need more Play. I need more Self-Forgiveness.
I think we all do in these times of uncertainty, and well, it occurs to me that my ‘default mode network’ when under stress is not congruent with play.
I must remember I Need it. Schedule it if necessary.
Because Yes! Play is just the thing to bring about the magic mix of: imagination, exploration, ease, & a sprinkling of excitement.
And I forget this! 🤦♀️
I think now of how breathless my nephew becomes in his bursting belly laughs when wrestling around/playing with my husband & our golden retriever;
how this requires a delicate balance of freedom & trust. There is relaxation, rather than tension. There is trust.
If someone takes it too far, if even my dog thinks things are getting too heated, he will give a frazzled bark. Tension has entered, safety is in question. Fun over.
Applying this to writing, I can see where when I set out in a mode that is “Too serious,” I viscerally Feel Too Tense to “Play;” to be curious, to create, to be in a state of ease, a state that would allow for use of my imagination, of wonder brain, or a fun exploration of how I might apply creative use of craft techniques. I’m pretty sure I start to clench & not breathe fully.🙃
It feels frustrating. And not always the sort that friction that leads to creative growth.
(What I’m musing on as ‘That perfect balance between ‘effort’ & ‘ease’ that allows one to persist.’ And I’m thinking too of yoga & how the difference between tension and engagement is breath.)
So I think I’ve had some new insight today~🤯one of those moments where you encounter something again in a new way, and it’s like you’ve been given the secret decoder ring, & Ahhh, now I see!
It struck me in reading this, that along with these elements (of Play, creative friction & forgiveness) which feel like ancient secret ingredients,
there is also the backdrop of Our “Expectations”~which you humorously, yet accurately pointed to in your list of: pull a tooth- you’re a dentist; fix a leaky pipe & you’re a plumber😂 etc.
Like Wow!! Am I expecting myself to be a ‘surgeon’ because I’ve removed a splinter? Am I comparing myself to a member of the Amadeus Quartet after 3 violin lessons? Yikes! I’m afraid so!🤦♀️😂
So there is a self-cruelty in ignoring this truth that I think I have ignored; or rather, simply didn’t see so plainly.
And yes, I actually Do want to call myself a writer simply because I write, (for reasons that speak to identity & inspiration) but in my heart of hearts,
I will Not wear that title (for me) until I feel I’ve earned it.
And not by the merit of mass appeal, or publication; but through my own study & rigorous application of craft.
I will feel as though I have earned the title of ‘writer’ when I create something *on purpose* and am satisfied, perhaps even fulfilled after having done so.
I am aspiring to Feel changed in the making, and by the “having made.” And of course, wouldn’t I love to bring forth something special in a reader too? Surely I would.
I see, as you said here, that this will be a life-long endeavor.
Thank You for all of your wisdom, your heart, & your words. Letter by letter I am learning to write.
My dear Colleen, you are so right that not all frustration is productive, and you are wise to discern for yourself the difference. And ... you do not need to earn the title of writer, it comes from doing the work with sincerity. That is all. It is a verb, it is a process, it is a becoming, it is not an end point. That much, I can promise you.
♥️♥️♥️
I love this. First the craft then the art. I have a looooong way to go and yet I have found this to be true. When you ask us to imitate the cadence and structure of another writer, for example to use the same number of words in a line, this very difficult task (which I have yet to successfully pull off) makes my voice stronger. When I learn to follow those that walked before me, only then, can I stand solidly on my own two feet. Well not quite solidly, who am I kidding, but at least be able to stand and take a few steps.
Thank you so much, Donna!
Also, you are already standing on your own feet. Look down! You will see, you really truly are.
I can read this again and again, and still find something new to connect as a writer. Very powerful essay.
Thank you so much, Aysu!
Man. I just love this post. Probably most of us here love learning and getting help from teachers. It’s such a struggle for me without helpers! That whole “go it alone” isn’t for me. I need a writing coach. I feel lost as times.
Thank you so much, Sea! xo
Going in the moleskin: “Because there is no way out of creative friction but through it, and we never get all the way through it, and we should not even wish to, because there is always, always, more to learn, always another rung to reach for, and always a rung we will never reach no matter how long and hard we try.”
I go back and forth on what I want—to be a writer or to write for fun—but I keep coming back to it, week after week, so that’s something :)
Of course that need not be a dichotomy (being a writer or writing for fun), but I’ve yet to get out of the binary zone since I struggle to commit improving in the way that would be required for putting my writing out in the world, beyond here or my own classroom.
