A Word on Readings...

A reading is a great way to get noticed and to build an audience. Spoken word artists rely heavily on the reception by an audience--it's in the title of "spoken word" artist that their work is crafted to be performed. And while there is material that is meant to be performed such as music and spoken word there's more subtle poetry, non-fiction, and fiction read aloud. My friend Kim and her friend Kia and I recently discussed bad readings we'd been to. Ones where the reader was monotone in the way they spoke, not changing inflection or diction at all for the piece. And when you have dense material this is very, very hard to listen to let alone get excited about. There are also those who tend to drag on and keep talking and talking because they have people there to listen. And when all these things combine it makes for a perfect storm in terms of the listening experience.

I've experienced the powerful and the painful. I've heard authors read large portions of work where only one sentence stuck with me after twenty minutes or more of listening to them. I've heard authors, published and non, ramble on about life coming to open mics with nothing prepared just hoping it'd flow, it didn't. I've also seen spoken word artists so in tune with their craft that they'll have a standing ovation and fiction/non-fiction authors arouse so much passion and sympathy from listeners that they just sold a good dozen or more copies of their books in the time they read.

Now, I'm not saying everything that is read should be humorous or fleeting and not necessarily be deep or have a connection. What I am saying is that a reader (author in this case) should consider their audience or potential and establish readers (those who do read the book). I think sometimes authors choose material that is the most interesting to them, but again that doesn't necessarily translate aloud.

My first experience reading aloud was in junior high and I was reading a portion from The Fear Street series by R. L. Stine. My mistake was that I read too long and without much oomph. When my classmates heard me rustle a page I heard groans in the audience, they were disgruntled at the fact that I kept going and didn't know when to stop. I went on so long that I bumped someone else out of a reading spot. In my sophomore year of high school I had written a poem for Black History Month and read it so stagnantly that no one paid attention to the words, no matter how 'deep' I thought they were in my adolescence.

By college I had learned a bit more, by grad school I was getting better and more animated, and now--while I don't know everything--I feel much more confident when I go to the mic to read my work. Am I nervous? Heck yeah I am! My hands shake the paper I'm holding so that I'm glad when I have a podium to hide my trembling. But because I believe in my work and the brevity and impact of it I know that even if it doesn't get a good response, it'll be over quickly enough.

My conference experiences attest to most of my recent experience in reading material I was confident in. Most if not all writing conferences with workshops as a focus will have an opportunity for participants to read from their work so that we're not only hearing faculty but the potential future of literature.

Material

My first time at VCFA I read a heart-rendering piece from my Collection that was really sad. It got shocked moans from the audience in places because they felt for the husband at the funeral. The piece has changed dramatically since then, but I knew the impact was there.

At Napa I had two minutes, and went a bit over, to reveal a scene about two men talking about infertility and insecurity, a tete a tete between two brothers. I chose the scene that revealed the most tension through dialogue. My workshop mates enjoyed it and Forrest Gander said he liked the opposition I presented in such a short amount of time.

At the Glen I read the last few pages of another story that my workshop mates and Sara Zarr had read. So I already had partial invested interest from people at the conference. The end was a fight scene. I got laughs in places I hadn't expected to and a nice round of applause. The next day at our farewell party several people came up to me and said they remembered my piece because of the power and tension and clear goal of the character in that portion. I picked it because I knew it was short and contained a moment that may resonate for readers and moved quickly, yet ended with heart for an edgy character.

I could've chosen the pieces that sounded pretty and I had been told 'moved' people and such but if the portion wasn't contained or wouldn't draw interest or couldn't succinctly tell a portion in an engaging way I more than likely won't read it out loud because I don't know if it'll hit the mark or if listeners will enjoy it enough to focus on what I'm saying.

Speech

Something else I've learned and gained control in is how I read. Like I said I started off very monotone with no inflection years ago. With my own writing I know the voices and the characters I have lived with for years, sometimes less. So I aim to capture those moments I want to convey. I can read pissed and lower my voice to a manly bravado.

My friend Ennis has done readings for pieces he's published. He's a former actor and really captures the range in the characters and moments. He's been complimented heavily for this and when he tells listeners he was an actor they aren't surprised.

Is it necessary, changing tones? No, but I think it helps to further show your range and understanding. I think going overboard with accents you cannot master may distract the listener rather than intrigue them. So I don't do southern accents for characters that have them, however I do alter tones when necessary and emphasize where necessary and get into the spirit like an actor would a part. These are your characters. This is your narrator. You know them best.

