tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56151119518804473272024-03-13T13:26:18.400-07:00Kate EstropUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-4442834302397684272013-06-21T07:24:00.001-07:002013-06-21T07:26:23.463-07:00How My Life Has Drastically Changed with a Cat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hHXhBvXsiB0/UcRgg5PPM2I/AAAAAAAAGew/z5krI3A0Fas/s1600/20130621_101645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hHXhBvXsiB0/UcRgg5PPM2I/AAAAAAAAGew/z5krI3A0Fas/s400/20130621_101645.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Before Cat (BC)</b></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Grade a paragraph, check Facebook</li>
<li>Write a paragraph, check Facebook</li>
<li>Eat lunch, check Facebook</li>
</ul>
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<b>After Cat (AC)</b></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li>Grade a paragraph, pet cat, post cute picture of cat on Facebook</li>
<li>Write a paragraph, note all the extraneous characters cat created when walking across keyboard, pet cat, post a screenshot of said extraneous characters on Facebook to tell the world that cat is a budding writer</li>
<li>Eat lunch, shield sandwich from cat, shield water from cat, get up to get a napkin and carry lunch to kitchen with me, pet cat, post "How My Life Has Drastically Changed with a Cat" on blog and share on Facebook</li>
</ul>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-62316390371349103202013-04-13T18:06:00.001-07:002013-04-13T18:06:16.055-07:00Unplugged: 24 Hours of (Almost) Low-Tech Bliss<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9z5M5MUKmPw/UWoA4_hVGBI/AAAAAAAAFXs/GtaQglDQmCw/s1600/2012-04-24_10-40-14_436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9z5M5MUKmPw/UWoA4_hVGBI/AAAAAAAAFXs/GtaQglDQmCw/s320/2012-04-24_10-40-14_436.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">The Assignment</span></h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For 24 hours, you must completely unplug from
technology: no cell phones, no internet, no computer use of any kind, no TV, no
iPads, no iPods, and no radios. You may use electricity for other things and you
may drive, though I’d rather you not listen to music in the car. (Spending a
little time with your own brain will not kill you, I promise.) </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Record the date when, and location where, you
unplugged.</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What was challenging about being unplugged?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What did you like about it?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">What did you notice about yourself or your
surroundings that you didn’t notice before?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Would you ever impose an unplugged-time for
yourself again?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Overall, what did you learn about this time?</span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">My 24 Hours</span></h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I began my unplugged assignment at noon on Saturday, May 6. I chose this time because I had several social things planned, and I thought I would make the best of connecting with people face-to-face instead of having the urge to check my phone at every lull in the conversation. I went into the project feeling pretty confident - I'd unplugged before, especially when traveling, because when out of the country it's too expensive to use the data or texting on my phone. And I actually enjoyed not having the option to retreat into electronics, because I feel like I am more aware, more social, and more introspective. So I thought, no big deal. I'll show this Unplugged assignment who's boss.</div>
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The first part of my day was relaxing and enjoyable. Several people came over and we had a casual life drawing lesson, as taught by a friend who teaches elementary art classes. I left my phone and laptop in my office, and didn't feel the need to go for it once. There was a moment I had to shy away from a friend trying to show me an article on <i>her</i> phone, but I otherwise barely noticed that I wasn't using electronics.<br />
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On our drive to my boyfriend's college friends' house an hour away, I apologized to him and the other friend we drove down that we couldn't listen to the radio. At first my boyfriend and I were silly and sang some a capella jams, but then quickly fell into a conversation with our friend, so I barely noticed the lack of radio. My boyfriend did ask me to navigate with GPS as we got closer to our destination, but as I didn't want him to wreck the car I decided that was an acceptable "cheat." No big deal, I thought, that will be the only time I'll "cheat" the rest of the night.</div>
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We arrived at the birthday party, which had a nostalgic slumber party theme, and I realized this was going to be a tad harder than I originally thought. Part of the night was spent coloring, painting nails, having shoot-outs with Nerf guns. It was when we started to play vintage Nintendo games that I decided I needed to think about what this unplugged assignment was supposed to do.<br />
<br />
What I wanted, but what wasn't on the topic paper for my students, was for us to reconnect with people, notice the world around us, and participate in life without being lost in our own cyber worlds. As others at the party migrated to the room with the Nintendo, I thought about how I was participating in life, and realized that if I sequestered myself in the coloring room by myself all night, I was just as bad as if I was with everyone else but distracted by my phone.</div>
