I have often, though not always and certainly strongly not enough, felt that I should write more. This blog was, in part, motivated by that idea. As you can tell by the dates on my recent posts…not so much, eh?
Well that’s about to change. I’m going to take over the writing world, exert my dominance over all things fictional, historical, romantical, and…well…perhaps scribble something down.
What, you may ask, am I babbling about?
I’ve signed up for a two hour online writing workshops being given by someone I’ve read and with whom I’ve corresponded (exactly once…via email).
Cary Tennis, a Bay Area based writer, has been hosting workshops, both online and in-person, using…um…it’s better if he says it:
At Cary Tennis Writing Workshops, we specialize in liberating the creative potential of people from all walks of life. We use the Amherst Writers and Artists method, pioneered by poet and memoirist Pat Schneider, to help writers not just speak but sing, to say the hard but true things, to say the funny things in a strange way and the strange things in a funny way, to track the trail of elusive truths through storms and droughts and periods of dead, still air without despair or compromise.
Keep in mind that I’m more or less a fan of despair and have made unwilling compromise an art so I may be out of luck, but I’m going to give it a try.
When did I decide all this? This morning actually. I find that life changing decisions are best made on the spur of the moment, without contemplation or consultation. That explains exactly how I got where I am today…and you know, overall that’s not too bad.
Seriously though, I’ve been on his mailing list for a couple years now; since he left off writing, “Since You Asked,” Salon’s advice column. Actually he hasn’t left off writing the column, he’s left off writing it at Salon. You can still catch it on his website, carytennis.com.
As it is something I’ve though about and he has now peaked my interest by offering a free two hour online experience I thought I’d give it a go. Free. I like that word.
This morning I noticed an email from his listserv today that suggested the first fifteen people who signed up would be able to take part in a two hour online workshop next week Thursday. The time fit my schedule and…I was one of the first fifteen! Score!
But enough already…it would be far better if I reported on what happened than on what I imagine will happen. That’s especially true (are there degrees of truth for things that are true: 150% true?), as I imagine that about 35 minutes into the workshop my connection will mysteriously drop. Later I’ll get a note from Cary suggesting that he’s sorry my connection dropped and that he’s had such huge run on his business that all future workshops are completely filled, in perpetuity.
You think?
That’s it for the moment. I hope to be writing more in the future though.
Aloha!