Bye bye Philly, Hello Hot-lanta, Georgia. I have arrived; Critic Collins is ready to interview some writers at the convention, during my workshop. As the people start coming in I notice that Ms. Anne Lamott- Bird by Bird: Instructions on writing, Ms. Carolyn Chute- How can you create Fiction When Reality Comes to Call? Bloggers and novelist , and Mr. Ray Bradbury- Zen in the Art of Writing- known for his science fiction and ghost stories; walked in. From that moment I knew these people will lead the conversation. Why these people you might ask. I hoped you did because their process of writing is like real regular people process of writing. It’s realistic, and people and other writers can relate to at least one point of time in their career, they took the same actions.
Me: “Welcome to this workshop my name or as some may have heard, Critic Collins, and this workshop is about expressing your methods as a writer so let start with what is writing to you?”
Carolyn was the first to put her hand up & she started to speak.
Carolyn: “Writing is like meditation or going into an ESP trance, or prayer.
As Carolyn was about to continue her thought I heard a whisper, I agree... Following that Anne Lamott started to speak.
Anne: “I let my mind wander. Then I start to think about learning how to put on makeup... How maybe I could find some boyfriend who is not a total complete fixer upper. Then my life would be totally great and I’d be happy all the time... Then I think about all the people I should have called back before I sat down to work…”
As Carolyn is getting annoyed by her just jumping in. She continues what she had to say with a loud “ Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiike !
Carolyn: “Like Dreaming. You are tapping into your unconscious.”
Me: “So do you have to be in a certain mind set before you can get to that stated of meditation?”
Carolyn: “With life banging and popping and cuck-kooing all around you are not going to find your way to your subconscious. You see, I can’t just switch from life mode to writer mode. Usually it takes 3 days to get into the writers mode. Three days of quiet non-life mode, lots of coffee and no interruptions.”
Me: “I really like that answer Carolyn “
Before I was done talking Ray starts adding his two cents in
Ray: “You stumble into it, mostly; you don’t know what your doing and suddenly it done. You don’t set out to reform a certain kind of writing. It evolves out of your own life and night scares.”
Anne: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. You don’t have to see where you going you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. This is right up there with the best advice about writing or life I ever heard. “
Me: So I think that everyone in this room would agree that very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it. So let’s go back to the getting into your subconscious. Do you ever be just about almost there to write and up something happens?
Carolyn so excited to answer…
Carolyn: “Oh yes and there is a husband. Xrated stuff happens, must go out with the dogs they have a dog door and half acre fence with trees but that isn’t good enough. NOOO they have to have me go with them so we can be a pack together.”
Me: “But it doesn’t have to be things around you and I think I’m leading this to you Anne but you can also get distracted inside you head. “
She shakes her head followed by an Oh yes!
Anne: “I think about someone I’m annoyed with, or financial problems that is driving me crazy and decide that I must resolve this before I get down today’s work.”
Carolyn: “The typewriter with page 1994 of novel Screams from another room: I WANT YOU.”
Anne: “Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs; our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It’s no wonder if we sometimes tend to take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously.”
Ray: “In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. The problem for any writer in any field is being circumscribed by what has gone on before or what is being printed that very day in books and magazines. “