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I celebrated this decision with several games of Super Mario 3. Then we played a drinking game to the movie <i>Willow</i>. It was an interactive community experience, and I felt not even a little guilt at using electronics (and beer) to achieve that fun.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The next morning everyone was a little groggy from spending the night in sleeping bags and on air mattresses (when we throw a slumber party we're not joking around), so we munched Dunkin' Donuts and watched Aziz Ansari standup. Again, I felt a little bad that I was watching TV when I was "supposed" to be unplugged, but again it was what I had to do in order to be experiencing life with the people around me.<br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">Reflection</span></h3>
When noon came around and I got home, I knew I would be forced to plug-in in order to grade papers and lesson plan. I knew I would be lured into Facebook, email, and IM in the process. Going back to these things didn't excite me. I knew that being unplugged from them would be easy, but I didn't expect being so reluctant to plug back in. I finally realized why when I thought more about what unplugged really means to me.<br />
<br />
Unplugging means a true vacation. Very little of my work these days is done off the computer. I lesson plan electronically. I keep track of grades in Excel and read articles on the web. I make comments to papers using Word's review features. When I unplug, I not only connect more to my world because I can't mindlessly scroll Facebook, I also don't feel compelled to reply to students' emails or grade a quick paper. I literally cannot work, which is the only time I feel free from it.<br />
<h4>
<br /></h4>
<h3>
<span style="color: #38761d;">Conclusion</span></h3>
<div>
I think that when we do the majority of our work or school on the internet, we're so susceptible to taking quick breaks to surf Facebook or check email that those things become tied up in the pressure of obligation. We're afraid we're going to miss something social almost on the same level that we're afraid we're going to miss doing an assignment or submitting a report. Surfing the internet, being on email, and chatting with friends heightens our need for immediacy and, I think in a lot of ways, our stress. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's kind of like our excitement about getting candy as kids: the less we were allowed to have it on a regular basis, the more a treat it was when we finally got it. But as an adult I can get candy whenever I want, and it no longer represents the treat it used to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I believe that it's only when we can unplug altogether that we can truly relax. From the many student responses I've read, it seems like a lot of them agree, though the majority of them say they are unwilling to participate again. I want to feel bad for them, but at the same time realize that they grew up in a different time. I'm just glad they gave it a shot.</div>
</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-42824972010223948652013-03-30T14:45:00.001-07:002013-03-30T14:45:18.277-07:00Unplugged AssignmentSometime during the next few weeks, my First Year Writing students will have to complete what might be the most difficult (and maybe even unpleasant) assignment of the year: a 24-hour unplug and response paper about it. From the assignment guidelines:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For 24 hours, you must completely unplug from technology: no
cell phones, no internet, no computer use of any kind, no TV, no iPads, no
iPods, and no radios. You may use electricity for other things and you may drive,
though I’d rather you not listen to music in the car. (Spending a little time
with your own brain will not kill you, I promise.) For safety’s sake, please be smart about this
– keep your cell on you in case of an emergency (but turn it off). Tell your
family/friends you’re unplugging. Re-discover the world. Take a walk. Read a
(paper) book. Talk to people without distraction.</span></div>
</blockquote>
When I announce this assignment on the first day of class, some students react, but most see that the response paper isn't due for a few months and forget about it.<br />
<br />
When I remind them two weeks out that their unplugged paper is due, they panic. "What if I have homework?" They ask, frantic eyes pleading. "What if I have a project or a paper to do? I need the computer!"<br />
<br />
Just as many teachers and professors have done before me, I remind them that they'd had the guidelines and due date since day one. They should have planned. Just as many students before them, they complain and groan. I ignore it.<br />
<br />
This semester, facing a particularly un-motivated bunch of mostly art students, I promised I'd do it too, sometime in the next two weeks. I don't particularly feel like wasting class time presenting my own response paper, so I'll post it here instead. My projected "unplugged" day will be next Saturday, April 6, from midnight to midnight. During this time, I have a drawing event and a birthday party to attend, both which should be excellent opportunities to ignore my electronics and socialize.<br />
<br />
I encourage my students to embrace the radio static enjoy it, and some do. Some continue to complain on the page. I hope all of them learn <i>something</i>. I'll (anonymously) share any particularly interesting responses here as well.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-63183532529266119602013-03-04T05:56:00.001-08:002013-03-04T05:56:33.843-08:00Extremely Unscientific Data on Creation vs. Revision Stress in Intro to Creative Writing StudentsI'll admit it - sometimes, I ask my students specific questions to discuss for my own edification. An example just recently was this discussion question in my online intro to creative writing class:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Which is more stressful - creation (the blank page) or revision? And if you don't revise, or don't spend a lot of effort on revision, why not?</span></blockquote>
