what falls away 9/8/97 I just went out to buy a photo album. I’ve been scanning family pictures that were in this terrible magnetic album. Some of the photos I could barely get up; a couple are stuck to the point that I fear damaging them if I try too hard. If you want to preserve your photos and other keepsakes, do so with an acid-free, PVC-free album or scrapbook. When I got back, there was a message on my answering machine from someone in a creative writing group I used to attend. She was letting me know about a critique session next week. I gave up this group shortly after I started back to school. I just felt I didn’t have the time or, more likely in most cases, the energy to stay involved. Once I get home from work and school, I usually want to stay home; I just feel too tired to bother with other things. I miss going to the group though. I’ve thought about going back, but haven’t. I went to this writing group for two years, almost every Thursday evening. Usually around 5 people attended, most of them regulars, but some new faces floated in now and then. Using Natalie Goldberg’s idea of writing practice, we threw out phrases or words and then wrote without stopping for 15 minutes. When the time was up, each person read their piece, and the others gave feedback by mentioning lines or ideas they liked. No harsh criticisms -- these pieces were raw, unedited material, not finished products, although many people, myself included, based finished products on these pieces. We had time for two practices each evening. Writing practice allowed for spontaniety, but was disciplined through a few guidelines. No editing allowed as you went along. Keep writing; even if you get stuck, write anything until you get unstuck. I’ve done writing practice a few times outside the group. I ususally don’t time myself then, but instead set a number of pages to fill. My writing greatly improved over time. Most of my poems got their start as an idea or image which sprung up in writing practice. (Also, the fragments which I use to introduce some of my pages are bits from writing practice). Another thing which helped my writing were the critique sessions that the regular members of the group attended. Everyone was able to give useful feedback; I got more (and more specific) feedback from them than I did from the professor of the poetry class I took a couple of years ago. This year will probably be my last chance to write with this group. I had gotten a bit burnt out on writing practice, but now I miss it more. One reason in keeping my journal was to try a different type of writing. Keeping it online provides some exterior motivation to write: if someone out there is reading on a regular basis, I need to make entries on a regular basis. The writing and critique groups provided a similar motivation. Often even though I want to write, part of me wants to be lazy, watch TV, read books and magazines. And speaking of TV... (Well, I can’t write all night:) previous next journal home