Writing as Transformation
10/11/2009
Record-breaking cold temperatures and icy, treacherous roads along
Colorado’s Front Range this past weekend did not deter 140 people,
myself included, from gathering for a writers’ conference--it just
took us longer to get there. Somehow I had managed to choose among the
ten or so irresistible offerings for each of the workshop slots, and all
proved informative: "The Author as Speaker" and "Turning
Regular Life into Extraordinary Stories," to name just two.
Considering that writing is such a solitary pursuit, I was surprised to
discover how many talented and enthusiastic folks all around the region
spend large chunks of time hunkered down in front of their computers,
courting the muse. What’s more, they encourage all who will listen to
submit themselves to similar self-punishment!
I’d like to share with you a bit of the closing keynote speech. It’s
been quite awhile since I have been so inspired, as well as entertained,
about the calling of being a writer. The speaker was Todd Mitchell,
Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado
State University and author of The Traitor King and other teen
fiction. Here are some of his points:
Don’t compare yourself to other writers; we each have our
individual pace and path.
Perseverance matters more than talent or genius.
Every writer doubts; wrestling with doubt is an essential part of the
creative process.
Learn to love failure and embrace revision. These make you a better
writer.
Writer’s block most often arises from either perfectionism or a
lack of information--don’t let them stop you.
Set aside the traditional advice to write what you know, and instead
write what you want to read, what you want to discover. Native medicine
man Black Elk said: "No vision is real until you enact it on the
earth for people to see." Writers enact visions, map the realm of
human possibility so that others can grasp it and live it.
Writing is a response to a deep thirst in the world for healing, and
can be transformative for both writers and readers. The work we do as
writers--and as publishers like Lantern, I might add--is incredibly
important, even if sometimes incredibly difficult.