Obviously, I wanted the students to think about their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the writing process, but I think also in there, somewhere, I wanted a chance to answer the question myself: <i>I am scared of creation. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Creation is scary. Creation is why I don't post online for months, or sometimes years. Creation is why I've been working on the same novel for three years and always put it off in favor of grading and critiquing other peoples' creation. Creatiphobia, I could call it, is holding me back as a professional writer, and I wanted to see if my students - most of them in their late teens and early twenties but some adult students with more life experience than me - were creatiphobes too.<br />
<br />
From an extremely unscientific data set (i.e. me reading all the responses and deciding their categories), my results were that out of 16 responses, 8 students thought revision was more stressful, some even going so far as to say they hated it. 3 students agreed with me, saying that the blank page was more stressful/revision was easier or more fun for them. 5 students, surprisingly, either answered "It depends" or "Both are difficult." In the interest of looking super-awesome, I made a pie chart:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy_zDX_kD9E/UTSh40i5-9I/AAAAAAAAE2A/1vI0a_nDqmU/s1600/chart_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xy_zDX_kD9E/UTSh40i5-9I/AAAAAAAAE2A/1vI0a_nDqmU/s1600/chart_2.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">If I actually was a scientist, I would have surveyed more than 16 students and would also get more information to think about, like, their age, number of school years or semesters completed, perhaps socioeconomic status just for funsies. But I am not a scientist.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The most interesting response was this student, who is an art major and said it has to do with medium:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">[Anxiety of a blank page] only gets worse if it's nice paper, or a pretty book, or a fancy medium/tool--it creates this sense of having to have all your marks and ideas perfect immediately or your ruined the page and the entire book. Your tools have to create a sense of comfort so you're okay with making mistakes, because those mistakes sometimes aren't so bad or mistakes at all...but you won't know that or even reach that when you're afraid of making a mark. Writing or sketching on medium-low grade sketchbooks and journals feel safe, because they don't feel sacred or special. The same with the computer. Things feel less consequential so you can just jump in.</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">-Ashley Almeida-Souza (</span><a href="http://ash-marie.net/" style="font-family: inherit;">http://ash-marie.net/</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">)*</span></blockquote>
Conclusion? I don't know if I have one, at least not the one I wanted. I found it interesting that most early writers are more excited to create, and I think I remember that: before I learned too much, before crippling doubt set in, I filled yellow legal pads in the back of my parents' minivan on our long summer vacation drives. But of course I didn't tell them this. I didn't tell them that for me, the more I learned the less I wanted to create. I didn't want to scare them off. So I replied, here and there, that I agreed with the ones I agreed with, that revision was fun, and I admired the ones who liked creativity, and I nodded wisely at the ones who said "It depends." And I especially resonated with Ash's response, which is why the Moleskin I got for my birthday is still empty, and why this blog is full of half-written posts of less consequence.<br />
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Sometimes it's just nice to be reminded that we are not alone in this.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*used with permission</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-46478013120968782092012-07-03T12:11:00.003-07:002012-11-13T18:57:12.705-08:00Water, Water, EverywhereThe ancient mariner in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's famous poem lamented, <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; text-align: left;">Water, water, every where, / </span></span><span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Nor any drop to drink." I finally knew exactly how he felt, though not about water - about books.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Though I've had several opportunities to travel out of the country, I'd never been to a mostly non-English-speaking city before, so this past weekend's brief road trip to Montreal was actually more challenging than I expected. In addition to losing 3G coverage on our phones (as data roaming charges are too ridiculously high), we had forgotten to purchase a paper map and found ourselves faced with French, French every where - and not many words did we speak. There are, of course, plenty of English-speaking people around, but it was interesting to me to be so disoriented by traffic signs, business names, and even the Metro map.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Our last stop on Sunday afternoon was a new and used bookstore where our Parisian friends browsed while I kind of stumbled around feeling quite thirsty indeed. Bookstores - especially used bookstores - are some of my favorite places to kill time, especially lazily after a big brunch on a Sunday afternoon. But of course I couldn't read a thing. I found several books I recognized from cover art and some from the author's names, but otherwise it was a lesson in guessing. It made me regret, a little, not continuing on with my foreign language studies in college past what was minimally required to graduate.</span><br />
