Sketching

Not that anyone will ever know, but I am going to confess (here in cyber court) that I am guilty of initiation skipping. It’s the first one I’ve skipped since starting this book study/writing endeavor, and I guess I’m not really skipping it as much as I am postponing it. I intend to do it; I’m just stumped at the moment as to how. In the meantime, I would like to move on and continue writing. Here is the initiation prompt, in case someone happens to actually read this and feels like offering advice:

The Well: Get out of the house, off your beaten path, and do something festive and adventurous. Do it alone. Aim for a sensory experience. Think mystery, not mastery. Choose an activity that appeals to what you might call your inner artist, inner child, or inner explorer. Remember: What you are doing is called an “Artist Date,” equal parts “artist” and “date.” Do something fascinating and do not stand yourself up. Whatever you choose to do, do it solo. Allow yourself to soak up images and impressions. No need to write about them. You are to fill the well, not fish from it.

Hmmmmm…where to go…where to go…

If (assuming someone reads this) you have a suggestion, please post it.

I’ll set that aside for now and move on to the topic at hand: sketching. I wouldn’t usually quote a whole paragraph, but I don’t think I could explain the concept of “learned faith” as eloquently as Julia Cameron has done here.

“I did not always know that the writing knew what it was doing. Long years of experience have taught me this is true. It is the experience of trusting – and having that trust rewarded – that makes me feel trust is appropriate. It is also the experience of having not trusted – only to come back later after much work to the original impulse – that makes me know that there is something surefooted in the creative impulses exactly as they arise.”

While she is speaking specifically of writing in her discussion of faith as something that we must learn to trust, the concept applies to so many aspects of life. But with writing in mind, I love that she writes about “listening” to her writing while she “sketches.”

I love the poem Willow and Ginkgo by Eve Merriam, and when I teach it we discuss the connotations of the words etching and sketch. Sketch just seems so temporary, rushed, and meant to be seen as imperfect and unfinished. It’s rough and therefore judgment free. It’s just a sketch. Isn’t this the point of what she has been telling us all along? Quit fearing writing. Just sit down and sketch. It’s not supposed to flow from the pen (or keyboard) eloquent and beautiful. It just needs to come out…to be sketched.

Initiation Tool: Describe where you are and how you are. Sketch the room you are writing in, the mood you are writing in, anything delightful or interesting that catches your attention. Now, number one to five. Very quickly list five things it would be interesting to write about. Choose one. What would you write about it? Do not worry about being deep or sensible or practical. Allow yourself to sketch this in the loosest, roughest terms.

I am writing in the learning lab at ACC. Clearly, I am bored as that is when I usually choose to write. I find it sad that this many weeks into this endeavor it still takes me being bored or the avoidance of a task I dread even more to get me to write. C’mon, Cameron! I need a breakthrough!

Anyway, I am also feeling mixed emotions about today being my last day in the lab. I’m kind of excited. It gets tedious, and I could use a little time off. I’m kind of bummed that it means summer is coming to an end. And while I am excited for my new job to start up in full force (which also makes me nervous), I am not looking forward to my semester as a student starting up. I’m taking three night classes this semester…oy vay!

Other than those emotions, I am COLD! Brrrrrrrr! They keep it freaking freezing in here. I bring a coat (not a light jacket) but a COAT with me to work year round…in Texas! Who even needs a coat in their car in south Texas? Me!

Step two: Time to list.

1.       Jeanie’s family

2.       A memoir (weight loss journey, my faith and sometimes lack of, juggling being a single mom/teacher/student, insane “Piper” stories, experiences with Mema…so many possibilities)

3.       A story told completely through letters

4.       Leaving the classroom

5.       I can’t think of a fifth, and it said to do it quickly so I’m stopping. I’m going to say my list on number 2 puts me over the minimum assignment.

Step Three: Choose one to write about.

3. This idea actually came from this chapter although it is close to an idea that I have pondered (and even started) before. I wrote the beginning of a story (years ago) told through a young girl’s journal. I wonder where that writing is. Anywho…I think it would be interesting to tell a story through letters. Or are letters outdated? Would it have to be set in the past? I wouldn’t want to use emails. Too impersonal. No, I still love real letters. Sent through the real mail. There’s just something intimate about reading a letter. Not a Hallmark card or a postcard (although it’s nice to get those too). No, I mean a story told through the words that people take the time to pour out on paper and send across a significant distance. Those words have weight. Those words…and therefore that story…means enough to merit being sent as a letter. That would be good stuff.