Wisdom Tree

Time for Non-Writing

Sometimes the most courageous thing a writer can do is stop writing. Or, at least, stop writing to be read. It’s also one of the scariest things to do, especially if you are already accustomed to being read by others. Also, if you have your own Web site, a blog, a FaceBook account, are LinkedIn, keep an Amazon author page, and so on. A person has to keep up her “presence.” Meanwhile, I myself have felt barely present to the world.

It’s an odd time in my life: a long winter; a husband retired and at home most of the time; a teenager in the house who needs my daily attendance; a process that has finally resumed its slow grind toward (possible) ordination to the Episcopal priesthood. Did I mention the long winter? Throw in the ongoing experiment with medications for lifelong anxiety and low-grade depression. It’s a full life, but I am empty of words—or have been since before Christmas.

I thought the words would return when the New Year began, but such gifts are not activated by a significant anniversaries  on the 12-month calendar. Perhaps they are activated more by the lunar year—I’ve begun to pay better attention to that, to Nature’s mundane-and-grandiose markings of time. I know the winter is long because my cats are stalking each other and fighting for no reason. They need to be outdoors. The teenager and I have pulled out the old belly-dancing instruction tapes. Now is not the time for words; what we need is movement and some sense of progress.

I have discovered that I cannot always live and write concurrently. I can’t always have something to say. Even at our best, we writers are wise only occasionally, and we’re witty far less frequently than we think. Our words have value only because they are broken up by silences in-between, silences during which we are waking up and doing our tasks, when we are caring for our loved ones or cleaning out the closet or finally facing those forms we must complete and mail somewhere.

Last week I went to the funeral of the oldest person in my mother’s extended family, my great-aunt Sammie. It was a long drive there, and then the funeral and the graveside service, then lunch at the church, the visiting, the long drive back—a full day of my life. But it was necessary and appropriate and holy and joyful in its way. I confess that I did pack an article to read, in case I arrived early and had to sit somewhere by myself. Otherwise, the day was for the funeral and all that it entailed—no more and no less. I could have written about it later, but I didn’t. I do remember, though, the beauty of remaining snow on the fields as our long funeral caravan wound through the countryside to the old cemetery. I remember thinking, Now is the time to savor the light on the tufts of tan grass and to remember Sammie, to grant her this final, lovely ride. This act is the fullness of what God asks of me today. It is  is wonderful and precious to the angels.

Perhaps as the cold loosens its hold on the city in the coming weeks, I will find some words to share. They may be only short prayers at first, or a wish scribbled down. They may be letters to people who sent me Christmas cards. Because words are gift, and I believe every good gift is from God, I have no fear of running out, or of the source drying up. The question is always which words are mine to know and claim and love.

I promise, though, that if I have any words to share, you’ll be the first to know.

What Do You Do with a Writers Retreat?

This past week was a little experiment: I blogged a free writers retreat on Wisdom Tree. I'll spend some time assessing what went well and what went not-so-well. But for now, I address those who participated, most of them silently.

What do you do with a writers retreat, anyway?

First of all, you participate. You participate just as you are, just as you walk in the door. You participate out of whatever emotional energy, intellectual curiosity you possess at the moment. You participate in the context of your very personal situation in time, space, relationships, and responsibilities. You just show up. That's a great start.

Second, you try to do the work. I presented a few writing assignments, knowing full well that not every person would click with every assignment. But something happens when you try: you engage, and your interior self starts moving and rumbling. Even if your initial response is, This is a lame exercise, you've hooked onto it, and something will probably happen.

Third, you reflect on how you interacted with the retreat. Pay attention to what you enjoyed and what you resisted, and try to figure out why you enjoyed or resisted. Journal about what the experience itself was like. What do you know about yourself that perhaps you didn't know, or see clearly, before the retreat?

Fourth, use the retreat as raw material for what will come next. Maybe one assignment resulted in a paragraph that really holds promise. So continue with that paragraph. Or, rewrite the assignements, using your own questions or creating new assignments that focus more on your interest or project.

Fifth, reward yourself for the effort, the time, and the energy you spent. Do something lovely or fun or lazy or crazy. Blow off the steam that built up while your creative process was churning. Give yourself a little gift. Practice gratitude for having participated. Tell someone something you've learned.

In awhile, I will plan more retreats--possibly one per quarter--and I will probably focus them more specifically. Thanks so much for your presence!

  

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010 Assignment #6

Good morning, writers! This is the next-to-the-last day of our online retreat. I won't post an assignment tomorrow, but I will post something just for you. I'm giving you an assignment this morning and will follow up with an assignment this afternoon/evening.

Today, go back to that first assignment--imagine the book you would like to write. If you have no intentions of writing a book or you think this is an impossibility--that doesn't matter. The exercise is to stimulate your imagination, to open up that creative, intuitive aspect of your personality.

So, go back to what you wrote for Assignment #1. Now, if you were to re-imagine that book, what would change, and what would stay the same? Revise your table of contents, based on the writing work you've done this week. In fact, after you've done your revision of Assignment #1, finish these open-ended statements:

• There's a writing project burning in my heart, and it is . . .
• I desire to write because . . .
• The fears or doubts that hold me back from writing--or that interfere with my writing--are . . .

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010 Assignment #5

Okay, Assignment #5 isn't really a writing assignment. I need some feedback from you participants before I create the final two assignments: one tomorrow, and the final one on Monday. So . . .

• What has been helpful about these exercises?
• What hasn't been so helpful?
• Did anything slow you down? If so, what messed with your progress?
• What type of assignment would you prefer for the finish?

Please talk to me! In the meantime, try to finish any assignments or parts of assignments that are left hanging.

