Always Eager to Learn
I love learning. The first week of school was always like Disney for me. I take color coded notes, I color code the entries in my day planner, and in Middle School I took Bell Atlantic testing courses on CD for fun.
Right in time for this Blog Your Own Book workshop from Ninja Writers, my new class has started. Myself and a few others wanting to improve our writing agreed to do a small, intimate class with local author and publisher, Cat Pleska. She is teaching us on memoirs and personal essays. This time of endless choppy water seems perfect for channeling energy into writing about ones experiences. This class is for July and we meet once a week outdoors.
Cat is a fantastic writer and was loved by her students when she taught at WVSU. She wrote Riding on Comets and organized the publishing of the anthology Fearless, a collection of essays, poems, and stories of the major moments in women’s lives and their experiences.
Yesterday was our first class and I am proud to say I didn’t have my denture in nor did I wear my mask. (We sat outside at safe distances.) I didn’t feel judged or uncomfortable because these are my peers. I love and admire them. I knew I could speak as I am before them and they would see the piece as I described it and not just my void of a mouth.
My teeth journey was actually what I worked on in class yesterday. We were given prompts to pick from and twenty minutes to write. I will not be sharing that work, because I hope to publish it when it’s done, but the story was about the day I learned I would have to have most of my teeth pulled.
Prompt: Write about a time when your pulse quickened, or your heart raced, or your stomach tightened, or you held your breath, or you wept with joy, grief, relief, sympathy. In other words, those keen moments that are seared into your mind.
“My hands are sweating.” One of my peers said this when it was time for my feedback. I was told I did a really good job and surprisingly I didn’t cry. I was also told I sound like Dustin from Stranger Things when I talk which they found to be adorable. It was a successful evening.
Cat had given us a long, long list of books she recommends to read and use as references. Some of them can be found on her website.
I went to the well beloved Taylor Books today looking for some of those recommendations and while I found a few, I want to share the books I actually bought. I am excited to read them and I am excited for my next class.
Create Dangerously by Albert Camus
Black is the Body by Emily Bernard
A pocket sized Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
