Well, I made it home from the residency safe and sound.
My in-laws were waiting here to visit, which is nice since I haven't seen them in at least a year. I came home to a bathroom that had flooded and since been torn down to the studs by father- and brother-in-law. They're in the process of putting it back together again after repairing the leaky pipe behind the walls. Yay for not having to spend a fortune on a plumber and contractor. It'll cost a fraction of that, plus supplies.
I'm also working on ordering books for my reading list, and trying to figure out how I'm going to write an entire first draft of a screenplay by December. Best not to think about that for a couple of days, maybe. Perhaps I need a few days to decompress from the residency, re-acclimate to home, get back into my routine, then consider how the heck to best schedule reading and writing for the next few months.
On top of all that, I'm still determined to finish the romance novel WIP I've been laboring over for the last several months. Before the residency I had gone back to rewrite the beginning, which I'm actually almost done with. I think I probably just have one more chapter to rewrite before I get to a place where it will blend well with what I had previously written, and then I can go back to where I had left off and continue on with the story. I want to get it finished so I have a completed first draft to work with.
Anyhoo - the summer is winding down (which is hard to fathom). School starts at the end of the month for the kids, Hubby starts back to work on his undergrad degree, and of course I've already started. Hubby and I stunned each other a week or so ago when, as we sat in the air conditioned house to avoid the sultry heat outside, we were discussing that the snow season could potentially start in the next couple of months. I'm so not ready to dig out the snow clothes yet. I hope winter can hold off until November or December.
Overall, though, I enjoyed the residency and I'm glad to be back home. I'm wondering, though, how it's going to be traveling to Connecticut in January?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
MFA Residency: Day Six
Today was the last full day of the residency. Our morning workshop was "Leveraging Your Primary Genre: Reviews." This was a very interesting lecture on writing literary/book reviews with some ideas on how to break into the field.
There was also an agent panel, but they were there mostly for the second year students. We newbies aren't ready to meet panelists yet, but they had good general information to offer.
Finally, we met again with our mentors to finalize plans for each class including reading lists and writing assignments. Although each mentor claimed to not want to take time away from my writing by piling on reading material, I still have 14+ books and 10 screenplays to read for this semester. And that's in addition to writing a first draft of a screenplay, and various writing assignments. I think I'm going to die right now. Just drop dead from anticipated exhaustion.
But, overall, the entire residency has been simultaneously exhausting and inspiring. I met lots of other student writers in various stages of the program, plus many published writers and mentors. I got lots of great information, advice, and writing tools.
This program is going to be great, if I survive it!
There was also an agent panel, but they were there mostly for the second year students. We newbies aren't ready to meet panelists yet, but they had good general information to offer.
Finally, we met again with our mentors to finalize plans for each class including reading lists and writing assignments. Although each mentor claimed to not want to take time away from my writing by piling on reading material, I still have 14+ books and 10 screenplays to read for this semester. And that's in addition to writing a first draft of a screenplay, and various writing assignments. I think I'm going to die right now. Just drop dead from anticipated exhaustion.
But, overall, the entire residency has been simultaneously exhausting and inspiring. I met lots of other student writers in various stages of the program, plus many published writers and mentors. I got lots of great information, advice, and writing tools.
This program is going to be great, if I survive it!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
MFA Residency: Day Five
Well, this morning was a brutal critique workshop in creative non-fiction - something I am woefully unfamiliar with - and apparently it showed in my essay. But I got a lot of good advice and suggestions and if I decide I ever want to revise the essay, I'll have a good idea how to do it.
Later this afternoon we had peer workshops where we shared a few pages of something we've written with our genre-specific peers. After the whipping my work took this morning, I wasn't really looking forward to another soul-baring, but this time, since it was my primary genre (something I actually do better), the feedback was much better. Thank goodness. No matter how hard we try not to be, we writers are a sensitive bunch (I'm sure you can relate). Our feelings get hurt easily.
The rest of the day was free and I spent it writing syllabi for my courses. This program is very self-directed. Students work with their mentors to design the courses to fit their goals, including reading and writing to be done based on what they wish to accomplish. Because of the self-directed nature of the coursework, we have to write our own syllabi to be approved by our mentors and the program director. So I spent the day researching appropriate reading material and writing syllabi.
Now I'm going to relax for the evening, consider story ideas for a novel (or a screenplay - I can't decide which I want to write for my thesis), then watch the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance.
More tomorrow!
Later this afternoon we had peer workshops where we shared a few pages of something we've written with our genre-specific peers. After the whipping my work took this morning, I wasn't really looking forward to another soul-baring, but this time, since it was my primary genre (something I actually do better), the feedback was much better. Thank goodness. No matter how hard we try not to be, we writers are a sensitive bunch (I'm sure you can relate). Our feelings get hurt easily.
