Only one class!

The class in Poetry: First Books will not take place. I don't know if that is due to a lack of teachers or students. It's a shame -- that was to be my weekly workshop. I do still have 'Sit Down and Write' to look forward to, and it begins on Monday. SD&W is a 'WebCT' class -- it never meets in person, so it's an odd kind of workshop. 'Workshop' is entirely the wrong word for it, in fact. The class is designed to ingrain the habit of writing into the writer. I've known more than a few people (some of whom claim to have a blog but almost never post!, she said with irony,) with intentions of writing. Intentions, it's been said, lead to all the worst places. The course requires 450 words a day, five days a week, for five weeks. If you produce properly, you'll have 9000 words at the end, which might be a decent essay or the start of a good short story.
I planned to write poetry, and the instructor indicated that she wouldn't mind that at all; but the layout of the class makes me think I might work towards an essay about why I've never gotten over the love of poetry and how at the edge of 50 I'm decidedly glad I didn't. My essays don't usually run 9000 words, but maybe I can fill in with the sonnet sequence. Well, we'll see.

Fall Semester

The weather people tell us that it will reach 111 degrees today, and we have no reason to doubt them. Nevertheless, the fall semester is underway and so, once again, is this blog. July and most of August were not good writing-months for me; vacation and family matters took up all my attention. With a little luck and work, I can mine some raw material out of those lost days.

I've signed up for Sit Down and Write, this semester moderated by Jimmy Berlin, and hope to push through a poetry project that I've been noodling on for some time. If anything comes of it I'll go into detail another day. I also signed up for Topics in Writing: First Books again, in hopes of having Sarah Vap as an instructor, but for the second time it is not to be. Sarah has left the college and the state for the northern clime -- Oregon or Washington, so I'm told. The last time this happened I was lucky enough to have Josh Rothkamp take over the class instead; I can only hope for that much fun again.

Today I have an appointment to speak with Lisa Miller about the CRW Certificate Program. I've taken most of the classes; I may as well do what is necessary to finish the program. More on that soon.

June Writers' mags

In the June issue of Writer's Digest there's a terrific interview with the very funny (and successful!) Christopher Moore. In addition to offering some good advice, Mr. Moore talks about staying in touch with readers through his website. The magazine ties that in with an article on connecting with your audience using the web, signings, and interviews.

The Writer takes a look at writing for children, from the very young through middle school. They have chats with Elizabeth George, Alice Adams and Rick Moody. I most enjoyed an exploration on using the second-person voice -- maybe you will, too.

Both of these magazines are on the current display shelves here at Phoenix College.

Sit Down and Write -- or not

Okay, so I dragged my feet and didn't get into this class for summer. PC is offering it again in the fall, with Jimmy Berlin as instructor. Since I want to use the time to write sonnets -- off-beat, somewhat violent sonnets -- it might be just as well to wait until fall. I know Jimmy will enjoy the project.

I blame my foot-dragging on the heat. Everyone I know, everyone in my life, and that includes me, everyone is griping. Full bore hard core griping. It wears me down. Even writing here, in a peaceful, non-judgmental bluemoon world, I hear the gripe choruses in my mind. I've got to get away.

By the way, this is the day/night of a Blue Moon; the second full moon in a month. I really feel like I should find some way to recognize such an unusual event, but that bank may be empty. We'll see after work.

Classes at Phoenix College

I'm going to enroll in the Topics in Writing: Fiction: Sit Down and Write, which is a 5 week summer class that meets online. I don't write fiction, but generally the intent of these kinds of classes is to keep people writing. The instructor for this session is Connie Flynn and she's just terrific.

The challenge and the beauty of this class is that it provides you both a motivation and an expectation to write each day. I've taken the class once before and it worked wonderfully; I wrote both on the project I'd set out to do and side projects that sprang up from the interaction of the students. I'd say of the 20-some students who registered, about a dozen were very active in sharing work, commenting on work, and posting side projects.

Another class being offered this summer is also a Topics in Writing: Fiction, but it's the quite frightening Draft a Novel in 30 Days. I knew a woman who went through this last fall, and after it was over, I saw her focusing on math courses a lot. But truly, she enjoyed the course and completed the challenge of 50,000 words. Sometimes I'm very glad I can't write fiction.

I just found a list...

It's dated 3/5/07, and it contains the names of four literary magazines and four poems. The poems were submitted that day to those magazines. I found the list while cleaning up my desk at work (a shock to those who know me) and it was lost in a stack of problems I'd been sidestepping.
Besides the magazines and titles of poems, the list reminds me of one other thing...it's been since March that I sent anything out. I have perfectly fine essays and a new poem or two that might be due for a foray, but the excuses for not sending them away are legion:
a. I'm a working mom, and my son's needs come first;
b. It's been a crazy semester at the library with two associates retiring;
c. I really, really hate rejection;
d. I'm dreadfully lazy. Really dreadfully lazy.
e. I'd have to stalk through the essays again, seeking out lines like (c) and (d) and running them through with an adverb spike.
Still, we are into the (somewhat) slower days of summer, when hiding inside in front of a keyboard is always a better option than risking the Phoenix sun. There's hope. Tell you what, I'll do it if you will. Double dog dare.

Music Therapy

My husband commented the other day that he is amazed when I get home from work and my mood is always cheery, no matter what may have happened during the day. I told him about music therapy and thought I'd share the information with you, too.
Every since someone helped themselves to my in-dash stereo, I've carried an iPod for the car. When I bought the Nano, I thought I wouldn't enjoy the 'shuffle' mode. Well, I've never said I'm never wrong. I love the shuffle mode. Since I've chosen all the music that's loaded in, I like whatever's playing; if it doesn't match my mood, I hit the little button to bypass that song. I can keep from wallowing in the mood I carried out to my car and reset my brain to a better place. It's hard to stay annoyed at your boss or computer or anything else when Neil Sedaka starts telling you about the angel living next door or Paul Simon croons 'don't cry, baby, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.' It's better than any mood enhancer Walgreens sells.

Blog Block

Just wondering, as I struggle to decide what topics will be blogworthy: is blog block the same as writer's block? Is white-page panic more or less finger freezing than white-screen panic? I know I will write about grammar peeves, favorite writers, favorite sites, current events, classes I'm taking and will take, writing successes and regrets. But how, when?
The lack of an editor judging my submissions is both liberating and bizarre. Most young people I talk to just treat their blogs as diaries, a concept that, I think, separates the generations in an amazing way. I want to ask them, 'would you leave a paper, handwritten diary laying open in a public place?' I expect this generation to have interesting privacy issues later in life, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they'll be healthier than any generation yet.

Just getting started...

This is an experiment, and like most experiments, may have little success, much failure, and an element of learning to it. I hope to toss out information, thoughts, rants and rambles. Maybe some of it will be of interest to some people.