See you tomorrow!

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010 Assignment #4

Hello, all:

Sorry you didn't hear from me yesterday--I was under the weather. We'll have three posts over the weekend to make up for the lost Thursday.

If you've written your little story from the newspaper headline, you can take it further now. Three things to do:

1) Write a page (350-500 words) describing the protagonist of your story. The description should include:

• her or his greatest fear
• her or his greatest desire
• her or his favorite outfit, and why it's the favorite
• her or his favorite place to visit, and why

2) Do the same as 1) but for the antagonist.

3) Write about how the protagonist's and the antagonist's greatest desires influence the way the two characters interact.

Have fun--I'll check in with you Saturday a.m. At that time I'll also respond to individual comments.

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010: Assignment #3

Today, find a newspaper and skim the headlines--the big headlines but also headlines to the not-so-prominent stories.

Choose one headline and write your own story to go with it. Your story doesn't need to be true in any way to the actual newspaper story; you're using the headline as a starting point.

Make sure your story has:

• a protagonist (hero/heroine/main character)
• an antagonist (the main person who gets in the protagonist's way)
• a dialogue between the protagonist and antagonist

This story should not be longer than 750 words. I recommend writing quickly and not thinking about it too much. Don't worry about if it's good or not. Today you are generating the raw material that you'll work with for most of the remaining retreat.

See you tomorrow . . .

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010: Assignment #2

Assignment #1 was to give your imagination a little kick. If it didn't work for you, don't worry. No exercise works for everybody. I hope that by Sunday you will have clicked with at least one exercise.

Assignment #2: Word Lists--designed to help you connect with the words that have meaning for you.

Make three lists, twenty words each:

1. Your favorite nouns (people, places, things)
2. Your favorite verbs (action words)
3. Your favorite modifiers (adjectives and adverbs, such as "glossy" (adj) and "wearily" (adv)

You can work quickly, or do this more deliberately and thoughtfully.

Once you come up with the lists, then quickly write to the side of each word the first thing that comes to mind when you see that word.

Play around with these lists, highlighting the top ten words, putting them in order of importance, highlighting the ones you use most often--or least often--in speaking or writing.

That's it! Have fun . . .

 

 

 

Wisdom Tree Writers Retreat Fall 2010: Assignment #1

Greetings, retreat participants! Let's get started.

You first assigment

Act: imagine the book you would like to write. Even if you don't intend to write a book, have a little fantasy right now. If you could write any book you wanted, what would it be? What's the title? What does the cover look like? When a person opens up the book, what's on the Table of Contents? Write quickly and don't think about this too much.

Reflect: What have you discovered--or reaffirmed, or refuted--through this exercise? Do you know something about your desires you didn't know before? Reflect to yourself, in writing, what this act of imagining was like for you.

Respond: In light of this little exercise and what you've learned from it, what should you do now?

Feel free to use the comment feature of this blog to share what this experience was like.

Tomorrow comes assignement #2!

 

Yes, There Will Be a Writers Retreat!

Several people are interested in a writers retreat here on the blog. So here’s the plan. The retreat will happen November 15 – 21. That’s the week before Thanksgiving. After that, we’re getting into major holiday territory, and I want to respect everyone’s time.

 I will post an assignment every day. You can do any or all, as you wish.

What I’d like you to post—through the comment feature—is your response to the experience of doing the assignment. Do not post your actual writing. This way, the participants can have a conversation of sorts, about the experience itself.

During that week, if you would like to share any of your writing, you can email it to me directly. I can post portions on the site for others to read and respond to.

Because most of us have day jobs, I will handle much of this in the evenings, but I will be on the blog daily during that week.

This is all I can tell you for now!

Lazy Days and Random Thoughts

If you check in here regularly, you know I haven’t posted for awhile.

 

However, if you check in regularly when summer is bright and glorious outside your window, then you need to leave the computer, okay?

 

You’d think that a writer would get a lot of words put down during the summer months—the days are longer, often the workload is lighter. But I’ve never been a good summer writer. In fact, I’ve given myself permission to take summers off, when it comes to a serious writing schedule. After a point, a person must listen to her inner wisdom and heed her soul’s desires. And what I really want to do, now that it’s summer, is play gin rummy with my husband in the evenings, after supper on the porch.

 

What I really want to do is read fun books—crime novels or mysteries or summer classics such as Boy’s Life, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Dandelion Wine. I want to lie in my hammock and stare up through the branches of our large and lovely ash tree. I want to take naps in my hammock.

 

I want to try out new recipes, preferably those that require the herbs that are thriving in my little garden: rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, mint, basil. I want to enjoy leisurely cups of tea on the backyard swing and watch the sparrows party at the bird feeders.

 

(By the way, our neighborhood now has a pair of hawks or falcons of some kind, down at the north end of the street near the train tracks. They’ve been around for several days and appear to live here now. One grabbed something out of our back yard just feet away from where I sat one evening—and flew up to the neighbor’s roof peak with a small something in its talons. A baby squirrel? A mouse or bird?)

 

I want to come home, put on loose clothes, and eat watermelon that is salted and drizzled with fresh lime juice.

 

And when it’s too hot to stay home (we do not have air conditioning), then it’s time to go to the movies, sit in a cool, dark theater eating messy super nachos and sharing a large Coke with Jim.

 

If you haven’t slept on a porch in the summertime, you have been deprived. We haven’t been in our bedroom since May.

 

So, I hope I don’t disappoint anyone by allowing this blog to slog along more slowly during these months. When it’s winter, I’ll need to type just to keep warm. Then you’ll hear more from me. And in the autumn, my best writing hormones kick in, so enjoy my silence while you can.