Chloe Yelena Miller

Writers' Room in Washington, D.C.?

2012-02-03T06:28:00.000-05:00

I was excited to see (anonymous) folks posting about a possible “Writers Room DC.” They are looking for feedback about what local writers might be looking for in a space like this. And, very kindly, they offer a free week to anyone who offers some feedback in response to their posted questions.

While I don’t know who is behind it or if they’d be excited about poets (their page only mentions research and fiction writers), I’m pretty thrilled at the prospect.

The idea behind it is essentially a workspace for rent in an office with other writers. If it is like other writers' rooms, it would be inexpensive, flexible and as long-term/short-term as you like. You, the writer, gains a dedicated work space for creative projects and a community (or, at least as much as you’d like of one.)

Do you belong to a writers room/space/collective in another city?

Tidbits from a Poetry Reading at the Lannan Center: Meena Alexander and Ishion Hutchinson

2012-02-01T07:15:00.000-05:00

Georgetown University’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice hosts a wide range of poets and events. Last week I heard Meena Alexander and Ishion Hutchinson read poetry.

Here are a few highlights from the question and answer period:

In response to a question about living in the US, away from his native Jamaica, Hutchinson said that being here gives him the “necessary distance” to understand his home and be riskier in his writing. While he may take the risk to be nostalgic, he added that it’s ok to be a bit dreamy. He rightly asked, “poets really are dreamy, right?”

About first coming to the US from India, Alexander noted that the US is “built on layers of migration and one could be a part of that. At the same time, it was hard to encounter the idea of race.”

Regarding writing in another language, Hutchinson said that when something is untranslatable, he looks for “sound and texture. Even if a word means what it should, you look for accidents of sound.”

And my favorite quote of the evening, Alexander described poetry as a “dance with the unsayable.”

Click on the Lannan Center’s calendar for upcoming events.

Original Love Poem Postcards for Valentine's Day!

2012-01-30T07:02:00.000-05:00

One image by Melabee M. Miller from this set of love poem postcards

This Valentine’s Day, order an original set of love poem postcards from my Etsy shop.

I wrote six original love poems and paired them with photographs of sea, air and land. The photographs were taken by my mom, the wonderfully talented Melabee M. Miller.

While these love poems were inspired by my relationship with my husband, their sentiment is universal. Visit my Etsy shop to read one example.

Place your order this week to have them delivered before Valentine’s Day!

Keep an Eye Out: Avoid Email Scams & Protect Yourself Online

2012-01-27T07:48:00.001-05:00

Gnome keeping an eye out at the Smith College Botanical Gardens

Since I advertise my writing coach services on Craigslist, or maybe just because I have an email address, I receive many attempted email scams. I bet you do, too.

The set up is generally the same: A parent in another country wants to send his or her child to live with me and/or study with me. Then the parent promises to send me a very large check in return for my services. In the end, I would owe that person money because the check would be fake. (Here’s more on the “tutor scam”.)

No, I haven’t fallen for it. Someone I knew who worked in the rental business, however, did and she said that there was an apparently hastily written note thrown into the package with the very large check. The note said something about how the check was fake.

I am, however, mildly entertained by the language. So was Hila Ratzabi, who wrote an awesome poem and introduction about spam (often written like a scam) published by Storyscape.

Below is one of the classic, oddly written, emails that I’ve received lately. Apparently this scammer didn’t even want to take the time to fill in the blanks. Perhaps it, or something like it, will inspire your own creative (legal) work?

So, beware, friends. This a classic and regular scam, but I’m assuming that (eventually) the scammers will get more adept.

On a more serious note, do all that you can to protect your online identity and internet hygiene. You might be interested (terrified and then busy with a to-do list) in this amazing Atlantic article by James Fallows, Hacked!

