Hold the phone, y'all. . . .

So sorry for the delay, friends. I've had another family emergency. We're not out of the woods, yet, and I've been delaying writing a post for you until I felt I could give it my all.

Then it dawned on me that I was letting my perfectionism get in the way, and that it might be useful to just do what I can and be transparent with all of you about it because no doubt you've struggled in these ways in the past--or maybe even right now.

Let's face it: we're all struggling individually and collectively. And even though we're separated from each other (heck, we've never even seen each other face to face!), we can still help support each other in our growth. Because that's what this is about. I believe that truly.

We have a month to go together. How can we make the most of it?

I have to say to you collectively, now that I've been in touch individually about your midterm portfolios, that I am infinitely impressed with what you accomplished. Each of you. And all of you. Every single one of you did all the work, and you did it honestly. As in, you really brought yourselves, in this moment, exactly as you are, to the page. And for me, as your reader, what I felt was that I came to understand something essential about you and your stories and your ways of seeing. In many ways, I feel as if I've gotten to know something true and real about you as a class in ways I haven't when our usual methods of teaching and learning haven't been disrupted.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm still looking for the gifts in all this.

OK, so what about your assignment for next week?!?

We're moving into setting and place and how to build that in prose. Though still building on character as well, because the way we craft the places and spaces our characters inhabit also say something about who they are. I'll do a better job explaining this and giving you assignments soon, but for now, please:

READ:

From Bird by Bird, the sections Dialogue (64-73), Set Design (74-79), Index Cards (133-144), Calling Around (145-150); and
From Scribner, Nilda, by Junot Diaz (144-151)
(page numbers will be different if you're working from Kindle or perhaps different editions than I have)

WRITE:

In your journal, please continue writing meditations and/or journal entries that capture life during the pandemic in as much detail as possible for you. All this practice of perceiving and capturing in words sensory details should be leading to a habit that leads to vivid prose. This week, pay particular attention to capturing setting and place. What do your surroundings say about you and the people with whom you're quarantined?

Questions re: Nilda on MSTeams for you to respond to and your formal writing assignment to come. . . .

Also, in workshop, please make sure to offer constructive criticism in a way that is helpful as well as positive statements about what's working well in your workshop group's pieces. Ask questions about what doesn't make sense or use of language that is predictable. Begin to ask more of each other's work, but do so in a respectful way that still leaves the writer in charge of where to take the writing. Remember our value to each other is as honest readers letting the writer know what our reading experience was. It's up to the writer to decide what, if anything, to do with that feedback.

More . . . soon. . . .