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The one thing I did take away from this experience was that bookstores, no matter the language of their materials, all stir the same desires in me: to read, to write, to learn. The smell of the books was the same. The enviable position of the old woman proprietor, sitting in an armchair reading and occasionally answering questions, was the same. My fingers' itch toward my wallet was the same. Even though I couldn't follow a single sentence, I still wanted to hole up somewhere soon and soak in some of my own language, just as the ancient mariner needed so desperately to find some fresh water to quench his thirst. </div>
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In that aspect for me, perhaps, it was less of a tortuous experience but more of an eye-opening one; it was the reminder that literature is literature and a reader, like a sailor, can't so long be away from its vast ocean. I plan to go back up to Montreal soon -- after all, it's only a five-hour drive -- and though I'll be more prepared next time I am excited to again be cast out into semi-confusion. Adventure, after all, is one of the best things to keep a writer's inkwell full.</div>
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<span style="background-color: #fffcf6; font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-60974261194966030222011-06-08T06:31:00.000-07:002011-06-08T06:31:46.191-07:00To: Natalie, Greg, Ina, Mari, Finn, Jason, et. alDear Characters of My Novel,<br />
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First off, I know it's been a while. I'm sorry for that. You see, out here in the out-of-book world (I hate to say "real" world, you know what I mean? Your world is real to you. At least, I try and make it real to you), things are hectic. Money must be made, rent must be paid, and classes must be planned. I think about you all a lot, see out-of-book versions of you walking around all the time, but I know it's not the same. I miss you. I miss our hours together alone. I am hoping to spend some of that time with you soon, but until then, know that your existence will be pondered by me at least an hour a day, if not more.<br />
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Hang in there, my friends.<br />
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Love,<br />
Your WriterUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-67850619214869521742011-04-28T16:17:00.000-07:002011-04-28T16:17:45.986-07:00Kate Recommends: The Weird Sisters<i>Reviewer's Note: I usually like something about everything I read, but I will probably most often be writing about books I liked overall. These are really meant to be less "review" and more "recommendation." Oh, and of course "Ways for Kate to Remember What She Liked Reading." Enjoy!</i><br />
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<i>The Weird Sisters, </i>Eleanor Brown<br />
2011, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam<br />
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As I am now reading quite a bit, I've been getting a lot from the library. Let's face it: M.F.A. doesn't stand for "Multitudes of Financial Assets." So when I heard about this book, or read a review somewhere, I dashed right off to the Cambridge Public Library. Turns out I dashed in vain, because it was a month before my name came up on the reserve list and I got my copy.<br />
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Anyway. It was worth the wait.<br />
<br />
Growing up with a Shakespearean scholar for a father, in the world of the Bard, the Andreas sisters never watched television, nor did they leave the house without something to read. But it is almost only this - and their perchance for quoting Shakey - that they have in common: Rosalind feels she holds the family together single-handedly, Bianca escapes for the big city only to find herself sabotaging her own dreams, and Cordelia, the youngest (and favorite, they all agree), flits around the country aimlessly until she is forced with more than she can handle alone.<br />
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"We came home because we were failures," the book begins, and the stress of their mother's cancer and their own personal crises unravels in the following 300 or so pages. It's a homecoming story - a rediscovery of one's past, one's hometown, the idea of one's identity in a family unit, and how to achieve happiness within all of that. The sisters must come home to face their parent's mortality, each others secrets, and ultimately, their own issues. <br />
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So here's what I liked:<br />
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I like stories like this, in which characters find ways to see rebirth in what they had always found boring and commonplace, so I found myself very comfortable with the premise immediately. I try to do a bit of this every time I visit a town I used to live in, when I have the chance.<br />
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I also liked the style of the book. Each chapter and section is from the perspective of a different sister, but the novel as a whole is really narrated by all of them, and the collective first person ("we") provides not only insight and characterization, but also flavor. I can imagine it was a natural decision for Brown, and her comfort with the form made it feel very natural for me to read.<br />
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The story's setting, fictional college town Barnwell, Ohio, reminded me so much of the towns of my high school and college years, and I honestly wondered if Brown used Granville as a model city (I later read in this <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2011/01/30/setting-of-siblings-struggle-takes-cues-from-ohio.html?sid=101"><i>Columbus Dispatch</i> review</a> that it was "Kenyon and Oberlin, with a bit of Wooster thrown in." - I was close.) It made me a little nostalgic, to tell you the truth. <br />
