A Writing Life--After the Workshop (AWP Conference 2012, Panel Session I)

In this first session I attended at the AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Conference 2012, panelists Ilana Shabanov, April Newman, Daniel Prazer, James Lower and Sheree Greer, MFA graduates of Columbia College of Chicago and founders of The Writing Life Collective, presented "how to organize and sustain a writing life" with "planning ideas, technology solutions, and tools writers can use to take control of their career and maintain a writing lifestyle long-term."

Staying productive and inspired (especially after "leaving the nest" of a creative writing program) is every writer's challenge, the panelists said--whether it's time management, a crisis of confidence or other conflicts that keep us from writing, editing our work, and promoting it. Committing ourselves to the craft requires self-awareness and dedication.

First they passed out a Skills Assessment sheet for our own use, divided into quadrants: Creative, Editing, Administrative, Marketing. One panelist noted, "It's ironic that in a market of high specialization, the writer needs to be a jack of all trades." We were to check off any of the items we engaged in, then add them up to see where our strengths lay. For example, here are a few actions that I DO NOT currently participate in (marketing is definitely my weak spot):

Writer's Inspiration: Collage Your Dreams

For some time, at the suggestion of a counselor or two, I've wanted to create a collage to inspire my writing dreams. Armed with a pile of lifestyle mags, I began cutting out pictures and words that might represent my road to success.

But images solely of writing or writers, such as this lovely escritoire, were hard to come by.

So it was suggested that I identify the tools that help my heart stay open to possibilities on the page of Life (or life on the page!) and find their representations--dance, water, wilderness, ritual, dreaming. Finally, after returning from a summer retreat, I spent an afternoon arranging and pasting at the kitchen table.

The resulting assemblage is a mix of poetry and imagery I pulled from my life's "cabinets and cubbies":

Collage to Inspire

I've hung my collage next to my windows where I often look out upon the sheep fields while I write.

Field of Dreams, Mendocino 1995