Becoming a writer witch

In 1999 when I was at the University of Montana, I attended a workshop with the poet Jorie Graham. I was there as an observer as I was in the fiction MFA program, not poetry. Several poets submitted a poem to workshop with Graham. I'll never forget watching as she took one person's pretty good poem and turned it into a stunning poem simply by deleting. She didn't suggest a single addition, just suggested deleting this word, this line, etc. It was MAGIC. I love the revision process now. When it goes well, I feel like a good witch, taking the ingredients of the spell that is the first draft and transforming it into a real story. (Though sometimes I wish I could give it to Jorie Graham and beg her to do it for me. Genius.)

I recently found a couple pages of notes I took from that workshop and thought I'd share them here. These are 12 years old and are not direct quotes but my paraphrasing what Graham said, so it's possible I have misunderstood her. Although she's talking about poetry, I think what she taught applies in interesting ways to fiction as well.

Poetry is a conversation with silence

First lines you write (in free verse) establishes a rhythm and all else is in conversation with that.

Don't think in terms of liking a poem. Can you do what the poem is asking you to do? (Goes along with our discussion here.)

Cliche is exceptionally good writing that isn't fresh

Write a poem blind, instinctual. In order to edit, you have to learn to be a reader of your own work. A workshop is practice at being a reader of others' works.

Write to complete self

Wallace Stevens is seen as a cerebral poet and Walt Whitman is seen as a sensual poet. In fact, Stevens is sensual, so his poetry strains toward cerebral, and Whitman is cerebral, and his poetry strains toward the sensual.

That last point I find so interesting and encouraging. And so true. Whatever weaknesses we have as writers (or as human beings) can become our strengths. We are not doomed. As we grow as writers, we study our words and detect our weaknesses. We hone our abilities to read critically in workshops. We read great writers who can do (seemingly naturally) what we can't. We learn.

When I was an untested writer in an MFA program, I was well aware of my weaknesses: I was not a poet. I lacked the ability to describe a setting and a scene so that the reader felt as if she were there. My writing was sparse and un-lyrical. I struggled to put well-rounded characters on the page. Twelve years later,  reviews of my writing often describe my writing in opposite way. I hope to keep improving. I hope as a writer I keep evolving. We are never stuck. As long as we are readers, we are never stuck.

Comments

[Sondy]

I love that idea of your weaknesses becoming your strengths. And being able to improve. Thanks, Shannon!

[Spbowers.blogspot.com]

Excellent post with lots to think about, thanks.

[Christen]

You always seem to say just what I need to hear, Shannon! :)

I just finished the first draft of my book during NaNoWriMo '10 and I was stuck for nearly 2 months, not knowing how to edit what needed to be edit and fix the gaping plotholes.

This is so helpful (and makes me feel better about the 15 pages I just cut).

[Christy]

I'm shocked to hear that you didn't consider your writing to be lyrical when you were in the MFA program. It definitely is now...just beautiful.

[Katie]

Thought-provoking words. (And your writing is most definitely lyrical now, and your characters well-rounded!)

[Rebecca Drake]

What if you really desire to write, but can think of nothing about which you can write or if you think of something it's already done by better hands?

[Je Reve]

What a cool workshop... good luck with your witch-ering.

[megwrites]

This is so encouraging! I really struggle with writing believable, coherent plot lines. But if you used to struggle to write lyrically, then maybe there really is hope for me, because your writing is beautiful.

[Laura]

What a great post! I agree that there's nothing so satisfying as cutting out the fat and 'gunk' (as my 3-yr-old says). The words that remain are so much cleaner and you can feel your writing getting tangibly better!
Thanks for the encouraging words!

[mary]

This gives me a lot of hope.

[Kelly C.]

I'm glad to have been told that weakness's can be strengths, that we're not totally hopeless. Thanks!

[Hannah]

Much as I loved this post, I have to tell you that as I was reading it, my ten year old son came up behind me and asked, "What's a writer witch?" When I explained, I also remarked that the article was written by Shannon Hale. His response: "Oh, Shannon Hale! I think I'll read her right now!" And he grabbed his beloved copy of Rapunzel's Revenge off the shelf and plopped onto the couch!

[Stephanie]

I love hearing about things successful authors struggled with early on. Now if only you'd let us read some of your early work to show us how far you've come!

[gracie]

Thank you for sharing those words with us, Shannon, for they are so helpful and encouraging. Plus, I never really thought about it that way. I mean, I read the blog post about honing your internal critic, not your internal reader, but I never really thought about it applying to writing as well as reading. You have to be your book's reader.

[Esther]

I loved these thoughts. I consider myself lyrical when I write poetry, but my fiction comes out scruddy (no plot, no good characters, no scene descriptions). Just empty. But it's great to learn that it gets better.

[Angela]

Thanks for the inspiration. Superficially, I know that weaknesses can be overcome through practice and dedication. Feeling and remembering that fact deep down, however, is more difficult. Thanks for being inspiring!

[PrincessLoucida]

That was fascinating for me, as I am a striving poet, :)

[Melissa Cunningham]

Great post and so true. As long as we keep kicking along, we'll get to our destination.

[yaks]

WHOA! Just by deleting?

[Amberargyle]

SOOOO not a poet. But my magic is worked by singing. So I had to try. :)