by Theresa Garee | Aug 1, 2018 | Blog
Don’t miss my next class!
Sunday, August 12 at 1 PM – 5 PM
Upper Arlington Senior Center
1945 Ridgeview Road, Columbus, Ohio 43221
Fee: $50
For more information call 614-583-5300. Register online here.
“I fully recommend Nita Sweeney, a wonderful teacher who I asked to bring writing practice to Ohio. She has studied with me intensively for many years and understands the fears and hopes of writers. Her workshops benefit beginners as well as long-time practitioners.” – Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones and Wild Mind
Does that nasty inner critic keep you from writing? If so, spend an afternoon learning writing practice with Nita Sweeney, MFA, freelance writer, teacher, and long-time student of Natalie Goldberg. “Writing practice” reduces stress around writing, increases productivity, and tames the inner critic. In-class writing practice, optional reading with no critique and short periods of meditation help students access their wild writing minds. No previous writing or meditation experience is necessary. Course content varies to accommodate returning students. Open to adults of all ages. Bring a pen, a notebook, and an open mind for a day filled with creative fun!
by Theresa Garee | Oct 1, 2009 | Blog
The poet William Stafford wrote:
I believe that the so-called ‘writing block’ is a product of some kind of disproportion between your standards and your performance … one should lower his standards until there is no felt threshold to go over in writing. It’s easy to write. You just shouldn’t have standards that inhibit you from writing … I can imagine a person beginning to feel he’s not able to write up to that standard he imagines the world has set for him. But to me that’s surrealistic. The only standard I can rationally have is the standard I’m meeting right now … You should be more willing to forgive yourself. It doesn’t make any difference if you are good or bad today. The assessment of the product is something that happens after you’ve done it.
One fun way to lower your standards is by participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org). Faced with the daunting task of writing 50,000 words in thirty days, you won’t have time to fret about quality. You may write a great novel in the process, but, you won’t have time worry about it. And, if Stafford’s ideas hold true, you won’t have time for writer’s block.
Although the NaNoWriMo rules don’t permit you to begin the actual writing until 12:01AM of November 1st, you are allowed to plan ahead. You’ve got the entire month of October to outline, plot, develop characters, and build worlds. When November first rolls around, you’ll be ready.
Do you plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month? How will you prepare? If you like, leave a comment and let me know.
by Theresa Garee | Jul 1, 2009 | Blog
In Women Who Run With The Wolves Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes:
Wolves never look more funny than when they have lost the scent and scrabble to find it again: they hop in the air; they run in circles, they plow up the ground with their noses; they scratch the ground, then run ahead, then back, then stand stock-still. They look as if they have lost their wits. But what they are really doing is picking up all the clues they can find. They’re biting them down out of the air, they’re filling up their lungs with the smells at ground level and at shoulder level, they are tasting the air to see who has passed through it recently, their ears are rotating like satellite dishes, picking up transmissions from afar. Once they have all these clues in place, they know what to do next.
Writers also lose the scent from time to time. We stare out windows and crane our heads to listen to distant winds. We grab random books off library shelves and sniff the pages for clues. We start a scene only to stop halfway then start a second and a third. We look a bit balmy.
No worries. Stay in the work even if all you do is rub your snout against the pages. Continue collecting data and do not give up hope. Estes explains, “As soon as she processes all the information from the clues she’s gathered, she’ll begin moving in an intentional manner again.” Like the wolf, you will find your way.
Do you ever lose the scent? If so, what do you do?