Length

I have to say that length and timing matter. Do practice reading if you have a time limit and the shorter the better at times. Jennifer Egan tends to read the same story, her first, from The Good Squad. I've seen her read a handful of times since it was released and she often reads that story because it does pack a punch, have interaction within it, and is one of the shorter ones in the collection. On top of that she reads it well. She knows Sasha and she does the voices of Sasha versus everyone and captures all the moments in the story so that after reading it yourself hearing her read it sounds completely new. And that's the effect you want to have on listeners.

I've read my flash fiction at conferences, open mics, and residencies and some pieces hit harder than others and required my audience for the few minutes I was in front of them to not have to pay attention for more than a few minutes. I appreciate the five minute limit because it does allow me to focus on a single moment to draw the reader in without going overboard with background and other instances that may not be of interest to listeners in that moment.

So these are my suggestions if you choose to read your work aloud:

1. Make sure the material will resonate with the reader and is conducive to being read aloud. If it's very convoluted and has a lot of twists and turns it may not be right for an audience to hear, especially if many are not used to listening to work.

2. Try to differentiate how you speak if you have dialogue and try to not sound too professional if the text doesn't require it. Junot Diaz writes in a voice that is similar to his own so that when he reads it's not as though he's reaching. Tayari Jones also is very good at capturing her characters when she reads. She knows them and hearing her read Silver Sparrow going from mother to daughter to father was amazing and put me in the moment. Like the writing the oral voice should be your own but reading it in one way every time may not give readers of your work a new experience.

3. Try to keep it short. Yeah, featured artists don't have that worry so much because they get a good amount of time. Usually twenty minutes or so, sometimes longer. But many people are not used to long periods of listening to something that is not accompanied by visuals and/or music. So if you're going to read for awhile make sure it works in that space of time as well, see 1 & 2 above.

I think these three things can help any artist whether it's doing a presentation or reading creatively. It's nice to hear your own voice but give the audience the respect of being entertained by it. It's not so much about you once you're at the mic but about those who graced you with their presence.

#WRITELIKECRAZY Comes to an End, Or Does It?

Hey all! Hope you're looking forward to a long(ish) weekend ahead. Well today is the last day in August and that means the call to arms from Tayari Jones for WRITELIKECRAZY also comes to an end.

Tayari suggested in her initial post on WRITELIKECRAZY to make a plan as a writer and honor that process.

As mentioned earlier this month, mine was to write for at least an hour a day, every day. No ifs, ands, buts or conveniently timed naps or Internet searching. It was the most realistic for me in terms of timing that I could do it during my lunch break or on the subway ride(s) to/from work and not feel bad about not having wrote for the day if I at least hit my mark.

For the most part it worked! I admit there were about two days over the month of August that I didn't write at all and then there were another two where I wrote for less than 60 minutes because I was really tired or lethargic or just over writing that day. But 4 out of 31 days is not bad!

My goal included editing or new writing for:

• Residency statements
• Residency portfolio submissions
• Short story collection (part of residency portfolio submissions)
• YA Novel
• Flash/Short fiction (separate from both novel & collection)
• Blog Posts
• Essays/articles
• Planning/outlining for short story collection, YA novel, or new projects percolating in that crazy, never resting mind of mine

And yes I did work a bit or a lot on all of the above.

After all is said and done I thought, "Why have I not done this before?!"

Soon after I had graduated from my MFA program I gave myself a weekly schedule where I'd write for 9 hours a week and split the time over the course of a week. That schedule fell by the wayside after a few months. But an hour a day was a realistic goal that, like Tayari said, I could honor. There were many days I did go over the hour mark, but if I didn't I wouldn't feel bad about it because I did get something done. So if I felt tired when I got home at least I got in my time at work or in the morning. And on a weekend I may have had plans with friends and could easily sneak in an hour before going out, or on my way to see them, and not feel guilty about lounging on my couch to watch Netflix or read for the remainder of the evening. I even got a good amount of blogging drafts in on days I wasn't mentally able (re: ready, willing) to tackle the larger projects.

What WRITELIKECRAZY helped me with was finding what worked for me to be able to continually be writing and actually make progress. I did finish my residency statements and have written, rewritten, and rewritten a story I am submitted for residencies and got feedback leading to (you guessed it!) more rewrites. But again rather than holing up in my apartment for a Saturday and not allowing myself to do anything but writing, leaving cleaning and cooking and meeting/speaking to the outside world by the wayside and forcing me to get a lot done in a set amount of time on a given day, having gotten in about 6 or more hours of writing during the week made weekends less stressful so that all my writing wasn't confined to a day or two days that are my only time off from work.