The rest of the day was free and I spent it writing syllabi for my courses. This program is very self-directed. Students work with their mentors to design the courses to fit their goals, including reading and writing to be done based on what they wish to accomplish. Because of the self-directed nature of the coursework, we have to write our own syllabi to be approved by our mentors and the program director. So I spent the day researching appropriate reading material and writing syllabi.
Now I'm going to relax for the evening, consider story ideas for a novel (or a screenplay - I can't decide which I want to write for my thesis), then watch the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance.
More tomorrow!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
MFA Residency: Day Four
Another great day. The morning workshop was "Plot in Fiction" where we covered some literary history, some nuts and bolts of plot and dramatic arc, applied those principles to some reading we had been given a week or so ago, then worked on some writing exercises. All in all it was a very information-dense and informative workshop. I was pleased with what I produced from the prompts.
We then attended a thesis panel and discussed thesis tips and advice.
Next, a reading of three very good pieces.
Another panel with a rep from Barnes and Noble.com and a literary promoter.
It was a long day of listening, so I begged off again on the evening's readings. It's been a lot of information to assimilate.
During a break in activities today I did a little searching through the writing work I have saved to my hard drive and found a couple of plays I forgot I'd written. It's been a while since I've looked at my writing. It's interesting when you go back and look at pieces you haven't read for a while - sometimes you realize they suck, sometimes you surprise yourself. I was pleasantly surprised by three plays I found. One 10-minute, one shorter, and one unfinished which is intended to be longer. I also found an essay I'm going to submit to an anthology of women's essays.
So all in all a pretty good day!
We then attended a thesis panel and discussed thesis tips and advice.
Next, a reading of three very good pieces.
Another panel with a rep from Barnes and Noble.com and a literary promoter.
It was a long day of listening, so I begged off again on the evening's readings. It's been a lot of information to assimilate.
During a break in activities today I did a little searching through the writing work I have saved to my hard drive and found a couple of plays I forgot I'd written. It's been a while since I've looked at my writing. It's interesting when you go back and look at pieces you haven't read for a while - sometimes you realize they suck, sometimes you surprise yourself. I was pleasantly surprised by three plays I found. One 10-minute, one shorter, and one unfinished which is intended to be longer. I also found an essay I'm going to submit to an anthology of women's essays.
So all in all a pretty good day!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
MFA Residency: Day Three
Today was an awesome day. The morning workshop was all about screenwriting, and was moderated by Don Snyder, author of many books but specifically of both the novel and screenplay for Fallen Angel (he's also my mentor). He was a welcome wealth of insider information, practical craft advice, and anecdotes. It was quite an enjoyable morning and I learned quite a bit. Now I'm itching to get started on a screenplay I've been thinking about for a while now, and yet I still want to write novels. I don't know where I'm going to find the time to do all the reading that's piling up for my coursework, do the writing I'm dying to do, work full time, and raise a family. Hmmm.
After lunch we attended a lecture on workshop etiquette and a lecture on leveraging your MFA into the magazine industry. Both very useful and informative lectures.
There's another reading tonight, but frankly I'm exhausted and begged off. I'll go to the reading tomorrow night.
Also, a bit of news: my first six-sentence story has been published online at Six Sentences (Strawberry Blues). I've become very interested in this form and have written two more six-sentence stories since I've been here at the residency. I hope they don't get tired of me submitting over at the Six Sentences website.
That's it for today....more tomorrow!
After lunch we attended a lecture on workshop etiquette and a lecture on leveraging your MFA into the magazine industry. Both very useful and informative lectures.
There's another reading tonight, but frankly I'm exhausted and begged off. I'll go to the reading tomorrow night.
Also, a bit of news: my first six-sentence story has been published online at Six Sentences (Strawberry Blues). I've become very interested in this form and have written two more six-sentence stories since I've been here at the residency. I hope they don't get tired of me submitting over at the Six Sentences website.
That's it for today....more tomorrow!
Monday, August 3, 2009
MFA Residency: Day Two
Today was pretty cool. I participated in a creative non-fiction workshop which is actually a 2-day workshop; today and Thursday. Several weeks ago each of us was required to send a non-fiction piece we'd written to everyone else in the class, then we were told to read each of the other pieces and write a one page critique for each one. It was a lot of reading, but very worth it since I'm not primarily a non-fiction writer (though very interested in it), and it also gave me a chance to read the kinds of things other people are writing.
So today (and Thursday) we're workshopping all the pieces. We shared our critiques, helped each other with ideas on where the pieces could be better, how it didn't work, etc. Mine wasn't on today's list, so I'll have to wait until Thursday. But it's really awesome to see other styles and some very interesting subject matter.
Of course instead of narrowing my focus of interest these workshops only seem to be inspiring me to try different kinds of writing!
Our next stop for the day was a panel with recently graduated students discussing the internship requirement for the program, what they did for their internships, and how the internship, if chosen properly, can be a catalyst for learning and possibly employment or publication.
Next, we met with the instructor of the online course we'll be taking this semester, "Online Multigenre Workshop," which as far as I can tell will consist of far too much reading, some critiquing of each other's work, and some online submission.
