'Twas the late evening. The most notable writers have been invited to The Gala. The Gala was filled with men in suits and Women in a variety of gowns. The rooms were dimly lit. I've seen notable faces such as Suzanne Collins, John Green, and James Dashner, to name a few. I was only with my group of friends. We were on the terrace where we could see the clouds of day fuse with the stars of night. I was with my pals Don Murray, Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, and Anne Lamott, and we were talking casually our personal lives. When unexpectedly, the owner of the ball waltzed toward us.
Stephen King greeted us with an enthusiastic tone. He gave the five of us a glass of rose wine. After a few laughs, he told us that we was starting a class in English Composition. He wanted advice on the experience of writing. We were all shocked to find that Stephen King wanted advice from us, but we wouldn't refuse. Murray was the first to say anything after the prolonged silence. "Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness. " Murray paused for a moment to think. "Prewriting is everything that takes place before the first draft. Prewriting usually takes about 85 percent of the writer’s time. " Anne Lamott agreed with him. She went off of what he said into her own words. "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts." King pushed up his glasses and whipped out his phone. It seemed like he was typing notes on it, but I couldn't tell. I decided to say something first. I gulped down some wine and spoke, "If a writer wants to separate them from the other writers, do not follow the simple formula of the mainstream. It sounds simple at first, but writing something so different without and reference to previous examples can be challenging." King pushed up his glasses again, then puckered his mouth back and forth. We were confused, but he was just waiting for someone to say something else. Susan gathered her courage and decided to give her wisdom.""I will write in the Notebook every day. " Stephen nodded steadily in silence, his eyes stuck on the phone. No one could tell if he liked that information. Susan was flustered. She had to think for a long time. So I decided to go instead, to break the awkwardness. "I think that with writing, you have to just go with your flow. Do not stop to think too hard. You will have time to edit it in the end." King seemed to like that information. Murray leeched off my comment, "And you don’t learn a process by talking about it, but by doing it." Even though it was pretty helpful advice, I felt like he was just rewording my quote. Susan came striking back, with more powerful words. "I write in spurts. I write when I have to because the pressure builds up and I feel enough confidence that something has matured in my head and I can write it down. The King chuckled a bit, but kept typing. I didn't want to stray too far behind, so I said, " Starting off writing is not simple. For warm ups, write two or more things that seem like they would never interact, and let them interact." King picked up a glass and sipped his wine. Anne Lamott finally came rolling back with her words of wisdom. "Practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts" The King finally looked away from his phone, and to Anne Lamott. He excited agreed to that statement. If this was a contest, Anne would be winning so far. But then King noticed someone who hasn't talked yet. Joan Didion was awfully quiet. King abruptly told her to give him some advice, measly as it is. Joan hesitated. But she looked up and to Mr. King and firmly spoke. "I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. I can’t do it late in the afternoon because I’m too close to it. Also, the drink helps. It removes me from the pages. " She nonchalantly sipped her wine. Mr. King's eyebrows heightened. He didn't expect that from a quiet girl like her. King decided that was enough information. He waddled off to another group of writers not too far off. Anne Lamott was somewhat annoyed. She wanted to say something else, but he left too early. She tried shouting to Mr. King, "We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid!" But he couldn't hear her. She whimpered as she got shown up by Joan. We all chuckled as we drank our wine in the dark. This short story includes how I think teaching writing should be done, by using quotes from writers, as well as my own thoughts. I may not be the best in writing, but it is something I enjoy. It is the bridge between language and art, which is quite mesmerizing to me. Sources: ,Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product (Don Murray) The Daily Writing Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott)
1 Comment
Sabatino
9/11/2018 11:45:14 am
I wish I had been able to join this conversation! The story's details and quotes pulled me in. Thank you for sharing.
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