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And then of course there's Shakespeare - from Shakespeare class in high school and college, to a three-week Drama in England trip in 2004, to my own Arden <i>Complete Works of Shakespeare</i> on my shelf, it was a bit of a no-brainer that I would appreciate that the Bard featured in this story. One can really draw a fine line, however, between integrating classic Shakespearean themes and quotes into the world of strong characters, and alienating readers who might not be so brushed up by making the story all about his work. I thought Brown did a fine job of letting the characters run the show, and I don't think readers would find the book any less enjoyable without recognizing certain themes or placing from which play each quote was pulled. <br />
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Overall, I think I might have waited two months, and I will be picking it up in paperback.<br />
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<b>Read For: </b>Unique Writing Style, Lovable Flawed Characters, and Shakespearean Indulgence.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-90527828430154110352011-04-28T05:35:00.000-07:002011-04-28T05:36:32.679-07:00Book Memory and ReviewsI have the extraordinary luck of having a spring/summer position that affords me the time to read. Great, I think - time to expand my horizons of literature, maybe even time to store a few craft ideas away for when I teach writing someday.<br />
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Which would be a fabulous idea, if I could just remember what I've read.<br />
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Just last night, as I tried to make a list from memory, I got stuck on one title: I could pull up a character's name, the plot, even the ending, but not the title or author. Luckily, the character didn't have a very common name and Google found the book in one try. But that snag, along with the blank stare I usually give people when they ask for a book recommendation, is why I should probably start writing such things down.<br />
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I usually talk myself out of doing book reviews on this blog because I think, "Well I got that book from the new section at the library, but it's been out a year already," which is a dumb excuse considering a lot of people get their books out of the new section of the library. Also, I think, "I don't know how to write a book review," which is even dumber. [sarcasm] If there's one thing I hate, it's learning how to write something. [/sarcasm]<br />
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So keep on the lookout for my take on <i>The Weird Sisters</i> by Eleanor Brown, coming to this blog near you soon. And by soon I mean hopefully later today or tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-69229445243390939392011-03-26T09:30:00.000-07:002013-02-08T11:03:25.750-08:00Short Story "One New Message" Published in 322 ReviewI'm pleased to introduce everyone to my first published short story "One New Message," which was published by the nice folks over at <i><a href="http://www.322review.org/">322 Review</a></i>.<br />
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Like <a href="http://www.pdrjournal.org/"><i>Printer's Devil Review</i></a>, <i>322</i> <i>Review</i> features both established and new writers in an online format. Though the Spring 2011 issue doesn't center around any particular theme, the magazine itself likes to explore "the paths of human experience," which is probably why they've chosen U.S. Route 322 as both their logo and their name. Founded by graduates of Rowan University, <i>322 Review</i> has just published Issue Eight.<br />
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Check them out, won't you? And thanks to everyone for your support!<br />
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EDIT: Though 322 Review is now defunct, the story can be found <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110402085551/http://www.322review.org/2011spring_fiction_onenewmessage.html">archived</a> here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-44632676302485280022011-02-16T20:42:00.000-08:002011-02-16T20:51:11.281-08:00Introducing Printer's Devil ReviewGood news, everyone! <br />
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I have joined some fellow writers here in Cambridge to launch an online literary journal. My limited experience with reading the slush pile at <i>Harvard Review</i> makes me hopeful that I'll be able to pick out the pretty snowflakes from the not-quite-as-formed-yet snowflakes.<br />
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Right now we are preparing our first issue, which should hit e-newsstands at pdrjournal.org on April 20. Soon after, we'll open up the submission period for everyone. We'll be releasing sneak peeks soon, so I'll be sure to keep everyone informed.<br />
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For now, you should check us out on Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/PDR/191689094179061?sk=wall">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-56382005815097923142011-01-12T10:10:00.000-08:002011-01-12T10:10:01.205-08:00Reflection, and a Look AheadI survived my first semester of teaching much wiser than when I started. I haven't gotten back my evaluations yet, but overall I think I at least gave my students access to the tools they will need for the rest of their time in undergrad. Will they actually <i>use</i> those tools? That part is out of my control.<br />
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I learned, mostly, that I need to assume that they know less than I think they know. I need to do a little bit more hand-holding. And I need to change up my readings a little more. I don't think I would do the same seminar again, even though I have most of the classes already planned out. But I do think I would try to put in a bit more variety of readings: poetry and feature news stories were left out. I didn't make them do their own research in terms of the reading as I should have. I should also include a few more writing assignments next time, instead of relying on discussion board responses and their four big papers.<br />