Finally, we met for peer workshops which was a 2 1/2 hour meeting of about a dozen of us focusing on fiction. We had to really stretch to kill the time with applicable conversation, but we got some useful answers to questions about the nuts and bolts of the program from students who have been in it longer, we talked some in general about fiction, and then we decided that since we have another such meeting, but 3 1/2 hours, on Thursday that we'd share some work with each other and use the time for some critiquing. So now I have to decide what the heck to send to all of them to read.
Oh, and we got our tuition bills today, too. Ouch.
Overall, though, it was a very productive day. Looking forward to another one tomorrow!
So today (and Thursday) we're workshopping all the pieces. We shared our critiques, helped each other with ideas on where the pieces could be better, how it didn't work, etc. Mine wasn't on today's list, so I'll have to wait until Thursday. But it's really awesome to see other styles and some very interesting subject matter.
Of course instead of narrowing my focus of interest these workshops only seem to be inspiring me to try different kinds of writing!
Our next stop for the day was a panel with recently graduated students discussing the internship requirement for the program, what they did for their internships, and how the internship, if chosen properly, can be a catalyst for learning and possibly employment or publication.
Next, we met with the instructor of the online course we'll be taking this semester, "Online Multigenre Workshop," which as far as I can tell will consist of far too much reading, some critiquing of each other's work, and some online submission.
Finally, we met for peer workshops which was a 2 1/2 hour meeting of about a dozen of us focusing on fiction. We had to really stretch to kill the time with applicable conversation, but we got some useful answers to questions about the nuts and bolts of the program from students who have been in it longer, we talked some in general about fiction, and then we decided that since we have another such meeting, but 3 1/2 hours, on Thursday that we'd share some work with each other and use the time for some critiquing. So now I have to decide what the heck to send to all of them to read.
Oh, and we got our tuition bills today, too. Ouch.
Overall, though, it was a very productive day. Looking forward to another one tomorrow!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
MFA Residency: Day One
I'm going to write a daily blog about my first MFA residency experience, partly as a way for me to assimilate the information and partly because there may be some useful writing information worth sharing.
Today we attended our first workshops. I participated in a workshop entitled, "Writing Like A Painter" where we talked about such concepts as false center or absence of center, narration and master narrative, and unity. The mediator used the novel, "The Sea," by John Banville and the artwork of Pierre Bonnard to illustrate his points.
We attended a discussion panel about getting the most out of mentorships, then met with our assigned mentors to begin discussions about our first courses, defining writing goals and designing reading lists based on those goals.
Finally, we went to a reading in the hotel lounge where we listened to two graduates of the program read excerpts from their novels.
Yesterday we attended a program orientation where we were informed that during our two year tenure in the program, aside from the coursework, we'll be tasked with an enrichment project which is unrelated to writing but is an experience which will make us even more well-rounded. I think I'll use my participation in the local chamber chorale as my enrichment project.
We must also do an internship of some sort, and I plan to approach the English Dept at the local university (where I just finished my BA) and see if I can arrange a teaching practicum. My ultimate goal is to teach at the university level in order to earn a paycheck and benefits while at the same time exploring all the different kinds of writing I want to do.
Finally, of course, we have to write a book length thesis project. I haven't decided yet if I want to write a novel or a screenplay. Truthfully, I want to write both. We'll see how ambitious I am as I move forward. As it turns out, my mentor has done just that. He wrote a novel then wrote the screenplay for the movie version of the same novel.
Anyway, that's it for day one. We'll see what day two brings!
Today we attended our first workshops. I participated in a workshop entitled, "Writing Like A Painter" where we talked about such concepts as false center or absence of center, narration and master narrative, and unity. The mediator used the novel, "The Sea," by John Banville and the artwork of Pierre Bonnard to illustrate his points.
We attended a discussion panel about getting the most out of mentorships, then met with our assigned mentors to begin discussions about our first courses, defining writing goals and designing reading lists based on those goals.
Finally, we went to a reading in the hotel lounge where we listened to two graduates of the program read excerpts from their novels.
Yesterday we attended a program orientation where we were informed that during our two year tenure in the program, aside from the coursework, we'll be tasked with an enrichment project which is unrelated to writing but is an experience which will make us even more well-rounded. I think I'll use my participation in the local chamber chorale as my enrichment project.
We must also do an internship of some sort, and I plan to approach the English Dept at the local university (where I just finished my BA) and see if I can arrange a teaching practicum. My ultimate goal is to teach at the university level in order to earn a paycheck and benefits while at the same time exploring all the different kinds of writing I want to do.
Finally, of course, we have to write a book length thesis project. I haven't decided yet if I want to write a novel or a screenplay. Truthfully, I want to write both. We'll see how ambitious I am as I move forward. As it turns out, my mentor has done just that. He wrote a novel then wrote the screenplay for the movie version of the same novel.
Anyway, that's it for day one. We'll see what day two brings!
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