Jane here with a quick message before today's blog post! Maureen and I have been working on getting a podcast together! Our dream is that this podcast be interactive, kind of like a radio show but not exactly. That means we'd love to hear from you all: send us any questions you'd like us to address in the podcast by filling out this form. We can give you a shoutout or you can remain anonymous. Thanks so much! -J
I’m a writer and I’ve been teaching writing in one form or another since the early eighties. I love technique. When I started learning to write, I loved workshops. Who doesn’t love a workshop? Is there any other time in your life when a group of people will spend a big chunk of time talking about you? Other than your funeral when all that talk is great for the participants but frankly wasted on the dead.
I love books on writing. Writing is hard and reading books about writing makes me feel as if I’m working. I’m not writing, exactly, but I’m reading about it and that should count for something.
Writing books were fun, insightful, made me think. But the ones I read mostly talked about prose. They talked about consistent p.o.v. and not using adverbs. What they didn’t tell me was how to write a story or a novel. I had a lot of problems.
- Finishing something
- Keeping it from being interesting
- Making myself write
- Figuring out how to revise
- Knowing if it was any good or not
What I wanted was something like a carpentry class where they would announce that we were going to make a table. We would select wood and learn how to measure and cut, how to do dove joints, how to sand it. At the end we might have a bunch of tables that looked pretty much alike, but I would understand how to do stuff. And next time, I could use the techniques to make something more individual.
Jane says: May's newsletter addressed how to get started when you aren't eaxctly sure! Also, Maureen included a very practical, nuts-and-bolts exercise she uses in her classes that will get you launched into writing something with legs. Sign up below if you haven't already! :)
Jane and I are both teachers, both writers, and we’re both very interested in the process of writing. And we’re interested in how people learn writing.
We’re hoping that we’ve learned some things we can teach and that you can teach us.
What are the things you struggle with? What do you most want to know? What sorts of tools or support do you wish you had? What are your questions about your writing?