In the particular, the universal resides.
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When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.
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Upcoming
Workshops
in 2012
Interp Writing Intensive
August 5-10
San Geronimo Lodge
Taos, NM
Advanced Interp Writing
Oct. 7-12
Wallace Falls Lodge
Gold Bar, WA
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The Story's in the Details
I've been cooped up in my office all day, scribbling my way through rough drafts and revisions, dodging dueling deadlines, ignoring the beautiful spring day that beckons beyond the window. Even my meetings, hours on the phone and Skype, have kept me inside.
Part of me doesn't want to stop working, because I have so much more to do. Part of me remembers that there will always be more to do, no matter how much I get done today. When these two parts of me start fighting with each other, I know it's time for a break.
My respite is a narrow dirt trail packed into existence by endless footfalls and bike rides that parallels an irrigation ditch behind my house. As I stride along (trying to step quickly enough to keep my heart rate up but carefully enough to not turn my ankle again), part of me is still back in the office, thinking about the projects I'm working on. They're an interesting mix of heavy industry, natural science, history, and neurology.
 When I walked along here a few days ago, the ditch was so dry that the dirt looked like powder. Even the thistles looked thirsty. But someone far uphill has loosed the gates, and today, cold clear water fills the channel almost to its brim. Overnight, the primroses have leafed out, fat pink buds scattered in their brambles, a few blossoms shyly open.
A pair of errant border collies crash like reckless boys into the water under an enormous cottonwood, completely missing the duck hiding in the shadows.
This ditch carries water the same way and for the same purpose as when it was first dug. There weren't many houses here then; the ditch predates the peach orchards that predate my subdivision and its ordinary suburban houses.
 I wonder about the men who dug the ditch, about their families and what they would think about this changed landscape. I wonder if they'd recognize the ditch, which is the same size and shape and follows the same path, or if the towering cottonwoods that were only bits of fluff back then and the primroses flooding the banks and the occasional peach tree that grows against all odds would camouflage even this familiar landmark beyond recognition.
What would they think about the stories I write? Would they understand them? Think them fascinating--or foolish? The language I write in--American English--has the same shape it had 200 years ago, but so much has grown up around it. What ditch-digger from 1880 would understand DNA, psychopharmaceuticals, or Google?
This is more than idle rumination, because what I'm really struggling with is not how a time traveler from the past would fare when reading my words, but how anyone from another culture would respond. I write through the filters of my life; I cannot do otherwise. My language, both spoken and written. My culture and subcultures. The beliefs I carry in my heart. The education I carry in my head. My experiences as a mother, a wife, a homeowner, a woman who walks along an irrigation ditch noticing the duck in the shadows.
My audience reads and hears my stories through their own filters, too; they cannot do otherwise.
Often, we advise writers to "connect to universals" to overcome these barriers. Universals are the big, cross-cultural concepts that are common to all humans. Home, hearth, family, death, love, war--everyone, so the thinking goes, knows what these are. If we connect the story we're writing to one or more of them, the reader will connect, both intellectually and emotionally, with the story. When I write, "The shady banks of the river are a cozy home for ducklings," my reader understands the metaphor of home, whether their experience of "home" is a yurt or a high-rise condo.
But this connection to universals is only part of the answer.
The other part is the opposite of universal:
The more details specific to the world of your story you include, the more universal the story becomes.
I muse over this conundrum with everything I write, from essay to screenplay, exhibit label to web site. Why should it be that, as photographer Bob Krist says, we "start finding the familiar in the exotic"?
I don't have an answer for that; I suspect I never will.
But I will tell you the details, the ones I think are most important for the story. I'll make those details sharp and specific so they'll make sense to you. And by some magic that flows through stories the way water flows through this narrow canal, meaning will emerge.
Judy
Comments? Questions?
Tell us!
970/416-6353
888/886-9289
email Judy
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
about the
August 5-10, 2012
Interpretive Writing Intensive
I've heard from a lot of folks who say they want to come, they hope they can come, they're thinking about coming to the Interp Writing Intensive this August in Taos.
We must meet our minimum registration requirements by June 30, or I'll have to cancel the workshop.
If you're serious about your writing and serious about attending this workshop, do not wait!
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The Interp Writing Intensive
returns to
San Geronimo Lodge
in Taos, New Mexico
August 5-10, 2012
Save $125 when you register by June 30, 2012.
Register yourself and two or more friends (even if you're not from the same site) and save an additional fifty bucks each.
Don't wait--register today!
Can't make it to this one? Here are some options:
Call 888/886-9289 (toll-free in the U.S.) or email us for details and pricing.
For more info about the Taos workshop, call (888/886-9289), email (judyb@greenfire-creative.com), or visit our website (http://www.greenfire-creative.com).
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Improve your writing this summer with the
Interpretive Writing Intensive
August 5-10, 2012 San Geronimo Lodge, Taos, NM
Freeman Tilden said interpretive writing should be
"concise, focused, inspirational, and engaging."
Lofty goals for any writer!
- What makes interpretive writing interpretive;
- How to create writing that connects with the reader;
- Techniques for strengthening language, including pacing, language use, and word choice;
- Strategies for organizing;
- How to write for any length or space;
- How to write for different media, different audiences, and different uses;
- How to write for maximum impact;
- How to write even if you think you can't;
- How to take your writing "off-site";
- Humble punctuation;
- Accessing--and improving--creativity (or, the Muse will visit if chocolate is involved);
- Dealing with writer's block (or, how to get the Muse to visit if you're out of chocolate);
- and MORE.
Improve your writing this summer at the Interpretive Writing Intensive, August 5-10, 2012 at San Geronimo Lodge, Taos, New Mexico.
Register today to take advantage of the Early Bird discount--$125.00 off the regular registration! Register three or more people at the same time and save another $50 per person! Early Bird Registration prices effective through midnight, June 30, 2012 or until workshop is full, whichever happens first. To ensure a quality experience with plenty of individual attention, workshop size is limited to 15 people. Registration is first-come, first-served.
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Join us at historic
August 5-10, 2012
Taos, New Mexico
Built in 1925, the San Geronimo lodge was one of the first hotels in Taos, and the first "resort" hotel. This enchanting inn offers historic charm with all the comfort and convenience of modern day lodging. back to top |
we help you tell the story
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