Watch now | From Raw Talent to Refined Artistry: Understanding the Writer's Path. There's a moment in every writer's journey when the fantasy of being an author collides with the reality of becoming one. It's like stepping into a cathedral of creativity where the stained glass windows are made of your own vulnerabilities, each pane illuminating a different shade of your creative truth.
I love the title of this post. I agree the workshop process is not for the faint of heart and there are times in our lives when we're simply not ready for it. (I know I wasn't at first.)
Last year, I lost a friendship when a writer friend of mine asked me to workshop his memoir and then didn't like what I had to say about it. I had become accustomed to the wonderful container you created at Blackbird and I forgot that not everyone is ready for feedback, even if they seem to be asking for it.
Otherwise, my experience with feedback has been positive. Sure, it's taken me some time to develop a thick skin, but it's been worth it. I've learned and grown so much.
Now, when a workshop doesn't go as well as I hoped, I re-read two of the sticky notes posted above my writing desk:
"Maybe don't get so butthurt about feedback?" and "You are a student"
(Yeah, I know, the first one's crass but it helps me take things less seriously.)
Love it! Both totally true. And we have to ask ourselves why we let the comments get into us so deep? What's going on there? We can resist whatever comes at us, and often should! Right? So...it's work. We must work.
I love the title of this post. I agree the workshop process is not for the faint of heart and there are times in our lives when we're simply not ready for it. (I know I wasn't at first.)
Last year, I lost a friendship when a writer friend of mine asked me to workshop his memoir and then didn't like what I had to say about it. I had become accustomed to the wonderful container you created at Blackbird and I forgot that not everyone is ready for feedback, even if they seem to be asking for it.
Otherwise, my experience with feedback has been positive. Sure, it's taken me some time to develop a thick skin, but it's been worth it. I've learned and grown so much.
Now, when a workshop doesn't go as well as I hoped, I re-read two of the sticky notes posted above my writing desk:
"Maybe don't get so butthurt about feedback?" and "You are a student"
(Yeah, I know, the first one's crass but it helps me take things less seriously.)
Love it! Both totally true. And we have to ask ourselves why we let the comments get into us so deep? What's going on there? We can resist whatever comes at us, and often should! Right? So...it's work. We must work.
Thank you for this post!
What a beautiful and vulnerable moment in teaching and growing you have shared. Thank you!
I cried and cried and cried, too. The alchemy of water, washing away what stands between us and the truth. So that we can open and open some more.