by Theresa Garee | Aug 13, 2018 | Blog
Today, I spent a fabulous afternoon in the company of writers. Yes, I did most of the talking, but what the people arbitrarily labelled “participants” didn’t know going in was that I needed them more than they needed me.
I teach the “rules of writing practice” as taught to me by best-selling author Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind). In the year 2000, shortly before Ed and I returned to my home state of Ohio after living in Taos, New Mexico where I had studied with Natalie, Nat told me to teach writing practice in Ohio. She knew what I needed.
My lame paraphrasing of Nat’s brilliance goes something like this:
1. Use Timed Intervals
. . . just like in meditation practice. Start with ten minutes. Set the microwave timer and GO! The time constraint has a pressure cooker effect, heating up our minds and helping words flow.
2. Keep Your Hand Moving . . .
. . . for the entire time period you’ve selected. It separates and your creative momentum from that oppressive internal editor. No stopping. No crossing out. Don’t let that critic have a chance to stop your naturally moving hand. If you don’t know what to write, write the topic again and continue. Something more will arise.
3. Be Specific.
Oak, not tree. Teddy bear, not stuffed animal. Capture the essential details of your life.
4. Don’t Worry about Spelling, Punctuation; Grammar. Or even the lines on the Page
5. Go for the Jugular.
If it’s scary, it has energy. If you don’t write about it, you’ll just end up writing around it. Even if you know you’ll never publish those words, just go for it!
6. You’re Free to Write the Worst Junk in America
(America, Earth, The Milky Way, The Universe). Take the pressure off. We all write junk. If you’re free to write awful nasty stuff, you’ll be free to write hot, lively stuff as well.
7. Lose Control!
Don’t try to manage what goes down on the page. Let the wild waves of your mind roam free. Don’t grip the pen too hard. It doesn’t matter how sloppy your writing or your thoughts become. Set yourself free.
8. Don’t Think.
Take a vacation from logic, organization, or anything your left-brain loves. Capture the way your mind first flashes on an experience. Step into the words and go. Become the words. No mind. Just write.
Simple enough.
The problem? I forget to follow them.
These “rules” have become so ingrained in me that I take them for granted. And I forget to use them. I lose sight of the practice that has kept me going all these years. I still write, of course, but not with the wild abandon and rich freedom offered by these simple rules. My writing turns shallow and my mind dull. I lose touch with my own big heart and crazy wild mind.
So thank you today to the brave “participants” who allowed me to refresh my recollection by teaching. And thank you to Nat (always) for knowing what I needed in order for the practice to continue at my own desk and at the desks of others. As is often the case, we teach what we need to learn.
by Theresa Garee | Feb 4, 2014 | Blog
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” ― Dorothy Parker, The Collected Dorothy Parker
Last month I received yet another note from a reader who dreams of writing a book. Like many others, he fears his poor grammar will prevent him from succeeding. His note to me read:
I’ve wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember. I’m a voracious reader and I love to write. But I’ve struggled with grammar and punctuation since grade school. Do you have any suggestions on how to master grammar now that I’m an adult?
Many of my readers have similar qualms. Here was my reply:
If you want to write a book, just write a book. Don’t let any of your fears get in the way. In WILD MIND, Natalie Goldberg suggests, “Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, or even the lines on the page.” She’s talking about first drafts, but she’s serious. Later, after many drafts of the work are finished, hire a copyeditor to polish it for you.
As far as learning grammar and punctuation, there are many great books including EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES by Lynne Truss. I also follow a blog called Grammar Girl that may help. I subscribe and follow her on Facebook. I attempt to master each tip she posts. I discover my errors by reading about them and finding the solution.
Here’s a list of 10 good grammar sites including Grammar Girl. Purdue Online Writing Lab and Grammarly are both very good as well. Enjoy and have fun!
Do you have any great sources for finding grammar information? I’d love to hear about them.
by Theresa Garee | Sep 1, 2009 | Blog
“A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” – Thomas Mann (1875 – 1955)
People often ask whether I write by hand or on the computer. I do both. But there was a time when ninety-five percent of what I wrote was by hand. Page after page in a spiral notebook with either a ball point or rollerball pen. I can go for an hour straight without stopping. In my class, when I explain this, invariably someone will say, “That’s impossible. My hand is killing me after one round of ten minutes.”
