Tamora Pierce rocks.

A few of us went up to Skokie to see Tamora Pierce last night. And it was a blast! She started out reading veeeeeeeeeery slowly and quietly, then had a coughing fit, then laughed and said, "Got you, didn't I?" After that it was loads of fun. She talked some about her experiences (getting started, getting published, continuing to write), and then opened it up for questions. Lots of interesting ones, and she had great answers for all of them. We all agreed that she inspired us to write. Yay.

I'll be drawing from this event -- including her brilliant but unobvious declaration that she borrows/steals from real people and cultures regularly -- for many weeks, but for now, here's a quote from her website about how to deal with writer's block.

How do you deal with writer's block?
Here are some fixes I use when I get stuck:

• Introduce a new character, a strong one with an individual style in speech, dress and behavior--one who will cause the other characters to review their own actions and motives to decide where they stand with regard to the new character. Don't forget that with me, at least, new characters include animals: most characters will react to an animal intrusion of some kind in an interesting way.
• Have something dramatic happen. As Raymond Chandler put it, "Have someone come through the door with a gun in his hand." (My husband translates this as "Have a troll come through the door with a spear in his hand.") Machinery or vehicles (cars, wagons, horses, camels) can break down; your characters can be attacked by robbers or pirates; a flood or tornado sweeps through. Stage a war or an elopement or a financial crash. New, hard circumstances force characters to sink or swim, and the way you show how they do either will move things along.
• Change the point of view from which you tell the story. If you're doing it from inside one character's head, try switching to another character's point of view. If you're telling the story from an all-seeing, third person ("he/she thought") point of view, try narrowing your focus down to one character telling the story in first person, as Huckleberry Finn and Anne Frank tell their stories. If down the road in the world you've created someone has written a book or encyclopedia about these events, insert a nonfiction-like segment (that doesn't give the important stuff away) as a change of pace. Try telling it as a poem, or a play (you can convert it to story form later).
• Put this story aside, and start something else: letters, an article, a poem, a play, an art project. Look at the story in a day, or a week, or a couple of months. It may be fresh for you then; it may spark new ideas.
• If you have an intelligent friend who's into the things you're writing about, talk it out with him/her. My husband often supplies wonderful new ideas so I can get past whatever hangs me up, and my family and friends are used to mysterious phone calls asking about things seemingly out of the blue, like what gems would you wear with a scarlet gown, or how tall are pole beans in late June?
• Most important of all, know when it's time to quit. Sometimes you take an idea as far as it will go, then run out of steam. This is completely normal. When I began to write, I must have started 25 things for each one I completed. Whether you finish something or not, you'll still have learned as you wrote. The things you learn and ideas you developed, even in a project you don't finish, can be brought to your next project, and the next, and the next. Sooner or later you'll have a story which you can carry to a finish.

That'll never happen

Last night's meeting was a return to form for WIP. We discussed upcoming events, and did an extended free-write on an interesting prompt.

Events to note:

• This Thursday: RSO Fair for prospies! We'll be tabling from 7:30 to 9:00 in Hutch. Consider volunteering for a shift (even fifteen minutes would be helpful). All you have to do is sit there and talk to excited eighteen-year-olds about creative writing. BEST JOB EVER. Anyway, if you can't do a shift, please do stop by and show your support for WIP.
• Next Thursday: another RSO Fair. Same time and place. Again, please volunteer or stop by if you can.
• Tuesday, May 5: the second annual WIP reading! 7:00 p.m. in Hallowed Grounds, with great food and hip music. This time we're adding Sliced Bread to the list of sponsors, and are opening it up to all kinds of writing. It is tentatively titled "Close/Open," referring to the closing of old worlds and the opening of new ones through epiphany; if your work doesn't fit this mold, though, you are still welcome to read. An official call for submissions is to come, but if you have any work you'd like to share, please contact me. It only needs to be a couple of pages long. And if you're stressed about quality, you can submit it to the workshop for feedback. There's still plenty of time. We will also need volunteers to be present, but details are to come. And if you know of singers or guitarists who'd like to perform, pass on the word, and have them contact me. We have two or three slots for performances.
  

Last night's meeting:

• The prompt was: "Write about an event you are fairly sure you'll never experience. Write it in the first person, and include as much detail as you can. Make it believable. Let your imagination flesh out the scene."
• Over half of us wrote about death. What does this mean?

For next week:

• Continue writing your scene. Those of you who weren't present, respond to the prompt. Polish/rewrite as necessary. Submit two pages to the workshop by Sunday night. We'll discuss them on Tuesday.
  

Yesterday's meeting

A few of us met last night, and talked about the chapter Lisbeth had submitted from her project, "Fortunate Ones." We talked a lot about worldbuilding, which is more relevant to some of you than to others, as well as about how to apportion information for readers without making it feel like backstory is being heaped on them. To that end, the workshops this fall will focus less on getting ideas and getting started than on how to put those ideas into action -- in other words, how to get past Chapter 1.

You guys also missed an extended clash about the merits of Frank Herbert's Dune. Very entertaining!

There might be a meeting next week; please mention in your comments which day and time would be best for you. We're also taking submissions for next week; otherwise you guys will have to put up with reading my project.

Also, would anyone be interested in having another reading this fall? It would be in mid-November or later. We would need to have people sign up to read their work, as well as any musical acts you guys can get your hands on.

Lastly, keep thinking about NaNoWriMo. It's not as far off as you think!

BA reading tonight

There's a reading of ENGL and CRWR BAs tonight! For all those of you interested in writing BAs next year, or if you're interested in writing longer projects in general, I strongly recommend that you stop by, at least for a while.

The details of the reading are as follows:

BA Reading
4:30-7:30
Ida Noyes Hall, Third Floor Theatre

Contact Amy Schulz (aschulz@uchicago.edu) with any questions.

Baring It All

Come share your creative writing work at a year-end reading next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. in Hallowed Grounds. All work is welcome, including poetry, short stories, segments of longer fiction, plays, screenplays, and mixed media.

Co-sponsored by ENGL, SGFC, and Sliced Bread, the event will also feature campus music: Saturday Realism, and Claudie and Miles.

Uh, and there's going to be amazing catering from Fox & Obel. So you should go. Seriously, what could be better than listening to awesome writing by your peers (which you may have helped to critique), hearing great music, and noshing on upscale pastry? Come on now.

Make sure to bring friends, since a strong showing will indicate support for the creative writing community here, with which everyone is dissatisfied. Please also sign up to read as soon as possible, and if you can, include a short description of your piece, so that we can group pieces by theme.

Finally, what's the prevailing opinion on concluding the reading with an open mic?

Event details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=41168560206