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So I learned from the experience, which was the point of teaching in the first place, so I call it a success. I'm taking a break from it this semester, mostly because my course isn't taught at in the spring, though I have been playing phone tag with someone from another school for an interview. With my time freed up I've been doing some temping, some freelancing, and some novel writing. Thankfully, my finances have held up thus far. The goal for the rest of 2011 is not to take a full-time desk job, to get as much differentiated experience as possible, and to finish the first draft of the novel. <br />
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To my fellow writing teachers: what was the most valuable experience you took away from your first semester?<br />
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To my fellow writers: what are your writing goals for 2011?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-75758549141227846622010-09-26T16:29:00.000-07:002010-09-26T16:29:14.491-07:00A Wild Ride Endured - So Far - Just BarelyOn the ladder of academia, the bottom rung for a recent MFA-graduate with no publications is adjunct professor. First-semester adjunct professors at my school are given freshman writing comp classes, told to pick a theme, and cast out into the wild. Needless to say, I am hanging on to this bottom rung for dear life. Let me elaborate.<br />
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I am, all at once, an instructor in writing, literature, sociology, religion, film, journalism, poetry, and history. Only being very knowledgeable in one of these things, fairly knowledgeable in another, and not at all knowledgeable in most of the others, I feel like a four year-old who has been shoved into the deep end without water wings. I try to keep about two steps ahead of my students, but more often it's more like a half step.<br />
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The problem isn't that I can't teach them to write. The problem is that I must teach them to write about anything. So tonight, I am hunched over an ethno-historian's account of the predicament of Native American mythology, baffled and lost. The ideas are valid to our explorations, but so much of the article is just plain hard. This is the kind of article that, as a student, I would have read and tried to understand but ultimately would have left up to the wisdom of my professor. Now I am that professor, and I am not quite sure if I have the confidence of knowledge I used to attribute to my own.<br />
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At least I can fall back on my creativity and acting skills, which has gotten me through my first few weeks just fine. I just can't help but fall back into the trap of feeling like I don't know enough to be up there, especially tonight. It's all part of the journey - the climb up the ladder - but why does the first rung seem so far from the second? And will it be an easier climb once I go for the third? And will I maintain my sanity - and social life - in the meantime?<br />
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And can I even continue to climb the ladder if I'm not taking some time out for my own writing?<br />
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The ladder swings and I grasp, hoping to keep my grip for another week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-57318366287615383982010-08-13T12:25:00.000-07:002010-08-13T12:25:57.534-07:00Seeing the English Language from the Outside InI recently had the opportunity to write a couple of super short stories (about one page single-spaced each) to be used in a Master's thesis on English Language Learning. Compounded with the complications of writing such short stories (which I counted to be situations, not really complete stories), they were to include many non-count nouns. Non-count what? I asked.<br />
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Because I'm fairly certain I slept through most of English class in elementary school, I didn't remember what non-count nouns were. I had to look them up. Also known as mass nouns, they are nouns that can't be pluralized by simply adding an "s." And, as the name suggestions, you can't count them. Technically, we get around a lot of these nowadays: "coffee" is supposedly a non-count noun, but how many times have you said "I need to get a coffee" or "I nearly fell in the middle of the street trying to carry all these damned coffees"? <br />
So I started as I start everything, with a blank page. I knew I had to be rather concise, and I also knew I couldn't be very stylistically fancy - I am a fan of dashes, semicolons, and. You know. Fragments. But these were students learning English for the first time, so style, sadly, was out. I had a list of non-count nouns to look at while writing. This helped, as I really didn't know what to write and had to base some of my narrative around what nouns I could use.<br />
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Three hours later, I had two mediocre scenes. I'm used to writing within parameters for the writing exercises I do every other week or so, but this kind of parameter was different. This time, I had to think about the English language in a way I never was required to before - it would be like having to think, <em>Breathe</em> <em>in. Breathe</em> <em>out. Breathe in. Breathe out. </em>Now that's a great exercise for Yoga, but not for all your waking hours. It's hard. And it was the same with writing these stories. I could work in the non-count nouns, but then my plot was weak. I could strengthen the plot, and lose some of the required nouns. <em>I could think about every breath in and every breath out, but I might forget to brush my teeth in the process</em>.<br />