Scam email:

Am John

by name, I will like my Son to relocate to your (CITY for holiday)

His name is Terry and is 14 years old .I want him to be busy in the

time of the day, because Am right now in CANADA for a very important

business and it will took me some month to get back to state that is

why i want him to be at your lesson Center , Am okay with your price

and i have decided to let him attend to your lesson and he will be

coming1 hour per day in the Afternoon, also get back to me with your

own convenient time and days my son will be coming in 3 days in a

week and when you will be available to start with my son..Hopefully

(next week is ok by me), i haves Someone that will always drives him

down to your lesson center..I will be happy if you can help my son

because my son is highly interested in your tutor lesson and he can't

avoid to miss it..and i will be happy if you can show him some love

and caring also you can take him as your personal son Thanks

Kindly get back to me with your information below to be on the check.....

FULL NAME AND ADDRESS WITH ZIP CODE....(not p.o box)

YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER...(i can text you)

The reason why i need the information is that the payment will sent to

you through Ups Or FedEx Courier,So that the courier can deliver the

payment to you. Hope you understand me now.Thanks and hope to read

from you soon

Best Regards

"Smile and Dance to the song of life"

Writing Prompt: Outdoor Space

2012-01-25T08:40:00.000-05:00

Detroit Institute for the Arts

Describe an outdoor space. You can choose a river, patio, beach, bird bath, jungle, woods, park setting, botanical garden, street corner, etc.

Write for ten minutes without stopping. Focus on listing all of the details (consider natural light, colors, growth, temperature, smell, etc.) Do not worry about spelling or grammar.

Write non-stop for five to ten minutes and then go back and underline the key lines/ideas/images that emerge.

I'd love to read your piece or responses to the exercise below in the Comments section.

AWP 2012 in Chicago

2012-01-23T05:53:00.000-05:00

I’m looking forward to attending and presenting at this year’s AWP conference in Chicago. If you’ll be there, I’d love to see you. (Send me an email: Chloemiller(at)gmail(dot)com.)

F208. Will Write for Food: Writers Working Outside Academia

Friday, March 2

3:00 P.M.-4:15 P.M

(Chloe Miller, Alison Hicks, Patricia Lewis, Valerie Martinez)

Lake Michigan, Hilton Chicago, 8th Floor

During the past two years, openings in English departments declined more than 40%. Creative writing tenure-track openings declined more than 30%. At the same time, the demand for writing opportunities is widening, encompassing community-based, travel, and virtual writing communities. Panelists will discuss writing lives outside academia, including entrepreneurial ventures in online teaching and mentoring, editing and coaching services, workshops and retreats, and community engagement projects.

A big thank you to Alison Hicks for spearheading our great AWP conference proposal. If you’re free on Friday afternoon, I hope you’ll join us.

You, The Writer: A (non-sugary, decaf) toast to a year of health!

2012-01-19T10:08:00.001-05:00

Doing something else: Visiting the (free) National Zoo

I’ve declared, after a gigantic farewell dinner of sorts that involved Popeye’s fried chicken and buttery biscuits, 2012 is the year of health. THE YEAR OF HEALTH. (Yes, it deserves all caps. I'm pretty riled up about this.)

I know, we all love the fresh start and the new year is always a solid excuse. Or a solid cliché since we commonly make promises in January and forget them.

Regardless of past history of swearing, really swearing to go to the gym, I’m now committed. For real. (Or at least I hope so. If I publish the announcement here, it has to be true, right? Right?)

2011 was a tough year for me and many others. It is possible that 2012 will bring upset, too. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do what we can to stay healthy – mentally, physically and creatively. All the better to live longer, face adversity better and be in a good place to write.

Writers spend a lot of time indoors and alone (which may or may not contribute to our creativity and productivity). Yes, we work, but we also worry, sulk, stare at Facebook, munch on food that we shouldn’t, and sit still indoors when we should move outside.

So, here’s my list of simple goals for my health. I’ll check back in next December to see how it went. As for writing goals, that’s a longer list of current projects, new projects, writing, revision and editing.

Exercise:

We know that we’re supposed to get 30 minutes or more of exercise of a day. During a busy week, I might get off my office chair and into the gym twice a week or so. Not ideal.

