Thank you, Kathy. Dinner with you and Dwight would be a delight. Always. Any time. :) Too bad Jonah graduated. Now I have to go to Seattle to see him. It was pleasant to hang out with you and then run over to the university a go out for a burger with him.
I’m fascinated that you had to quit being a writer to devote yourself to writing. The poet in me loves that. You explained a lot so very succinctly, but that’s the bottom line isn’t it? And now that I’m writing prose (!) (via Mama Ephemera’s Muddy Feet aka Kellylenox/Substack.com/ ) and thus struggling with identity, I appreciate this piece--and all of them--all the more. Super encouraging to this pen-waggler.
It's kind of Zen . isn't it? Don't aim, don't look at the target, don't even hold a bow and arrow, and hit a bull's eye every time. :) He says hopefully.
The final and emphatic no. I prolonged my life as a parttime teacher by taking a semester off now and then. I thought that a break like that would be enough to keep me fresh. But now I realize that it wasn't really enough. But like you, I'm sure, I did get a lot out of teaching, too. It was a job, with good and bad aspects, like most jobs. And the friendships forged over that period remain.
This resonated through and through, especially about casting off this Identity as Writer and moving to the edges (best place for writer) outside the creative-writing industrial complex (thank you for that). Living as a human and passionate reader, who happens to be writing today.
Okay okay, but will you or won’t you blurb my book?? (Kidding). This was honest and enlightening and I felt a bit of this myself during my years teaching high school English. It wears on you. I’m glad you’re devoting your time to your own work now. You’ve earned it.
Sarah, Thanks. I did devote most of my time to my own writing. Teaching was a parttime job, and I took an unpaid semester off now and then. In fact, before I quit, I'd already taken two semesters off. So it's not as if I have a big transition to make. :)
I’d never really considered how mixing with other writers might affect my own writing negatively. Your post has given me food for thought. Thanks, Douglas. And lots of good wishes for your new found writerly freedom.
A pleasure. I look forward to reading more. By the way, I came across your substack looking for other memoirists here. I'm also releasing chapters of my memoir in progress on my Substack. It begins here https://decidenothing.substack.com/p/rocky-mountain
Kaylee, I think you mistook what I was saying. Actually, I do think writing can be taught, by which I mean a lot of craft, techniques and devices, can be defined and presented in a useful way to anyone who wants to learn. I wouldn't have kept teaching if I hadn't thought I was helping some people along (and I think I did).
Fair, I probably did not read it thoroughly. It was an overly melancholy response, wishing professor-student-writer-reader relationships had more clout these days. :)
Rats! I guess I won't be asking you to read my novel. Just a favour for an old friend. I'd pay you in dinners and beers. 😄
Still ... if all of this means YOU will have time to write, the world is a better place!
Thank you, Kathy. Dinner with you and Dwight would be a delight. Always. Any time. :) Too bad Jonah graduated. Now I have to go to Seattle to see him. It was pleasant to hang out with you and then run over to the university a go out for a burger with him.
I’m fascinated that you had to quit being a writer to devote yourself to writing. The poet in me loves that. You explained a lot so very succinctly, but that’s the bottom line isn’t it? And now that I’m writing prose (!) (via Mama Ephemera’s Muddy Feet aka Kellylenox/Substack.com/ ) and thus struggling with identity, I appreciate this piece--and all of them--all the more. Super encouraging to this pen-waggler.
It's kind of Zen . isn't it? Don't aim, don't look at the target, don't even hold a bow and arrow, and hit a bull's eye every time. :) He says hopefully.
Loved this, Doug. Been there, done that with the teaching highs and lows. Glad to hear you are allowing yourself to say no.
The final and emphatic no. I prolonged my life as a parttime teacher by taking a semester off now and then. I thought that a break like that would be enough to keep me fresh. But now I realize that it wasn't really enough. But like you, I'm sure, I did get a lot out of teaching, too. It was a job, with good and bad aspects, like most jobs. And the friendships forged over that period remain.
This resonated through and through, especially about casting off this Identity as Writer and moving to the edges (best place for writer) outside the creative-writing industrial complex (thank you for that). Living as a human and passionate reader, who happens to be writing today.
Thanks, Sharon. Actually, I am pretty sure I didn't invent that creative-writing industrial complex line. Maybe. But it fits, doesn't it?
I could reply with appreciation and how much we share, but I can't. I'm no longer a writer.
We are the fallen, the left behind. :) Apophasis - describing something by negatives.
Okay okay, but will you or won’t you blurb my book?? (Kidding). This was honest and enlightening and I felt a bit of this myself during my years teaching high school English. It wears on you. I’m glad you’re devoting your time to your own work now. You’ve earned it.
Also I wonder what you think of this take. I found a lot of truth to it. https://meghandaum.substack.com/p/who-killed-creative-writing
Sarah, Thanks. I did devote most of my time to my own writing. Teaching was a parttime job, and I took an unpaid semester off now and then. In fact, before I quit, I'd already taken two semesters off. So it's not as if I have a big transition to make. :)
Now about that book of yours...email me.
I’d never really considered how mixing with other writers might affect my own writing negatively. Your post has given me food for thought. Thanks, Douglas. And lots of good wishes for your new found writerly freedom.
Glad I came across your site, fellow writer.
Thanks, Bowen. Good to meet you.
A pleasure. I look forward to reading more. By the way, I came across your substack looking for other memoirists here. I'm also releasing chapters of my memoir in progress on my Substack. It begins here https://decidenothing.substack.com/p/rocky-mountain
Thank you, Bowen. I will check it out.
This was particularly delightful, Douglas. Thanks.
Thank you, Jacob. Glad you liked it.
Kaylee, I think you mistook what I was saying. Actually, I do think writing can be taught, by which I mean a lot of craft, techniques and devices, can be defined and presented in a useful way to anyone who wants to learn. I wouldn't have kept teaching if I hadn't thought I was helping some people along (and I think I did).
Fair, I probably did not read it thoroughly. It was an overly melancholy response, wishing professor-student-writer-reader relationships had more clout these days. :)