Writers Write

Thank you, Frances Joy, for joining us this week! We loved having you! 

For the first part of our meeting today, we discussed how we might use the quotations we found in The Red Pony to write an expanded paper on the novel. You realized, quite easily, that you not only understand the themes of the book quite deeply but that with just a bit more exploration you could build a powerful paper. We left The Red Pony there and moved onto...

Muriel, we discovered, is very different for every one. 

To Jacob she lives in the bottom of the grocery store, deep fries hamburgers and chucks the leftovers to a rodent out the window.

To Eleanore, she is a long-legged runner who runs in cut-off denim shorts to the grocery store for potatoes.

To Logan, she's a strange hippie who rides around on her lawn mower and lives in a "large town."

To Cody, Muriel she loves punk rock music, is a vegetarian who eats fish and lives in South Africa.

To Ellie, she's a 25-year-old, suffering from some brain issues. She loves to draw on all the papers in the printer and wants goldfish she'll name Steven and Stephen. 

To Frances, she's a young child who wants a baby chihuahua who stays a baby forever. Her Muriel lives in Mississippi, loves eggnog and jolly ranchers.

To Carolyn, Muriel rides in the backseat of her Elder-Car so she can do just about everything (not listed here) she wants. In the backseat, she feels less gray, younger than 63, more married, less lonely, more in charge of her life--ironically. 

We discussed how if we let our brains relax, how if we ignore pressures of grades, time constraints, topics, our brain will deliver us some pretty interesting material. Maybe we don't love ALL our writing, but we love some of it ... love it enough to maybe, just maybe use it again...

Soooo..after reading our Muriel pieces, we went back through and highlighted our favorite spots--just one or two phrases, words or sentences. The "cream" we might want to use again.

Cody, finding his best sentence

Logan, finding his best few lines

Above, Jacob, zeroing in on his

Below, Ellie re-writing hers

Carolyn, circling a few of her favorites

Frances finding her best stuff

Because the name "Muriel" leads some to think "whacky," we talked about dimension in the characters of The Red Pony and in ourselves: is any one of us ONLY funny? ONLY brave? ONLY silly? No. We are many things. We cry AND we're brave. We are funny AND we're serious. If a writer insists upon one-dimensional characters, readers cannot connect. Period. It's just true. Well, for me. :) 

We talked about what each of us wants to write for our next meeting. Some have ideas. Some don't. Some want to revisit old writing. Some want to try something new. In all cases, just like requiring characters like "Muriel" have texture, our writing cannot be one-dimensional either. 42 long beautiful complex sentences require a few short sentences so we readers can take a breath. 42 short sentences require breath also. Exclusively funny characters need some moments of seriousness so we can breathe. Exclusively morbid characters needs moments of levity so we can breathe.

Just like in life, nothing is just one thing. 

As you write this week, give yourselves the best chance possible to find something you like in your writing. Writers who don't write are not writers. You HAVE to write to find a gem or two. 

Soooo...

Assignment:

1.  Write 10 minutes a day. This is harder than you think. 
Remember, writing is the only way you write.The only way you amass writing is by writing. Right? So...look around you. See the scenes around you, notice the simplest things. Write.You do not need a "name." Each 10 minutes does not constitute a STORY. Just writing. Now, that said, you MAY start a story and write it 10 minutes a day, too.

 
2.  Find / highlight in each spurt of writing one or two things you think are GREAT writing. Even if it's just a word or a phrase.

3.  Post to the blog if you want--but because it's "publishing" you must have everything spelled correctly. Ask your mom, your sister, your spell-check.
 

4.  If all your writing is not up to your standards, post a few lines that are!
 

5. Bring writing to next Friday's meeting. If you have a printer, please make copies for everyone. That's 5 copies plus your original.