We’ve all heard the reasons why we should make time to exercise (for a reminder, read these seven reasons from the Mayo Clinic) and we know we feel better when we actually get into the habit of doing it. This year I promise to try to go to the gym more regularly. Every day might be a stretch, but I’ll aim for going to the gym (or walk or hike) at least four days a week.

Get out of the house for fresh air and sunshine:

Primarily teaching online, there are days that I have no reason to leave the house. Does that sound healthy? My computer may be next to a window and I may enjoy noticing the sunshine and shadows, but I’m indoors at a window. Not outdoors.

This year, I must get outside – during daylight hours – and experience the world every single day. I simply feel better after my eyes adjust to a non-computer-screen-world and take a deep breath. I must spend some time in the sunlight everyday. Yesterday I sat outside and read for half an hour in the natural light. Sure, I had a heavy coat and gloves on since it’s so cold, but afterwards I felt rejuvenated in a way that coffee couldn’t accomplish. (For more official reasons to leave your house, see this Livestrong article.)

Fresh food:

I love to eat. And cook and write about it. And then eat the leftovers.

This year, I hope to continue to introduce more fresh vegetables, fruit, lean meat and high fiber grains into my diet. Maybe with more exercise and fresh air, I will be able to kick this coffee, high-sugar or hig-salt-snacking-while-I-grade diet for good. (Harvard School of Public Health offers clear guidelines.)

Do something else:

We spent three weeks in China over the winter holidays. It was mesmerizing. I’m still trying to digest it all.

It was also an incredibly fertile writing period for me. It took about a week, but after that, I was regularly taking notes in a notebook I carried around with me. I now have about ten fairly solid drafts of poems that I will continue to work on.

Of course, we can’t afford to travel internationally every time I need inspiration, but we can try to do something new every week or so. My husband and I might try new museum exhibits, shows, a new restaurant, walk on a new path in a National Park or even just play a different board game. The key is to break up the monotony in some way. It doesn’t need to cost anything.

What will you do to keep yourself on track in this new year?

Guest Blog: Lorraine Ash on Starting a Memoir

2012-01-18T06:41:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Lorraine Ash, author of Life Touches Life: A Mother’s Story of Stillbirth and Healing, for this year’s first guest blog post. I think you’ll benefit from her thoughtful encouragement.

Lorraine Ash, MA, is a journalist, author, essayist, and playwright who teaches memoir writing in New Jersey and other venues nationwide. Her next workshop - The Inner Spring: Writing Memoir Using Love as the Narrative Thread - is scheduled for June 8-10, 2012 at Carmel Retreat, a 30-acre country estate in Mahwah, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.lorraineash.com. 

***

Are you contemplating writing a memoir? A good place to start is with a question about yourself, a belief you hold, or an experience you’ve had.

Let this be a rich question asked from deep in the heart of your experience so that the reader, convinced you know the terrain well, accepts you as a trustworthy guide into your world.

If the question is vital to your self-understanding and personal peace, the reader will sense and share the urgency and follow you. Anywhere. Personal stories are universal ones, too, because all human beings struggle with the same issues of identity and meaning.

In my memoir Life Touches Life: A Mother’s Story of Stillbirth and Healing, I ask: How do I reconcile my inherited, and heretofore untested, belief that a good person with faith in a just god can experience such a cruel fate? And what kind of god lets a beautiful, innocent baby die, anyway?

To answer the question I had to challenge myself. The memoir is the story of the inner changes I navigated. Each chapter represents a shift in consciousness until, finally, I emerge at the end a person with a new cosmology. My faith is intact, but it is a faith in the order of things as they are.

That new faith includes the reality of a god force, a creative spark, that lives within me and evolves as I do. For me, that spark ignites, and that inner force is activated, through writing. A Native American writer once told me he considered the act of writing memoir sheer sorcery because of its ability to transform the writer and the reader. Perhaps he is right.

The power of asking a seminal question, and having the courage to write your way to the answer, is nothing less than the power to renew your spirit for more living. It also is the power to connect with other people because memoirs, by their very existence, insist every corner of the human experience deserves witnessing. Each and every one beckons: You are not alone, and here is how it was for me.

MLK Day Writing Coach Sale!

