Hi everyone! Believe it or not, one way I've celebrated finishing my M.F.A. is by going back to a workshop! I just finished up a four week writers workshop on Saturday afternoons with Patricia Reilly Giff. Pat is an accomplished children's writer and a two-time Newbury award recipient. She's also one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. It was a good feeling to be back with a group of writers, listening to everyone's work, and being part of the critique process again.
One thing particularly great about Pat is how absolutely straight forward she is about how hard writing and the writing business is, but at the same time how encouraging and supportive she is. There are two women in the workshop who are being published for the first time next year -- one with two books! -- and they shared with us some of their experiences in making it happen.
Clearly the lessons learned were simple -- and nothing we don't already know -- but worth sharing again here. It always helps me to hear them again:
-Write everyday without fail
-Don't leave what you write in a drawer-send it out. If it's rejected, send it out again...and again...and again.
-It will probably take a lot of rejections to finally make it, but if you are talented and persistent you will make it
-Write everyday without fail
-Send out your work, AND FINALLY
-Write everyday without fail AND send out your work!
If anyone is interested in children's writing, I suggest picking up one of Pat's books as a summer read. She is truly touted as one of the best.
Anne
2 comments:
Thanks, Anne, for the encouraging post. I'm still working on creating a writerly habit for myself. When I do sit down to write, all sorts of great ideas flow, but finding time to write continues to be difficult. I've heard that some writers even go so far as to have an office away from home where they go to write, and maybe that's not such a silly idea. Because life--with its doctor's appointments and grocery store runs and laundry and cooking and cleaning and really good books I just checked out from the library--always seems to intrude. I keep telling myself that tomorrow I'll find time to write.
Maybe I need to set up a reward system for myself. Two-three pages equals one chocolate. I'm liking that idea. ;)
That's funny, Kir. I've come up with every excuse too but when listening to Pat I thought back to Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. If you're going to call yourself a writer, you have to write every day and a lot of it will be crap but somewhere in it you'll find a gem.
I've come to the conclusion that, for me, writing is like working out - a love/hate relationship. It's so much a part of me, I can't live without doing it, it makes me a healthier, happier person, but often it's excruciatingly painful to do , both mentally and physically!
So I've decided I've just got to get back to writing a lot of crap -- and get back on that elliptical again -- the end result will be an in shape, publishing writer following her dream!
How's Sophie? How's your new novel going? I have a sneaking suspicion you HAVE done some writing of late!?
Anne
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