Update: Fall Writing Workshop Details

Hey Y'all,
I'd been hoping to host two concurrent Fall Writing Workshops -- six weeks of Tuesdays and six weeks of Thursdays. However, due to a much greater interest in Thursdays than Tuesdays, I have made the exec decision to only host on Thursdays. So, here's the new information.

Fall Writing Workshop with Spike Gillespie
Focus: Memoir Writing, Creative Non-Fiction, Blogs that Don't Suck

My next six-week session will run for consecutive Thursdays from August 18th through September 22nd inclusive. We meet from 7 pm til 9 pm at the Sol Center, 3400 Kerbey Lane. (NOT the restaurant.)
The cost is $300 and yes, I you can pay in installments. We'll go over the basics-- setting writing goals, writing to prompts, working on existing memoirs and blogs that you've already got going, discussing the business side of writing (with an emphasis on how the internet has affected publishing). I'll give prompts and optional homework assignment. No one will be forced to share but for those of you interested in sharing and getting group feedback, yes, we'll be doing that. Over the course of the six weeks you'll also get one-on-one writing coaching via email. Once you've completed this course, you can then sign-up at a discount for ongoing sessions.

If you have any questions or are ready to sign up, please drop me a note at: spike@spikeg.com

Thanks,

Spike

Class Notes

Most weeks I send out class notes directly to workshop attendees. This week-- two birds with one stone and all that-- I'm going to post notes here at the blog. That way those of you considering signing up for the August workshop can get a feel for some of the topics we discuss.

To start off the meeting, I asked the group to talk about who, what, when, where, and why they read. And I was also really curious to hear HOW and HOW MUCH? I had a number of reasons for throwing these questions out-- I wanted to know if you buy into the notion (I certainly do) that to be a writer you must be a reader. I wanted to know if what you read reflects and influences what and how you write -- for me the answer is often yes as I devour memoirs (though I should note I also devour novels and I'm pretty much crap at fiction writing). As for the HOW and HOW MUCH questions-- these relate to the fact that in just the last twenty years our options have changed and increased considerably. There are theories about how reading short internet articles all the time (and hopping from link to link, and texting, and other "short burst" writing/reading) negatively affects our ability to do sustained reading. We also have access to audiobooks, e-books, Twitter novels, graphic novels... the list goes on.

In the bigger picture, these questions relate back to Session 1 when I asked you to really think about WHY you write? Dreams of fame and fortune? Revenge? Catharsis? A combination? Because you can't stop?

On a more pragmatic/business note, I read excerpts from a couple of articles relating to e-publishing. There's this one by Neal Pollack that recently ran in NYT Book Review. And here's one about how Susan Orlean is about to release what is known as a Kindle Single. Self-publishing is not the stigmatized hole of narcissism it once was (though there's still plenty of that) and e-publishing is rapidly coming up as a very legitimate (and far less expensive) way to publish your work.

I brought some show and tell-- an array of books to help you think more broadly about what a book can look like and topics you can cover. So, for example, I brought my copy of Beautiful Sheep, which I love, and which has very little text though the text that is included is super interesting.

I briefly touched on Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, which I just finished "audio-reading" after avoiding for a decade or so. (I wrote more on that topic over at my other blog.) The book, presented as a novel, is a stunning piece of work that reveals so much about war, Vietnam in particular. Beyond that, though, it is also a great writing guide-- O'Brien has a lot to say about how we present the truth, how and why we tell our stories. I can't recommend this highly enough.

We talked about Roseanne Barr's stunning recent piece in New York Magazine. I told you about how much I admire the obituary writer Douglas Martin (that link will take you to some of his work-- and yes, I really did send him fan mail).

And we talked about making TIME to write-- getting AWAY from all the distractions. This sent me down the tangent path and I told you about Secular Sabbath, a term I first encountered in a piece by Mark Bittman in NYT.

Here's the link I promised to share that one of you sent me, that addresses the question WHY some of us read-- it's certainly true in my case.

We also took time to share but, as you know, what happens in workshop stays in workshop, so I won't comment here about what was shared except to say, as usual, the writing was great and the feedback was also great and most welcome.

The writing prompt for the week, in honor of Tim O'Brien's book, is War Stories. I invited you to interpret that however you wish, whether it is referencing an actual war out there in The Big World, or a battle you have waged (or are waging) with yourself or others.

