The biggest question for my second semester fieldwork is about the writing process. What is my writing process, and how is that different from everyone else's? Luckily, everyone in my field is interested in answering this question. My very first assignment for my first fiction workshop was to read a packet about process. Several different authors were interviewed, and all of their processes were vastly different. None of them were even close to mine--I draft vaguely, and then more and more and more specific, revising page by page and line by line (always on paper) until I'm satisfied.
A big part of Shelly's class (she teaches Advanced Fiction at Gotham Writer's Workshop) is what she calls creativity exercises. She's apparently a life coach on the side, so she's a big believer in routine. The first routine she introduced is called Morning Pages. At the beginning of each day, you're supposed to write three straight pages without looking up, getting as much out of your mind as possible. If you skip a day, or do the pages at night instead, you're not supposed to beat yourself up over it. I've been really good about it so far, although the notebook I picked has large pages and it makes it pretty long (25 minutes, which according to Shelly is still on the short side). It's rough to have to put aside half an hour every day, but once I got used to it, I found that it was very helpful. Unfortunately, sometimes I thought that was all the writing I could do in a day, which is a lazy excuse. Maybe getting a smaller notebook will help me.
I'm being workshopped tomorrow on Short Story I (which has a bunch of working titles that I don't really like) so this week I can begin revision in earnest. I also have to start working on Short Story II. I planned out a little bit last night, took some notes, and then put myself to bed. I'm sort of waiting for the workshop on the first short story to do any major work on the second. I know the workshops can be really harsh but also really helpful, and I want to know what this group of adults think.
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