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Martin Luther King Day! To celebrate, I am offering a Fourth Free Hour to writers who book three hours of private writing coach services by midnight EST, Monday, January 16^th.

During your four hours of private writing coaching, I will read your writing and discuss it with you. You are welcome to write something in response to a prompt or submit previous writing.

Beginning to experienced writers can benefit from my services as a writing coach. We will meet in-person in the Washington, D.C., area, on the phone or Skype video conference.

Email me (chloemiller(at)gmail(dot)com) before midnight, Monday, January 16^th, and you’ll be eligible for a Fourth Free Hour!

This promotion costs $300.00. You are welcome to purchase the hours for yourself or a friend. You can also split the hours between yourself and a friend.

If you book by midnight EST, January 16th, and receive a free fourth hour, you are not eligible for the usual 10% discount on booking at least three hours at once. This sale ends at midnight EST, January 16th. Limit two discounts per customer.

Attention Online Instructors and Students: Suggestions?

2012-01-12T07:45:00.001-05:00

Good coffee: A fine online teaching companion

Are you teaching or taking online classes? I’m writing a handbook on how to be an online student and I need your help. I’d love to share your advice & suggestions to future online students.

How would you answer the questions below? Please leave a comment here or email me (chloemiller(at)gmail(dot)com.) Be sure to include how I should refer to you if I publish your comment (name, school affiliation, years experience teaching/studying online.) If you prefer to remain anonymous, please let me know.

If you have other suggestions about being an online student (specifics about email, online etiquette, course navigation, etc.), feel free to include those, too.

The handbook will be applicable for all subjects (not only writing or literature classes.) I hope you’ll share this request with friends, classmates and colleagues in any field.

Thank you again for your help and good luck with the new semester.

Best wishes,

Chloe

Online Teachers:

What do you wish students knew (about online classes, not the content of your course) before they started to study online?

How can online students make a good first (and lasting) impression?

What kinds of online activities are easy for most students?

What is the biggest mistake online students commonly make?

What advice do you regularly give your online students?

Students:

What do you wish you knew before you took an online class?

What was the biggest mistake you made – and could have avoided – in an online course?

What advice would you give future online students?

Somewhere Else: Taking a break and refueling for you and your writing

2012-01-11T06:02:00.000-05:00

Somewhere else: In Beijing, China, wearing a very warm new hat and a face mask to (sort of) protect against the air pollution. The character on the front of the mask means "double happiness."

Smith College graduate Rita Foley wrote in the winter 2011 issue of the alumnae magazine (page 29) that we all need to recharge. She’s exactly right.

After spending almost a month traveling in China – a place whose culture, food, landscape, history and language is quite unfamiliar to me beyond books, restaurants and art exhibits – I am ready to start a new year and semester. Ok, maybe I’m a little behind (it is January 11^th, not 1^st, after all), but, I’m ready now. (Mostly. There’s always something else to do, but I’m trying not to stress about it.)

I left my laptop at home, shut down my email and Facebook (ok – I cheated a little by using my husband’s laptop), and took notes in old fashioned paper notebooks. I haven’t done that in years. Before I left, I set up my spring 2011 online classes completely and tried to work as far ahead as possible. It was hectic, to say the least, at times, but it made the transition back much easier. The 2012 me appreciates what the 2011 me did.

We’d been planning this trip, with books, a savings account and blog, for years. Literally, years. It was no small voyage. Still, while I was in China, I lamented that I hadn’t had more time to read more Chinese poetry, study the history and better understand the religious, imperial and everyday art. (Ok, maybe I go a little overboard, but it felt like a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, considering the cost.) Except for the pollution, I fell in love with the world there and look forward to continuing to learn about it.

What does this escape from the familiar do for my writing, teaching and everyday life? It offered me a new perspective (one which I’ll probably understand better with time) and a break from the everyday work which can, as we all know, become boring at times. What’s worse for your writing than being bored?