This coming Thursday is our final meeting for this session. Please let me know if you're interested in signing up for ongoing sessions starting in August (see the next post down). And please let your friends know about my next workshop for newcomers, also starting in August (also detailed below).

Thanks and see ya Thursday,
Spike

Announcing: Fall Workshop 2011 & Ongoing Classes

Hey Y'all,
As I'm moving toward the one-year anniversary of offering regular workshops, I've taking various polls and surveys and have come up for a plan as I move into Year Two. Since so many of you are repeat offenders, here's what I'm going to do. Beginning Thursday, August 18th, I'm going to offer ongoing classes for returnees at a discounted price. To qualify you need to have attended one of my six-week workshops. Classes will be $25 per session and I'll ask for a month-to-month commitment. We'll limit it to fifteen members per month, so please sign up soon if you want to guarantee a spot.

Meanwhile, for those of you who've been meaning to take a workshop, maybe now is the time. My next six-week class will run for consecutive Tuesdays from August 16th through September 20th inclusive. The cost is $300 and yes, I you can pay in installments. For this session we'll go over the basics-- setting writing goals, writing to prompts, working on existing memoirs and blogs that you've already got going, discussing the business side of writing (with an emphasis on how the internet has affected publishing). Over the course of the six weeks you'll also get one-on-one writing coaching via email. Once you've completed this course, you can then sign-up for the ongoing sessions in which we really get down and dirty with moving forward on goals with the help of feedback from all in attendance.

If you have any questions or are ready to sign up, please drop me a note at: spike@spikeg.com

Thanks,

Spike

Random Notes about My Ever Flowering Passion!

You know how I always say I hate it when people say, "Sorry I haven't posted at my blog in awhile"-- like WHO CARES? But you know, sorry I haven't posted here in awhile. I realize that as much as I'm enjoying reading/listening to books practically around the clock, I've been a very lazy reviewer. Maybe I'll fix that soon.

Meanwhile, three things:

1. Grown Up Camp for Adults is ON!!! Ten people have signed up. I can take ten more. Hurry up-- email me if you want to sign up. It's in July, Thursday evenings from 7 til 10. And it's cheap. Email: spike@spikeg.com

2. LISTEN to this interview with Gary Shteyngart that was on Fresh Air the other day. It is SUCH a great interview and so much insight into the state of the novel and what's happening with the Internet kind of ruining the writing life. (Or not-- depending on where you stand.)

3. I am FINALLY checking out Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. I'm doing the audiobook. I avoided this one for a long time in part due to my own issues with trauma. I was actually a little bit afraid to dig in. It's certainly not an easy read but it is MAGNIFICENT. I want to use it as a teaching guide for writing. Wow.

Let's Try This Again: Who Wants to Come to Camp for Grown Ups?

Hey Y'all,
Yesterday I posted a note here but then blogger crashed (or something) and the post disappeared. I was wondering if I might convince 8 or 10 of you to try out a little experiment. I want to hold Camp Spike for Grown Ups. I'm thinking 4 Thursdays in July, in the evening. We can meet for three hours each session-- just like my kids' camps. And, as with my kids' camps, we'll work on writing, skits, magazine making, and arts & crafts. Yesterday, someone suggested this idea was pathetic. Maybe I didn't do a good job of describing it. I'll try again-- the main point is to have fun. So many of us don't make time for fun that I thought this camp might be a good way to jumpstart a practice of making time to do silly things just for the sake of it. For those of you who feel like you need a bigger ROI, you might think of this as a chance to mull over-- in a safe place, with a group of others-- changes you're hoping to make in your life. I've been doing this a lot lately, working toward a life that features more temporal abundance and, as a result, fewer financial rewards/material goods. So far, I'm having a good time but it's also challenging.

I was thinking of asking $125 as a special rate for the first group-- this includes all supplies and snacks. We might have a talent show or picnic or both on the final night.

Please email me at spike@spikeg.com if you think you might want to try this wacky experiment with you. I do believe it can work.

Thanks,
Spike

Who Wants to Come to Camp for Big Kids?

Happy Campers

Most summers I host kids' camps-- this summer for example I've got Writing Camp, Fashion Camp and Arts & Crafts Camp. Whenever I post info about the camps, I get notes from adults saying, "I wish I could come to your camp." Now I realize this sentiment might be along the lines of me saying I wish I could move to whatever exotic locale I happening to be visiting or that I wish I could get away with wearing a tutu the way a lot of three-year-olds do-- you know, just a silly daydream.