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Ultimately, I had to tell myself that these were only short, easy-to-understand scenes for use on a questionnaire, not to submit to <em>The New Yorker</em>. They weren't great. I probably wouldn't work with them again. But the act itself was an exercise for my writing mind, and it made me realize how much about our mother tongues we take for granted, especially as writers. Doing any of these kinds of assignments, I believe, can only strengthen style, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to buff up mine a bit.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-3726389033928093852010-06-19T15:54:00.000-07:002010-06-19T15:54:03.636-07:00American MythologyOn the writing front lately, there has been good news and bad news. The good news is that I have been given a section of freshman writing comp to teach in the fall. The good news that went along with that was that the school gave me a blank lesson plan and said, "Go!" The bad news is that I've never done this before, so all of my extra effort lately has gone into building a syllabus.<br />
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I feel like I'm writing a research paper again, except I have to find enough research to write like ten research papers, on all sorts of different subjects. After only having a week to come up with a topic, I finally chose American Myth. At first I thought it would be interesting to go beyond Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed and dive deeper into indigenous myths and how they evolved over time. I thought I could throw in a fun reading on urban legends to keep their interest. And then I realized that just as America is a melting pot of people, we are too a melting pot of myth - just because the American Indians were the only ones native to the land the United States now occupies does not mean their tales are the only things we can deem "American." <br />
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Neil Gaiman's incredible novel <i>American Gods</i> is giving me almost every topic I wish to cover in the fall, like how America changed and shaped myths that were brought here with the people, how the modern world views ancient myths, and how the new "gods" of technology are replacing the old "gods" of some of the ancient religions (literally, in the novel, or if you want to think more figuratively, how technology is replacing traditions of oral storytelling). There's also the idea of the American Dream as a mythos in itself: what about these stories are still true, and how are we building a new mythology in our society today?<br />
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I look forward to talking a little bit more about my class as I form the syllabus a bit better, but for now I'm deciding which readings to assign and which books to order. My own writing has been limited to the few precious hours every other week with my writing group doing creative prompts and exercises. But I figure that something has to give after graduation (July 3rd!) and I can get into my own work again. It will always be a balancing act, I keep telling myself, between what makes money and what fills the soul. The result will be one of my greatest life accomplishments.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-87847148898314103682010-04-12T19:16:00.001-07:002010-04-12T19:16:37.884-07:00The Cliche TrapWe're always trying so hard to avoid cliche in our writing, and lately I've been noticing how much I fall prey to their traps in my daily life. This has become mostly apparent in my workplace, where I talk about the weather and what everyone did the weekend before and how much we're all addicted to coffee and how we can't wait for Friday afternoons. While I'm sometimes sheepish that I'm not being very original in my exchanges, it's comfortable. Engaging in small talk makes me feel like one of the team.<br />
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So what happens when your characters really <i>do</i> talk about something that's considered "cliche"? What if you really do need your characters to have a water cooler moment where they all talk about the freakishly warm spring weather? How do we make these moments truly honest and something people can look at and feel comfortable with rather than find boring and predictable?<br />
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Like most writing, I think it comes down to character. I'm the kind of character who would have a hyper-aware conversation about the weather with my cube mate, then turn around and write a blog post about small talk. Maybe he's going to have a conversation with me about the weather before turning back to his computer and talking to himself for the next half-hour, possibly about the cage match on Pay-Per-View later that night. Maybe it will spark a story in my supervisor about a woman who gave her umbrella away on a rainy day, only to have it given back to her by a completely different person weeks later when she was struggling through a sudden downpour. I think we have to remember that even though on the outside a scene may look cliche, it's really not because it's being experienced differently by everyone who's involved. And by looking at those different perspectives, it becomes a singular event, less boring, and less predictable.<br />
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And maybe next time I find myself aware of such things, I can try and turn up my perception radar and ask myself, "What makes this a real scene in reality, and how could I re-create it on the page?"<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-59854518161348665432010-03-17T20:37:00.000-07:002010-03-17T20:37:44.675-07:00Nick Hinton and Delving into the Music IndustryRecently I had the pleasure to work with <a href="http://www.nickhinton.com/nh/biography.html">Nick Hinton</a>, a talented singer, songwriter and composer, on some promotional materials for his website and upcoming releases for his CD, <i>The Brave Unknown</i>. Though I hadn't heard any of Nick's music before we started collaborating, I was instantly drawn to his soulful style and moving instrumentals. This is going to be his first full-length album release and hopefully will help him break into the U.S. from the U.K. Check out some of the songs on his website or his <a href="http://www.myspace.com/nickhintonmusic">MySpace page</a>.<br />