With this break in mind, I hope to take 2012 more slowly. Sure, there are always things that seem to require rushing (laundry! work deadlines! bus schedules!) but, I hope to integrate more space to think and explore new ideas. I am excited to look over my poetry notes from the trip and write new poems in this new year. Instead of doing things because I feel that I have to (and I want to cross something off my to-do-list), I’m again excited by the professional, creative and personal life that I’ve crafted.

We love to make resolutions for the new year. The trick, as we all know, is to keep them. I’m setting time aside (quite literally writing it into the calendar) for myself every week to write and read. If I call myself a writer, I cannot put writing on the back burner. I’m also setting time aside to not write and read. Those art exhibits and energetic walks in the woods with my husband help to make the writing happen. I’m committed to taking time off – an hour here or there – throughout the year.

What will you do to make sure your writing happens? You must write, as well as do other things that fuel – creatively and financially – your writing.

If you need some help, I’m here to help as your private writing coach. And I’m ready for you.

Happy Holidays! See you in 2012!

2011-12-01T16:14:00.001-05:00

The academic schedule seems cushy: We generally teach in 14 week increments and seem to have a lot of vacation. Work can sometimes look like we are just staring into space…

No matter how much I love living as an academic (and being married to one), it is far from being “cushy.” We teach, in part, to be immersed in our field, contribute to it and share it with students. That means that we use much of our vacation time (and nights and weekends and meal “breaks”) to prepare to teach, teach short term classes and do our own research or creative work while reading and attending conferences in order to keep current and continue our own education. Sometimes we take on side jobs for extra cash since, well, being an academic isn’t exactly a top “1%” job.

Phew! It can be exhausting. And exhilarating. All at once. I love it. Like many creative folks, I’ve had many jobs in many fields (from aerospace to marketing to student life) and this one is, hands down, my favorite. I love it.

With all of this in mind, I’ve decided to run this three-day-a-week blog on an academic schedule. This holiday season, once I finish grading and submitting those grades, there will be some travel, some family time and lots of writing, reading and, hopefully, a bit of recouping.

I’ll see you again in 2012! Have a happy and healthy holiday season.

Memoir: You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know

2011-11-30T07:56:00.000-05:00

In 2010, I was moved when reading Oliver Sacks’ A Neurologist’s Notebook: Face-Blind; Why are some of us terrible at recognizing faces? (Since the full article isn’t available for free, try listening to a related interview with Oliver Sacks here.)

Since then, I’ve been personally interested in prosopagnosia (the inability to recognize faces and places.) The symptoms that I have are substantially less pronounced than those described by Sacks, but they are present. I was able to determine that I wasn’t simply a hypochondriac after speaking with a researcher who I found through this organization.

Heather Seller’s memoir, You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know, continues to clarify the experience of someone with prosopagnosia in a well-written book. I quite literally finished the book in two days because I couldn’t put it down. There are two chronological narratives throughout the book: the past and a more recent present. Sellers presents events as they happened and offers the reader a chance to experience the same, “aha!’ moments that she did. And there are many of these moments.

For more on the book, watch this video trailer for the book or visit the author’s site.

Memoir Writing Workshops @ Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., this February

2011-11-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

I am looking forward to teaching two memoir writing workshops in February at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., on Thursdays in February. Memoir Writing I will run in the mornings (10:00 AM – 11:30 AM) and Memoir Writing II will run in the afternoons (1:00PM – 2:30 PM). For both classes, we will be looking closely at selections from The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present edited by Phillip Lopate.

I taught my first class at the bookstore in November, Memoir Writing I, and it filled up quickly. Register through the bookstore today to reserve your space.

In these classes, we sit in a circle, write in response to given prompts, discuss student writing and essays assigned from the text. What’s better than spending an hour and a half weekly with like-minded adults writing and discussing writing in a lovely independent bookstore?

Thanksgiving Week Writing Coach Sale!

2011-11-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Week! To celebrate, I am offering a Fourth Free Hour to writers who book three hours of private writing coach services by midnight EST, Sunday, November 27th.

During your four hours of private writing coaching, I will read your writing and discuss it with you. You are welcome to write something in response to a prompt or submit previous writing.

