V wants you to make a creative writing appointment at the writing center! If you want. After you’ve learned more about it. (Photo from oneofus.net)
NaNoWriMo is here! Again. Already, we’re five days in. If you’re participating, I hope you are well on your way with your project, are enjoying yourself and are not too behind on schedule if you’re following one.
I was thinking, in light of the fifth of November being a holiday meant for us to celebrate things like freedom of speech, that we could sit down and have a chat about bringing creative writing into the writing center.
You know who you are, creative person! You write, but you might be afraid to call yourself a writer. You scribble on napkins and anything you can reach—even your skin—and then rush to hide them from anyone who might see. Sometimes your lecture notes almost magically transform into poems and free-writes—and you don’t know why. On occasion, you accidentally let a curse word slip—one from your Tolkienish invented language—and feel the blood rush to your cheeks as you get strange looks.
Maybe you want to write, but you could use some coaxing and support to work it into your already hectic life.
Maybe you’ve already written three novels so thick and chunky you could bench-press them, but you haven’t shared a word of them with a single living soul.
But today, and on every Wednesday during this month, I hope to speak with you about various aspects of bringing creative writing into the writing center to provide more awareness.
Maybe your heart’s set on poetry and spoken word, but you just can’t get that chapbook together.
Maybe you’re a blogger who would like to attract more readers.
But in any case, you have never brought your creative writing into the writing center.
Maybe you were anxious about exposing your work. Maybe you never knew we offered this service! Or maybe you never had the time. In any case, that’s entirely your perfectly valid decision.
But today, and on every Wednesday during this month, I hope to speak with you about various aspects of bringing creative writing into the writing center to provide more awareness. In case you’re interested, these topics include:
– What is the Writing Center, Really? Getting to Know Your Potential Collaborators
– Anxieties and Advantages of Bringing Creative Writing into the Writing Center, or So Why Should I Bother With You Guys?
– Collaboration in Creative Writing: What It Could Look Like
– Getting Your Work Out There, or Other Things We’re Here For!
At the end of the month, I’ll create a post to serve as a sort of mini workshop. This can be an opportunity for you to post any questions you might have for discussion. Of course, if you have questions at any time but might not want to share them on the comments thread, you are more than welcome to send a message to our Facebook page.
So, when you read these posts, if you find it fitting to become involved in this aspect of the writing center, then stand beside us one month from tonight by making your very first creative writing appointment! And maybe by hanging out with us at our NaNoWriMo sprints.
And together, we shall make this month a month that will never, ever be forgot!
Coming up next: What is the Writing Center, Really? Getting to Know Your Potential Collaborators
SPOILER: It’s not all about grammar!