But then I wonder. Maybe if I threw a camp for full-sized humans, people would actually sign up. So I decided to throw yet another idea to the virtual wall to see if it sticks. Consider this post a survey. How many of you would actually sign up for an adult summer camp if I hosted one? Here's how I think it would work:

We could meet four consecutive Thursday evenings in July for three hours per meeting. I can bring all my arts and crafts supplies, the costumes (including the banana suit) that I use in Writing Camp, and everything you need to make your own 'zine. We could knit, weave potholders, string beads, work on writing, and kvetch our way through stuff that's bugging us. Of course there would be snacks and perhaps, on the last night, a nice indoor picnic.

While the main goal of camp would be just to have fun and indulge yourself in silliness, for those of you still clinging to the idea that any class you sign up for must yield a certain type of result... well here's what I have to say to you:

Think of camp as a way to work through any shit you're going through, bond with others, get a little bit out of your comfort zone (but in a safe environment), and figure out what you want to do with your life. Not exactly therapy but helpful camaraderie. Plus some skills that will allow you to open your own Etsy shop selling potholders.

So, if I threw a camp like this-- and if I offered a deep discount for my first group of camp guinea pigs-- would you sign up? And if you did sign up, would you want camp to be co-ed or just the Big Girls?

Hurry up and let me know-- I really want to try this idea. I figure I need 7 or 8 participants for camp to "make." Email me at spike@spikeg.com if you want to sign up.

Phoebe Feeds Fallow Fantasy

I'm writing this post from a small cabin on Lake Bob Shiloh near Pittsburgh, TX. I drove 5.5 hours to get here and in a little while I'll give a one-hour talk about Truth in Writing. Then I'll get in the car and drive 5.5 hours home. I'm only getting a small honorarium for this, a sum that is less than the amount I can write off on my taxes for the mileage I'm accumulating.

Initially, as I realized this engagement was really going to occur-- (like many people, I say "yes" to far-off invitations in part because they are so way down the road my brain seems to think I won't ever really have to show up)-- I was feeling some regret. Driving 600 miles roundtrip to speak to a small group for sixty minutes does seem wasteful on some levels-- time, money, petroleum. But once I got outside Austin city limits, I remembered the good parts of these trips, and they are plentiful. To wit:

1) I love driving long distances solo. I think this amuses some of my family members, who like to point out that, though we never cared for each other, my father and I share a number of traits. I don't like agreeing with this assessment, but there's no disputing that we both have/had a lifelong passion for the ocean and pop music and he both have/had famous grudge-holding and long distance driving skills. He was a truck driver and I have been a road tripper for 25 years now. Being in the car alone is a bit like being on an airplane. You are forced to sit in one place, even as your body is technically being pushed forward at an alarming speed. You can think, listen to books and-- at least mentally-- get some writing done.

2) Once I get where I'm going, there is that delicious feeling of being in a room for which I am not responsible, a blank slate where I do not have the distractions of adorable dogs, knocking doors, laundry waiting to be taken in from the line, etc. I give myself permission to exhale in these unfamiliar spaces, and I've stayed in enough of them over the years to know just how to make things just so, so that I will be surrounded by all the things that most please me during solo flights: knitting and at least one book full of gorgeous knitting photos, a book to read, a book to listen to, a meditation cushion. (I do-- obviously-- bring my laptop, though I try to avoid it most of the time I've dedicated to my break.)

3) Having the alone time, and the things that bring me joy, allow me to live out -- if sometimes only for 24 hours-- the world I often fantasize about, the one in which I can dedicate myself to doing only things I truly love. Living out the fantasy has two main effects: a) It relieves the anxiety I feel at home when I am beating myself up for not making the time to do the things I am forever saying I wish I had time to do b) it confirms for me that this fantasy is more than just a fantasy-- that in fact I really do want to do these things, I really do enjoy them, they are not at all disappointing the way some things are disappointing when you actually pursue them, and thus that I really should make more time in my at-home life to dedicate to doing them. In short, I find focus to be plentiful when I am alone in a foreign location, be it a cafe in Paris or, as now, a cabin in a private Christian campground. (Aside: the conference at which I am speaking is secular-- the organizers just rented this place and/but I have to say the abundance of Christian literature and iconography here is both giving me the willies and food for thought.)