Beginning to experienced writers can benefit from my services as a writing coach. We will meet in-person in the Washington, D.C., area, on the phone or Skype video conference.

Email me (chloemiller(at)gmail(dot)com) before midnight, November 27^th, and you’ll be eligible for a Fourth Free Hour!

The cost for three hours is $300.00. You are welcome to purchase the hours for yourself or a friend. You can also split the hours between yourself and a friend.

If you book by midnight EST, November 27^th, and receive a free fourth hour, you are not eligible for the usual 10% discount on booking three hours at once. This sale ends at midnight EST, November 27^th. Limit two discounts per customer.

Writing Prompt: Parent / Caregiver Memory

2011-11-18T07:21:00.000-05:00

Describe a memory you have with a parent or caregiver. It could be your earliest memory or even a recent memory. Rely on your five senses to describe the scene.

Write non-stop for five to ten minutes and then go back and underline the key lines/ideas/images that emerge.

I'd love to read your piece or responses to the exercise below in the Comments section.

Show Me the Money: Grants and fellowships for writers

2011-11-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

Florence, Italy: Where I would go if I won a writing grant...

It isn’t easy to support yourself as a writer and searching for financial opportunities can cut into your writing time. Here are a few great sites to help make that job easier for you. Do you have others to recommend?

Erika Dreifus’ list of Grants, Fellowships, and Awards

Foundation Center

Mira’s List

United States Artists

Etsy Shop: Postcard Poetry

2011-11-14T06:41:00.001-05:00

Photograph by Melabee M. Miller

Did you know that I have two sets of postcard poetry available in my Etsy shop?

One set, the first one I created, is based on memories of my great Aunt Dora. The poems have titles in the present tense, defining a contemporary action that led me to a memory. The poems themselves are written in the past tense.

The second set is a series of love poems paired with photography of sea, land and sky taken by my mother, photographer Melabee M. Miller. The image above is one of them.

While early drafts of the poems from both sets were firmly grounded in my own experiences, further revision moves the emotional heart and human truth of each into a more universal realm. They are not meant to be historical documents, but rather artist interpretations of our lives together as humans.

I hope you'll visit my Etsy shop for more details.

Writing Prompt: Turning Point in your Life

2011-11-11T06:56:00.000-05:00

Write about a turning point in your life’s apparent direction.

Suggestions: You may consider a moment of happiness or a challenge. It might be something as definitive as a decision to go to college, a death, a marriage or something as small as a thought you had in your car while waiting for the light to change. Maybe a shred of fabric from your grandmother’s wedding dress put you on a certain course. Or perhaps you heard the Dalai Lama speak and were encouraged to change your life. I’ve been working on a series of poems based on being called the name of a late friend by a stranger who confused me with another stranger. This event prompted a larger meditation. You never know what will prompt a change in thinking that leads to a change in your journey.

Write non-stop for five to ten minutes and then go back and underline the key lines/ideas/images that emerge.

I'd love to read your piece or responses to the exercise below in the Comments section.

The Poem’s Origin: You

2011-11-09T05:26:00.000-05:00

I'm confused when writers announce that someone else – a muse or higher power of some sort – gave them a poem.

How is that possible? You – the writer – sat down and wrote something. Who else would have written it for you?

Your writing is a combination of your experiences. That is to say, a combination of things you’ve done, read, heard, felt, dreamed and thought about.

Take a risk and allow yourself to own your writing. You are allowed to admit control over the writing process – from drafting to revising to editing to publishing.

Of course I’ve had experiences where I seem to wake up from a sort of trance and find myself surprised by what I’ve written. Our brains are powerful muscles that transform input, input that perhaps started before we were born, into something new that we create. And that trance? It was probably concentration that is hard to find when we constantly multitask in our crazy worlds.

Are there inspirations that move you to write? Maybe a certain action (like running or cooking) or a place (like standing by the sea) helps you to concentrate and allow your mind to think of words, phrases or entire pieces. If so, good for you for knowing what works and allowing yourself to experience those things.

Good work writing! You did it.