In Wild Mind and Writing Down the Bones, best-selling author Natalie Goldberg lists several rules of writing practice: “Keep your hand moving. Don’t cross out. Don’t think. Go for the jugular. You’re free to write the worst junk in America.” But there’s one rule she didn’t mention. The pen is your friend. It is not a dagger. You don’t need to grip it as if you were trying to stab someone. And you’re not clinging to a life raft even though it might feel that way emotionally.
The idea is to write continuously. It’s not a race. Most people find it difficult to keep up with their thoughts, but you don’t have to grip the pen tightly to keep it from flying across the room. Slow down. Let the words roll off. Relax your hand and shoulders. Also, try different types of pens. Sometimes the barrel of the pen is too fat or too thin. Switch and see what happens. But for goodness sakes, let the pen go. Try holding it so loosely that it does fly across the room. Calmly pick it up. Sit back down and begin again. Don’t worry if you can’t read your handwriting.
These techniques work at the keyboard too. If you can sit up relatively straight and relax your neck and shoulders, your fingers can move more quickly. Position your keyboard so that your elbows hang comfortably at your sides with your wrists slightly lower than your elbows so that your wrists do not need to bend. Keeping your shoulders back and your back straight adds to the relaxation. It’s like sitting meditation. Posture is important. Your body wants to keep working for you for a very long time. Do what you can to help it along.
The other secret about pain is that sometimes it is simply resistance. The mind creates pain in the body because it is afraid. This type of pain provides a way for the body to work things out at a muscular level. In meditation practice a teacher will ask you to sit through the pain, to observe it with awareness and equanimity. When you get up from the cushion, the pain goes away. This is true in writing as well. Only be alarmed if the pain continues beyond your writing session.
The ex-lawyer in me requires that I tell you I’m not a doctor and that this little essay is not intended as medical advice. I learned these tricks by trial and error. I want you to know that you can do writing practice forever. You can do it under all circumstances. You can do it for an hour. You can build up muscles in your arms and shoulders and can continue even when you are certain you can’t.. You can write like a samurai. And you can be kind to you body in the process.
Do you experience pain when you write? If so, how do you deal with it? If you like, leave a comment and let me know.
by Theresa Garee | Apr 3, 2007 | Blog, Write Now Columbus Essay Archives
“Of course the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you–if you don’t play, you can’t win.”
– Robert Heinlein, science fiction author (1907 – 1988)
Okay. I want to encourage each of you to enter a contest or submit a piece of work to a market. I often err on the side of encouraging folks to access wild mind and write, write, write. But there’s another part of the equation as well. Once we’ve written our buns off, we need to let the world see what we’ve done!
There are so many opportunities. Check the back pages of Poets & Writers Magazine. Flip through Writers Digest. Pick up a copy of last year’s Writers Market at Half Price Books or splurge and get the current one at Liberty Books & News. And don’t forget all the on-line markets popping up. Google “submission guidelines” or “writing guidelines” and see what you get. Double dare your friends to submit something if you do. Send off your best work, forget you sent it, and get back to writing.
This month I vow to send out three things. I know which pieces I’m going to send and where they’re going. It’s a long shot, but the effort of putting a manuscript in the mail makes me feel even more like a “real” writer. I bet you’ll feel the same.
The main tip I can give you is to read the publication and follow the guidelines. If the magazine is filled with short fiction, don’t send your poetry. If a contest says no simultaneous submissions, only send your submission to that magazine until you hear otherwise. Chances are you wouldn’t get caught, but this is a small world. We need to avoid pissing people off. If a literary publication says it does not accept email submissions, pay the postage and put it in the mail. If a contest limits submissions to 5,000 words, don’t send them your 27,538 word novella. Don’t even send them 6,000 words. Read the rules. Read the writing guidelines. Follow them.
So send, send, send this month. Let’s show the publishers of the world that central Ohio writers are alive and well. And let me know how it’s going.
On a final note, thanks to the many who sent condolences concerning the death of my niece. Your support means more than you will ever know. Jamey was in it to play hard and, for the short time she spent on the planet, that’s exactly what she did.