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This is my first freelance project in the music business and I've really enjoyed getting to know the vocabulary with which musicians talk about sound, rhythm, and structure of composition. Although I don't have very much experience in many fields, this project proved to be very rewarding in the process of research, and I look forward to honing my skills in writing about music for future projects.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-7282276174770556202010-03-13T20:54:00.000-08:002010-03-13T20:54:14.268-08:00Doubts on TeachingEvery now and again, I'll doubt my desires to be a professor. I worry I don't know enough. What if I can't think of books to read? What if I don't know a reference someone makes in a paper? What if someone asks me about a 19th Century Irish novelist whose name I have never heard and I appear suddenly small and insignificant to my class?<br />
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Thankfully, I usually pull myself out of this doubting situation rather quickly and easily. It's called research. It's not like it's going to stop when I'm the one assigning the papers; if anything, I'll be doing even more. It's called Google and Wikipedia and that ancient thing called a library. <br />
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And then there are days like today, when I was prepping for a seminar I will have to teach as one of my graduation requirements for the MFA. I literally outlined the whole thing on the hour-long train to Providence this morning, and couldn't stop yammering about it over lunch with some of my classmates. I had so much fun figuring out how to engage the class, present the information, and create the handouts, that I was reminded that this is why I want to brave those random questions I might not be able to answer. It's because I love to do it.<br />
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The doubts will probably not go away. I will probably doubt myself all the way through my first semester. But hopefully I will still love to do it, and still have moments of epiphany, and still wade my way through Freshman comp papers. I guess at this point all I really can do is try it and see.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615111951880447327.post-1355456970911530762010-03-04T14:24:00.000-08:002010-03-17T20:38:15.963-07:00Evolution of a Writer<b>Preschool:</b><br />
First poem is written. "Down went the celery, down went the cat. Down went me but not dat dat." Very proud of self.<br />
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<b>First Grade:</b><br />
Cute furry animal is happy, cute furry animal gets into trouble, cute furry animal gets out of trouble. The end. <br />
Writing method: Dictation to mom, original artwork by me.<br />
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<b>Third Grade:</b><br />
Joint story with best friend about the misadventures of bat and flying squirrel. <br />
Writing method: Two heads better than one. Original artwork by both of us. Giggling abounds.<br />
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<b>Fifth Grade:</b><br />
Possibly embarrassing time-traveling story involving middle school gym teacher.<br />
Writing method: Mechanical pencils and legal pads. Inspiration hits anywhere and everywhere.<br />
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Eighth Grade:</b><br />
Painfully cliched natural disaster story inspired by hit mid-nineties movie. Stilted dialogue and too many adverbs. Lots of fun to write, though. Flew through it.<br />
Writing method: Mechanical pencils and mead notebooks. Lots of Mead notebooks.<br />
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<b>High School:</b><br />
Mushy stories about having lots of free time with my boyfriend. Writing as coping mechanism and escape from "overly strict" parents.<br />
Writing method: Sparkly pens in secret journals and notebooks, scribbled behind illegally-locked doors.<br />
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<b>Senior Year:</b><br />
"Real" fiction as learned in college creative writing class. Previous writing shown to be positively awful. Damn, this stuff is hard.<br />
Writing method: Parents' slow, slow, computer.<br />
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<b>College:</b><br />
Character development, plot, theme, setting, description? Story arcs...inspiration and ideas coming slower, pushed out by craft. Am I actually going to major in this?<br />
Writing method: Laptop at Village Coffee Shop, caffeine addiction begins.<br />
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<b>Senior Year of College:</b><br />
Tackle novella for senior honors project. With 3 weeks left before due date, decide to completely switch from third-person to first-person POV. Write straight through spring break. Accomplishment. 130 pages. Phew.<br />
Writing method: Village Coffee Shop, Granville Coffee Shop, Library, Quad, Maine, on Floor of Room, on Ceiling of Room, on Top of Fridge. Caffeine IV inserted.<br />
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<b>Last Semester of MFA:</b><br />
Write a paragraph. Check Facebook. Walk away. Write another paragraph and decide that character isn't flushed out enough, so write a character interview. Make coffee. Decide that that character wouldn't do what I wanted him to do so change what he does. Do laundry. Research antelopes. Stare at the ceiling. Check Facebook. Write another paragraph. Wait until the last weekend before submission to write the majority of the story and then wonder why I'm developing an ulcer.<br />
Writing method: Survival. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0