The Craft

It's ready, sealed and waiting to be mailed. After many months of considering it, then doing a first write, followed by a rewrite and, finally, the final write, my application to be considered for a writing course is almost on its way.

This two year course will expose me to different styles and genres of writing with feedback from a published writer. It will help identify to which genre of writing I am best suited. But I think I already have an idea about that.

This past Tuesday evening I put the finishing touches to my monthly reporter piece for a local community paper (see Writer at Work January 2010). I find press release and reporter writing dry. I guess if I was to chase down exciting stories or write breaking news pieces, it may prove to be more gratifying. However, it is fun to see my name in print alongside my article whether it be about an upcoming fundraising dinner, a high shool reunion or the new official community plan.

And this Saturday, as dear M does another day of home renos, I'm at a writing workshop learning the craft of life writing. I'll be developing prose techniques such as 'free writing, sense memory, telling detail and scene design to craft vivid, emotionally engaging snapshots of my experiences', so the brochure says. And this I am looking forward to.

Which reminds me of Virginia Woolf's advice about our craft:
"If you publish, your freedom will be checked; you will be thinking of what people will say; you will write for others when you ought only to be writing for yourself."

I find her advice to be true when I weigh the joy it is to write my vignettes and the hard work I find it to write my published pieces.