How To Grow A Writer

   Last Sunday I went to Books & Co. at The Greene to hear Fredrick Marion, founder of DaytonLit.com, speak  about "7 Secrets to Unlocking Your Writing Potential." This was just one of a series of informative talks offered by Antioch Writers' Workshop. I learned so much and felt inspired and motivated to get back to writing on a daily basis.
   Fred began by telling the story of a man who wanted to make his fortune at a young age so that he could spend the rest of adulthood living the writer’s life. But, then, of course, life happened and things didn’t go according to his original plan. Unfortunately, I was late to the talk and only grasped a small part of the story, but it turned out that Fred was really telling his story (and I believe it’s a dream that many of us shared at one time or another).
   He illustrated “How to Grow a Writer” by handing out a small packet of pumpkin seeds to each of us. I love what was on the envelope:

“Contents: 1 Repressed Writer. Needs space, food, time 2 grow.” 

   On the other side, he wrote that the seed was a “fairytale pumpkin” seed. I still love fairytales even though I sadly don’t believe in them anymore.

Fairytale Pumpkin

   Fred had several wonderful quotes from a diversified pool of writers. A couple of my favorites were:
“If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." from the Gospel of Thomas, part of the Gnostic Gospels.
Another quote was by Ellen Degeneres:
“Never follow anyone else's path, unless you're in the woods and you're lost and you see a path. Then by all means follow that path.”
   There were many more, all equally poignant, some funny, some deep, but all relevant to the daunting task we who write (or attempt to write) face every single day.

Fred’s 7 Secrets are:
1. Define what it means to be a successful writer. Success is defined differently for each person and for each act.
2. Know your goal.
3. Genre = Freedom
4. Set itsy bitsy teenie weenie goals (this was the most helpful advice to me, personally and has helped me crawl out of a seemingly, somewhat nasty bout of writer’s block).
5. Ideas + Work Ethic > Writing Ability
6. Learn the “story formula” desire - conflict - resolution
7. Give your seed time, food, and space to grow.

   Be sure to sign up for Fred’s weekly newsletter at DaytonLit.com. I always look forward to reading it. He’s a talented and inspirational writer who will show you the world through a different lens. The added bonus is that the newsletter has a list of upcoming, local literary events. Additionally, check out the Antioch Writers' Workshop’s website so you don’t miss any upcoming opportunities to learn from established writers. The next free mini-workshop will be in January. I hope to see you there!

Writing for Transformation

Left to Right: Omope Carter Daboiku, Grace Curtis,

Furaha Henry-Jones, Melody Moezzi

Writing for Transformation

43rd Annual Writers' Workshop

Sinclair Community College

    Today I attended this amazing workshop funded/presented by the English Department at Sinclair Community College. Furaha Henry-Jones headed the event, bringing together the awe-inspiring talent of Melody Moezzi, Author and Keynote speaker, Omope Carter Daboiku, Storyteller and Memorist, and Grace Curtis, Poet. 

     These wonderful, wonderful women have, in one short afternoon, totally changed my outlook on writing, and maybe even in how I think and look at life. They are bold, brave, courageous women who are actively living the lives they want to live. To someone like me, who has been feeling old and "stuck" in my current life lately, hearing them was like being granted permission to change my current path; they all shared a common thread of advice: "do what you want to do, be who you want to be." I needed to hear that, to be given that permission. 

     My notes look as if I attended a motivational seminar instead of a writing workshop, but I believe the two go hand in hand. Every writer, that is every person who writes (I write, therefore I am a writer!) goes through this emotional roller coaster. We can be on a writing streak, loving every word, every syllable, shedding tears of joy at the genius of our prose, and then, BOOM! BAM! ZWING! the tears become pools of self-berated despondency at the horrible, sickening, disgusting garbage we've slung at the page, daring to think of it as literature, miserable in the belief that there is no creativity, no talent; it was just wishful thinking. We decide to give-up, vow never again to touch pen to paper or keystroke to electronic-device-of-your-choosing, when KABOOM! inspiration strikes and we're back to the proverbial drawing board, hunched over like a predator over its prey, pounding away at the keys (maybe even cackling), once again rejoicing at our own self proclaimed genius, wondering how in the world could we have ever doubted our brilliant gift?

Or, at least that's what happens to me. 

   Three completely different women, and I was able to relate to each one on several levels. Their messages were:

Be authentic.

Be bold.

We are experts of our own stories, and each of us has a story to tell.

Know yourself, and know what you have to say.

Just do it. (one of my personal philosophies, see my post "Do It")

Write to heal, to purge, for the joy of it.

Don't be scared.

     Lastly, I'm going to toot my own horn for a second...after the workshops, there was an open mic session, and as emboldened as I was from the day's workshops, I bucked up, sucked it in and read a very personal poem that I had written. I have never done that before. Most of what I write, I keep to myself, so "yay, go me" :)

In Grace's workshop, we each wrote a poem about a random item. Here's mine:

Crackle, crumble, dry and square

plastic wrapped, but please beware,

if uncovered, naked, bare,

freshness wanes, but do you care?

I think "no", as my soup is cupped,

and the cracker serves to sop it up.

by Shari Young, 4/10/17