Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Drafting
Well, I've been working on a draft. I have to submit a story in two weeks from Wednesday, and right now I have a mess. So I feel like a mess. Plus, I'm trying to write about my friend Joe, his death, his funeral, etc., so that's a little numbing.
Plus, one week of teaching writing composition and already I'm sick of it. Monday I taught class and ran out of things to say after 15 minutes.
"Well," I said. "You might as well go home."
And they did.
Tomorrow I have to go over their "analyzing a target publication." This is simple and inane crap and I can't possibly imagine why this school would want someone like me going over it with undergrads. What the hell, they're paying me for it. I can't wait till next year when I get to actually teach fiction.
I had my first workshop last Wednesday, which went well. I surprised myself: I jumped right in, was one of the most vocal (if not the most) in the class, and had lots of things to say. I felt just like I was back at workshop in Queens, meaning, I was just as confident in my place there. That was nice.
The writing, is as I was told it might be: some of it is scary good, some of it was just OK. I guess I'm somewhere between that.
I've gotten to know a bunch of good people here, in the poetry program, and the PhD program, as well as the other fiction students. The whole mix of people tend to be eclectic, alcoholic, way too smart and always, fun. Sometimes OCD, neurotic and spacy, but still- fun.
Workshop number 2 tomorrow. There were three stories and one was pretty impressive. I'm interested to see how they're discussed tomorrow. I'd love to talk about all that in detail, but I don't feel at liberty for fear someone may discover it. That could be bad. Maybe I'll start a new blog just for that purpose and e-mail the link to people, because there are lots of juicy details. It's a total mind fuck in the damn workshop.
I've been thinking I'd like to write a non-fiction book just about workshops. We'll see.
I could start keep notes on the blog. But this one won't do, because I already think that people out here in CA are aware of it.
Plus, one week of teaching writing composition and already I'm sick of it. Monday I taught class and ran out of things to say after 15 minutes.
"Well," I said. "You might as well go home."
And they did.
Tomorrow I have to go over their "analyzing a target publication." This is simple and inane crap and I can't possibly imagine why this school would want someone like me going over it with undergrads. What the hell, they're paying me for it. I can't wait till next year when I get to actually teach fiction.
I had my first workshop last Wednesday, which went well. I surprised myself: I jumped right in, was one of the most vocal (if not the most) in the class, and had lots of things to say. I felt just like I was back at workshop in Queens, meaning, I was just as confident in my place there. That was nice.
The writing, is as I was told it might be: some of it is scary good, some of it was just OK. I guess I'm somewhere between that.
I've gotten to know a bunch of good people here, in the poetry program, and the PhD program, as well as the other fiction students. The whole mix of people tend to be eclectic, alcoholic, way too smart and always, fun. Sometimes OCD, neurotic and spacy, but still- fun.
Workshop number 2 tomorrow. There were three stories and one was pretty impressive. I'm interested to see how they're discussed tomorrow. I'd love to talk about all that in detail, but I don't feel at liberty for fear someone may discover it. That could be bad. Maybe I'll start a new blog just for that purpose and e-mail the link to people, because there are lots of juicy details. It's a total mind fuck in the damn workshop.
I've been thinking I'd like to write a non-fiction book just about workshops. We'll see.
I could start keep notes on the blog. But this one won't do, because I already think that people out here in CA are aware of it.