Well, yes -- but remember, there is no "requirement" for what makes writing ready to be out in the world. That's a *very* subjective experience, and no one is the final judge of it but you! Writing as writers is a continuum, and the continuum is not a straight line, either. That's just how it is with art, because art is essentially one manifestation of human-ing. That's why I so love the way Ann Patchett talks about it -- we never arrive and we never really are able to make the thing we set out to make. We have to make peace with that. Forgiveness. And we get to share it anyway (if/when we want).
Thanks for that reminder about “requirements” (humans and our “should”). That’s why I wrote that quote of yours (above) in my notebook. Things ebb and flow, as all of life. I love that Patchett essay, which also is a reminder—as this post of yours—that it takes work (wherever on the continuum), and sometimes I just don’t put the work in. I acknowledge that about myself. But I want to, so I have that wanting, which isn’t nothing.
The wanting, in my opinion and experience, is actually most of the thing itself. Everything else flows, however haltingly, from there.
You’ve written about that before, too. Thanks for these ongoing lessons. Something here, in your offerings, always brings me back. I’ve got something unexpected swirling around from last Friday’s SCHOOL prompt. 💜
Ah about to open the Zoom for my writing for public health class, but, real quick, you can do both, you know. Just name which it is when you're doing it!!
Thanks so much for this essay Jeannine. It really resonated with me. I take seriously my self-imposed task of trying to master the skills of writing. I found WITD by chance, but feel so at home here. Your kindness and generosity are a big part of that. I do believe I am learning a lot at an accelerated pace. I still prefer creative non-fiction as my writing format, but learning about scenes has fostered an interest in fiction writing for me. I actually feel I may have heretofore latent talents in that realm. I agree that along the path a student may encounter a "bad" teacher. I certainly did so in high school, college and grad school. I also had some bad leaders in the military, and bad bosses in my civilian careers. Yet, I learned important lessons from all of them, even if it sometimes it was only about how not to behave, teach, lead, or supervise. Again, thanks for this essay. I love it.
Thank you so much, Craig. I'm really glad you stumbled into this corner on accident. It's been quite an honor, really, to be witness to your path of becoming who you are as a writer, and your path of imagining into who you might become.
Yes to learning “ how not to …” So true. Learning who we are involves lots of learning who we are not, or who we are not anymore. And figuring out our own tastes and predilections as readers and writers!
Jeannine, your post is well timed (like they usually are!) as I have been combing through a couple of years' worth of notebooks filled with scribbles, partial stories, quotes and writing lessons aka inspiration. It has been so interesting to see how those penned pages have coalesced into considered, crafted, storied typed pages, only made possible after many dark nights of the soul and much creative friction. Thank you for this reassurance. "What if the writing advice you encounter is often confusing and contradictory, and every time you try to apply someone else’s ideas about the craft of writing to your own work, you feel less confident instead of more? Then you’re doing it right."
With your passionate instruction and well-constructed exercises, my writing has improved immeasurably. I am excited to join you and Emily on the trampoline as we jump into 2025!!
Lisa!! Yay, to all of this. And thank you for pulling out that sentence. I feel like it is the whole heart of the argument. xoxo
🤸🏻♂️🤾🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️🏄🏻♀️🎠 well there’s a serious lack of trampoline and jumping emojis, but you get the idea. Honored to leap with you, Lisa!
Love it!!!
I love learning to write. I am in awe of the numerous ways to express yourself on the page since I joined this community. There are so many different ways I can tell my story or share my opinions and life lessons in a way a reader can connect with me.
If I had not found you Jeannine, I would be still blind in my writing, thinking I new how to write.
I have written several blogs and newsletters that failed, and know why now. I didn't know how to write for an audience/reader.
I am learning so much here about writing in this community and its ignited my passion, curiosity and eagerness to write. And I'm having fun doing it 😂🤣🤪😁
What a wonderful message. Thank you so much for this, Jane!!! I am very glad you are here.
❤️
So timely for me! And whole hearted agreement with your expressed sentiments. Where to start? First, I have been a "writer" my whole life. By that, I mean I've loved the magic of words. It's always been the one place that feels like home. That said, other than a few journalism classes in college and creative writing in high school (!), I've never stepped into learning the Art. Maybe I'd have qualified for a master at journaling. haha.
