Wednesday, August 29, 2012

To get to writing again (some advice for the both of us)

This summer I worked as a PMT/ Positive, Teacher, Motivator, a title I found to be fancy for a camp counselor. Before the camp started, I thought I'd have a ton of time to be creative, to read, to write, to get back in touch with myself, to get in touch with my inner child. And now as the summer has ended, I've found, I was wrong about the writing and reading part, but right about the inner child, and the getting back in touch with myself. Working with 5-6 year old's is wonderfully exhausting, I give all of my kudos to year-round elementary school teachers. With less than a week left until classes begin, and until my regular teaching schedule resumes, I am trying to get back to writing, but not without feeling like an octopus with a few missing legs. Writing takes a rhythm, a dedication, an ability to shoot out ink at distractions, and I felt like I needed some advice. We can all use advice, even when we think we know the answers, it's good to gain/ re-gain perspective on the dance of it all. Here is what I found.(Sarah Monguso's advice from Fodder) What Henry Miller had to say can apply to us all. "When you can't create, you can work..." This part reminds to keep editing and submitting in mind or to read others' work, edit others' work, be a part of a writing workshop. And to "forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing." And especially, "Keep human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it." Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers? Yes! This body language list is helpful. How often do we fall into how we imagine others to move vs. how others actually move? And there are so many basic patterns to the way people behave, react, etc. We're all unique, but so the same. (Body Language) Last reminder: revisit John Steinbeck's advice. It can apply across the genres. I particually like: "If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it."