As the organizer of the festival at Arapaho Community College put it, it's nice to be coddled once in a while. Workshops and writers' gatherings do that for me. After all the hours at the keyboard or with pen in hand, it's a luxury to hang out with like-minded folk, hear the readings, do the exercises and come away with at least one or two new tricks for the magic bag. Writing is magic. And worrisome. I struggle so often with authenticity, by which I mean that old, trite, but true, question of the imposter. Do I really have the right to call myself a writer? Publishers' Weekly doesn't know my name. But do electricians or plumbers or truck drivers need that sort of recognition? No, they do their jobs and I do mine. I'm working Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write, and they help.
A point Cameron makes is that of synchronicity. And as I was worrying about money for a full-length novel course, I opened her next chapter and there was an opening about the frequent misconception that God (however we each define her/him/it) not wanting us to use our money for art's sake or to take financial risks for art's sake. Well, I ran to my to-do list and made a note to use my prize money for the novel course. That now makes sense to me. I get money from writing and I spend that money to increase my writing. Talk to you tomorrow, after I sign up for that course.
No comments:
Post a Comment