The list goes on, but you get the idea. On this particular trip what I'm most thinking about is this whole Be Still goal I'm working on. Yes, it's oxymoronic to cite Being Still as a goal, since a goal is most often something to be accomplished through hard work. But in my case, being still IS hard work. I'm not used to it and I don't imagine I ever will be. The most stillness so far has come courtesy of the car ride. And even then, my mind doesn't stop.That's okay. Because there remains some stillness from the other things that so often pull at me. Let's call this Baby Steps to Being Still.

The irony of my version of Being Still is that-- as I sort of suspected might happen-- in "allowing" myself to not be a slave to any particular writing project or deadline right now, the ideas are pouring in. Last night, I sat down and started scratching away at this idea I have for a YA novel. So far none of my fiction (four novels) has sold. And this time around I don't want to trap myself into feeling like I "have" to do this project and that I "have" to do it in X amount of time. Maybe I'll write a few more pages today. Maybe I won't. Beyond enjoying myself when I do pursue it, I am trying not to attach any dreams of selling it or even finishing it for that matter.

Which is all to say that, after writing on deadlines that have felt more desperate than not for the better part of 30 years, I am now attempting for something on par with letting a field lie fallow. Any seed of an idea that pokes through is a volunteer, nothing I am purposefully planting, tending to, fertilizing, or trying to force into existence, no harvest date circled on the calendar. So far, it's a very interesting experiment.

I get inspiration from all over the place-- from watching the dogs in their synchronized napping rituals (they never seemed worried about any deadlines besides the morning Wet Food Ritual and the Walk-Shit-Sniff Ritual), from watching the world not fall apart when I'm not writing and, lately, from all the reading in which I am indulging. Sometimes I'm so busy producing that I don't make enough time to consume. Right now the opposite is true-- I'm a little baby bird, mouth wide open, devouring books and magazines and growing stronger for my efforts as I contemplate one day flying back out into the world of goal-centric writing. Toward this end, I've been a forever fan of obituaries and last week's NYT obit of singer Phoebe Snow really grabbed me.

Phoebe Snow made a big splash in the 70's with her song Poetry Man and then, not long after, she more or less disappeared to all but her most ardent fans. This was due in part to her dislike of the business side of making music and, it seems, due in even greater part to her decision to dedicate her life to her profoundly disabled daughter, who died a few years ago. As I read Snow's condensed life story, I was thinking about how many people seem to write/sing/make movies so constantly. I count myself in this perpetual-writer group, and it's a group that has grown exponentially (and then some) thanks to the growing number of bloggers who write down every breath they take. What's the goal here? A hope for immortality? A sense that if you're not recording every moment it isn't real? Is there a fear of being forgotten? Is it about trying to make money?

I suspect all those factors play a role. So it was interesting to see how Phoebe Snow popped up on the front page of NYT online like that. One hit record, then gone from the scene for nearly 40 years, but ultimately totally remembered for her contribution, her voice, even if she only shared that voice fleetingly. Go ahead and add that to the list of examples of quality vs. quantity.

One homework assignment I gave in workshop this week is to answer the question: WHY you want to write? What's driving you? Is it a dream of fame and/or fortune? Is it an inability to not write? Is it about feeling like you have to justify your existence and prove yourself worthy of the space you occupy on the planet?

I'm reassessing my own answer to these questions right now, here in this little cabin, and during the recent past weeks and however many future weeks it takes me to come up with an answer. When I was little, I wrote for pure passion. In college I also wrote for passion, but started getting paid for it, and this got the whole words-for-money weed growing like a vine around my mind. I eked out a living, then I got book contracts and eventually mostly supported myself with my words. There were even times I made (by my standards) a good amount of money doing this And in Austin, I've accidentally (or was it?) managed to be known by a number of folks for my writing. Not precisely the Big Definition of fame and fortune, but close enough. So now what? Any reason for me to keep going? I think so. But then in which direction? I'm feeling weary of writing about relationships and politics. I've had it up to here with the corporate writing I often do to pay the bills. As this post attests, I am writing about writing now, which might be the definition of self-indulgence. Or maybe not. So I suppose in addition to answering the question WHY I want to do it, the tandem question is: And what will you write about next?

We'll see, I suppose. And with these thoughts, I shall now attempt to resume my flailing attempts at fallow, and watch to see what shoots up from the ground.