Expensive or Hard to Find Textbooks: Some tricks to find cheap textbooks

2011-11-07T05:46:00.005-05:00

When I teach writing or literature courses, I try to assign books that aren’t terribly costly. I understand the financial challenges that being a student can present. This semester, one literature anthology that I’ve used a number of times was no longer easily found and the prices skyrocketed. I looked online, asked around and found a few good spots to look for books in general. Let me know if you have any additional suggestions.

Borrow:

Your school or local library might have the books available

Rent your books on Chegg

Buy:

Your school bookstore might sell used copies of the books

Indiebound, which brings together independent bookstores, might help you to be able to find your book while supporting a local bookseller

Try the book publisher’s website which might list a number of places that sell the book

Ebay’s Half.Com has a great selection

Amazon has used and new textbooks

Writing Prompt: Something that has been asked of you

2011-11-04T08:39:00.000-04:00

Write in response to a question that has been asked of you. Did someone once pose a question that left you speechless? It might have been a simple or complicated question. Maybe someone called you by the wrong name. Maybe you were asked to explain something that had seemed simple and then no longer did.

Write non-stop for five to ten minutes and then go back and underline the key lines/ideas/images that emerge.

I'd love to read your piece or responses to the exercise below in the Comments section.

Martha's Vineyard Writers Residency: Overview & Review

2011-11-02T07:17:00.002-04:00

Sunrise in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, the town where the residency was held.

I returned home on Halloween after spending three weeks at The Point Way Inn for the Martha’s Vineyard Writers Residency. Writing students often ask me to describe not only what a residency is, but also how to approach one and details about my experiences. I strongly recommend preparing for writing residencies, even if you still have paid work to do, by setting specific goals and using the time to take stock of your writing. With extra time and a new place to alert your senses, you can both look closely at your writing and step back to take an overview of your larger projects and progress.

In today's post, I describe my goals and accomplishments, as well as my experiences at this particular residency.

Goals & Accomplishments

I am teaching writing and literature classes online this semester, so I couldn't give myself a true residency. While I would love to take time off from work and write full-time, that’s not economically feasible for me. My husband and I might be able to squeeze our budget to make it possible, but then I couldn’t do things like this residency (which is fairly inexpensive, but not free like some.) The good news is that I quite like teaching. Teaching online, instead of in-person, gives me the flexibility to do things, like this residency. In the end, it all works out.

I often find myself juggling a number of projects at once. This month was no different. My goals are in bold below, followed by what I accomplished at the residency:

Revise book proposal A (Not started.)

Write book proposal B and two sample chapters (I drafted the proposal and two chapters. It all needs more work. The ideas did turn into an article proposal; I haven’t heard back from the editor yet.)

Write new poems for Elsewhere, a poetry manuscript (I wrote and revised ten new definition poems which I had been thinking about and vaguely drafting in my mind for a few weeks. I’m very excited about them. For now, at least. These things take time.)

Revise earlier poems from Elsewhere and reorganize them into a manuscript (Done. Again, for now, at least. We’ll see how the manuscript fares after I give it some time to settle. As I wrote above…)

Submit individual poems from Elsewhere (I submitted a handful of poems and the entire manuscript to a first book publishing contest. Fingers crossed and air-kisses for the manuscript.)

Review and organize earlier work (poems, essays, articles and proposals) to see what can be re-submitted after earlier rejections (I’ve started to do this, but not as much as I’d like. While I try to keep drafts organized on my computer and in paper files, it gets messy at times. I have an earlier manuscript and two chapbooks that I’d like to continue to submit for publication.)

Write an assigned book review for The Literary Review (After carefully reading through a number of book reviews from published issues, re-reading the poetry anthology to be reviewed, writing a number of drafts and discussing about it with two other poet-residents, I submitted it.)

Read literature and keep up with the news. Of course, it is impossible to write without reading. (I brought a pile of literary magazines, New Yorker magazines and a book of Chinese poetry to read here. I try to keep up with a variety of news sites online. Frankly, I barely made a dent. I did read some work written by other residents, which was great.)