Now retired, I Am stepping into these swirling waters of learning the elements, peaking beneath the covers, of the craft. It is exhilarating and frustrating all at once. (Tho sometimes those feelings take turns and I'm hearing you on making the 'frustrating' part of the 'fun) I have submitted through SCHOOL and on here some really embarrassing stuff. But that's ok because I also see break-throughs and hit upon a "crackle" every now and then. I'm Learning - at my own pace and in the ways I am able to grasp right now, today.
The word "generous" has been applied to you, Jeannine, and this method/offering of teaching through Substack (and SCHOOL). It applies. Because of your allowance to 'bring what we can" and that we are "enough" have, yes, given me full permission to be here. To embrace this love affair at an entirely new level. It is deeply gratifying.
Anyway...a couple three months into SCHOOL and I was just pondering the essence of today's topic. It felt so appropriate for someone like me. Thank You, ad infinitum.
Pam, I agree with you 1000% "The word "generous" has been applied to you, Jeannine, and this method/offering of teaching through Substack (and SCHOOL). It applies. Because of your allowance to 'bring what we can" and that we are "enough" have, yes, given me full permission to be here. To embrace this love affair at an entirely new level. It is deeply gratifying." Thank you!
Pam, I mean this in full sincerity: you are doing exactly what it takes to do language as an art. More curiosity, less surety, will always serve us. Beginner's mind!
“Our job as writers is to be curious as a child, to see things for the first time and to never assume. We must always be willing to surrender our idea of the story to allow the larger story to emerge.” — Alan Watt
Gah, so much here. Thank you for all of it.
As someone who is now frolicking freely through WITD and as someone who went through an MFA program, it really feels like coming home to myself after outsourcing my confidence and markers for achievement, not to mention lots of joy. I didn’t lose my voice but it stalled when I lost my confidence in myself to trust and observe what my voice was doing. I looked outside myself rather than within, and as someone who was still developing that voice, it tamed it before I had a chance to really tap into the entirety of it. The wildness.
Now I feel like that kid on the trampoline (yeah- a different era so don’t come for me) just trying stuff out, asking my friend how it looked but also feeling in my own body how it feels when I try something. Maybe I won’t land a “perfect “flip, but I might invent a really cool jelly fish flop that does its own thing that gives me confidence to develop a totally new sea creature trampoline oeuvre based on what my body can do, not some outside ideal of a perfect trampoline flip.
And there’s so much joy and discovery in the hard work now. It is self discovery which leads to a greater appreciation and understanding of the seemingly effortless work of others. A voracious desire to read and write and understand more.
We write in the dark to feel where the process might lead us but we never write in a vacuum.
I echo you, Emily ♥️ Minus the MFA, which I don’t have. I know the grief Jeannine describes of feeling like my skills aren’t up to my vision or desire. I used to be so stuck in grieving my own mediocrity, as Cheryl Strayed put it, I blocked myself from writing.
I’m also realizing I blocked my voice because I felt like I wasn’t allowed to say what I need to say. The cost was too high. But I kept writing and studying the craft, while healing, on parallel tracks. Now I’ve reached the trampoline juncture. My writing bounces with courage and joy. I’m ready to speak out.
So much of it comes down to the teacher. Jeannine, your teaching feels kindred to me, partly because of the craft elements, but also because of your themes, and how you model how to own our sides of our stories, and—this is crucial—handle the cost. I feel strong and skilled enough to start navigating this now.
I’m ever so grateful the universe led me to WITD ♥️
Kindred, indeed, Monika. Permission is such an incredible gift, and modeling, yes. And the cost. Just beautifully said.
Love you, Emily ♥️
And you, dear Monika. 💜
I appreciate this so so much, Monika--all of it, including the acknowledgment of the cost. Nothing in life is free. But writing has saved me, at any cost. I am so grateful to write with you.
Love you, Jeannine ♥️
Such joyful writing here Emily! "Maybe I won’t land a “perfect “flip, but I might invent a really cool jelly fish flop that does its own thing that gives me confidence to develop a totally new sea creature trampoline oeuvre" Brought a big smile to my face!
Thanks, Lisa! The play and joy in the hard work are palpable in this space. Just like being a flipped out kid.
Same, this joyful ecstasy is definitely part of your voice, Emily.
💜
I love this, Emily--and your point about your MFA experience is so valid, and falls into the (very broad and various) bucket of times when writing instruction can get in our way, just like in any other pursuit! But we can always come back to the trampoline (I think you know about me and trampolines?). I love writing with you.
❤️ I love your trampoline!