Work on spring Smith College Alumnae reading in D.C. (I coordinated some of the details, from “save the date” publicity to asking for help from other alums.)
Organize and submit panel proposal for a spring conference. (Done.)

So, while teaching online, blogging (x3) regularly and working on these writing and reading projects, I was busy with many projects.

Martha's Vineyard Writers Residency

On top of this regular work, there was the residency itself, which took some time to settle into, as these things do. We were a group of nine (mostly female) writers – poets, fiction writers, creative non-fiction writers and a playwright. Some people stayed for the entire six weeks and others for two or more weeks, so there was some rotation in the group. I made some new friends with whom I look forward to sharing work and friendship for years to come. Of course there were also moments of strange interpersonal drama, but that's hard to avoid with a group of this size. The program included weekly resident readings at a local library and organized (sometimes potluck) dinners with invited local writers.

At times we discussed our writing, experiences and details about our projects, which is always helpful. I look forward to keeping in touch with these new friends and sharing ideas into the future. One resident, Lisa Blackwell recently guest blogged.

We were assigned individual rooms, intended to be both bedrooms and writing studios. The rooms varied greatly. Some of the larger rooms upstairs included private balconies and sitting rooms. My room was on the ground floor and didn't have an extra sitting space or balcony overlooking the meditation garden. It was a bedroom with a small folding desk. It wasn't a quiet room, since it was close to the front door, front porch and faced a main street close to a major intersection. The house itself isn't far from a church whose bells ring on the hour, every hour, throughout the night. Finally, the room, strangely, didn't have heat. The electric heater was busy most of the residency. Let's just say I'm exhausted from sleeping so poorly for three weeks.

I never settled into a good writing space. I couldn't work in my room since the internet connection was very weak. I rely on the internet to teach online and I am in the habit of regularly looking up ideas as I write. Maybe it would be healthy to unplug, as they say, but it just isn’t how I work. There was a writing room upstairs, but, again, the internet connection was weak. Incidentally, that room was poorly lit, too. I usually sat in the dining room, which was filled with light during the day, but it was more of a social place (and wasn't available during dinner time), so it was hard to concentrate. It was also unfortunate to have to relocate regularly. I tried sitting in the coffee shop nearby, Espresso Love, but that became distracting, too (and meant I had to spend more money after having paid for a residency and a place to write.)

While I did do a lot in three weeks, I know I get more work done at home. I have a dedicated (and quiet) work space with light, internet and heat.

All in all, there are some long-term advantages to doing something like this. I am a city person at heart, without doubt, but spending some time on an island was rejuvenating. There is revived sea-related imagery in my work.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of doing a residency is to reminded of what I learned in graduate school: The importance of integrating and valuing regular writing and reading every day. It is easy to get distracted, rush through life, and do only the paid work and chores during the week. There can be a balance between the artistic, working (paid and household), social and physically active life. No one can be Superwoman, but we can each craft a schedule that works for us.

Mind Your Business...

2011-10-30T12:43:00.000-04:00

They Might Be Giants performing in Richmond, Virginia, in September

The awesome, rhythmic, refrain of the They Might Be Giants’ song Cloisonné is “Mind your business.” Who hasn’t wanted to say that someone? For writers, really all creative types, it can be particularly difficult to receive unsolicited advice in response to our work. Haven’t you wanted to tell someone to “Mind your business”?

My husband and I saw the band They Might Be Giants perform in Richmond, Virginia, last month, and they sang this song. I’m still humming it. You can read the lyrics here. No, I don’t really understand what the song means, but it is a catchy tune none-the-less. Maybe it is their obvious love of rhyme and sound, like a language poem, that moves me when I hear them sing it. You might fall more in love with it if you watch the video here.

So, the next time someone offers you unnecessary advice, you might sing them this song. Or least key parts of it.

Writing Prompt: Name your home

2011-10-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Write on the name you would give your home (home can be defined as where you live or somewhere you feel at home.)

Write non-stop for five to ten minutes and then go back and underline the key lines/ideas/images that emerge.

I'd love to read your piece or responses to the exercise below in the Comments section.