I hope to extend WRITELIKECRAZY past August, to make an hour of writing a daily plan like exercise. Yeah, I'll slip on days but at least knowing that I'm keeping on track 95% of the time will help me actually get things done and not necessarily be a hermit for the remainder of the years to get things done. Inspiration hits when it hits and if anything I'm tackling it one day at a time.

Hope others who have also participated in WRITELIKECRAZY have done well and realized what helps you in your writing process. And perhaps extend it to make your process more solidified in your daily life as well!

New (Writing) Venture Pour Moi...(Fiction Femme Fatale)

I had meant to note this earlier in the month and you may have already seen posts via Twitter and Facebook and such. But I wanted to formally note on my website that I have joined in with writers Amy Christine Parker, Krystalyn Drown, and Stefanie Jones on their middle grade/young adult website Fiction Femme Fatale (or as I like to call it Triple F). :-) Amy is my YA critique partner whom I met via WriteOnCon. She's been a great help as I've been writing (and rewriting and editing) my YA novel. And I am super-stoked that her book The Silo will be coming out with Random House next year! Also, Krystalyn's book Spirit World is coming out via Entranced Publishing next year as well! So trust me, just put these titles on your Goodreads To Read list and buy 'em.

The gist of Triple F is that once a month one of the members will pick a photo/image as a prompt to write a 1,000 word story. We each contribute and on weeks where there are five Fridays it is open for followers to submit a story for posting as well based on the image. Triple F also has giveaways such as critiques from members and agents and books/ARCs.

You can view the guidelines for submitting here.

My first contribution went up a couple weeks earlier than planned last Friday. And you can view it here. I realized after speaking with my instructor at the Napa Valley Writers' Conference that my strength is to write dark and sad material. So I wanted to try for something lighter my first time around. It was a nice challenge and it resulted in a middle grade (or younger) type fiction piece.

Generally I will be contributing the fourth Friday of the month, unless something changes. But I hope you'll check back every Friday to see what Krystalyn, Stefanie, and Amy post. They're super talented writers with a great imagination and eye for description. Amy's last piece "A Winter Tale" gave me the heebie jeebies in a good way. So I'm psyched to have been asked to join and be in such great company of writers.

Napa Valley & Santa Fe: Two Conferences, Two Perspectives

As noted and noted again I am officially back from my self-dubbed "writing conference tour"! (echo, echo, echo) I applied to, and was happy to get scholarships, two conferences to be in classes with two writers I have admired for years.

My first stop was the Napa Valley Writers' Conference (NVWC). I'll gloss over my frustrating travels in LGA, almost missing my connecting flight, and my new good buddy Barbara and I suffering in 100+ degree heat in California traffic as we crawled from Sacramento to St. Helena. Meeting my workshop mates and workshop leader, Tayari Jones, more than made up for it. As did the wine! (One of my faves of the week was Stein Family Wines Rosato.)

Workshop groups met for a bit to get a sense of what we wanted from the week and why we were there. Before the conference began Tayari was very hands-on in regards to getting a better sense of our work, requesting statements of intents on what we were hoping came through in our pieces and what the overall story was about. This proved to be incredibly helpful when discussing the work so that we could lead into whether or not the bigger picture was being captured.

From the start I felt a very positive vibe from the group and as the remaining members arrived over the next couple days our camaraderie was solidified.

Tayari is a great mentor. What stood out to all of us was her problem-solving skills. Sometimes you're in workshop and while what doesn't work is pointed out it's up to the writer to figure out how to fix it. Not a bad thing, however coming up with resolutions can be more time consuming for some than others. With Tayari, bam, you get insight and fixes.

Amongst ourselves we all agreed, "Damn, Tayari's good."

Tayari had outlined whose work we'd be discussing on what day and had a whole strategy on why certain pieces had been grouped. From the get-go we knew she cared. This was further solidified in the way she spoke at length about our pieces and in the time she took to make comments (via colored pen and sticky notes) and in the one-on-one sessions we had with her the day after being workshopped. Being complimented by an author you admire is one of the highest forms of praise and also one of the best motivators you can get and I think, no I know, we're all flying high after this.

Fast forward to the events. Poetry lectures every morning, a fiction lecture every afternoon post-lunch, and a wine tasting (hey, it is Napa Valley, well St. Helena, after all) followed by a reading.

I was very lucky to receive community housing and stayed in a lovely cottage not too far from the Upper Valley Napa Valley College campus. And it was even luckier that my ride to the conference happened to be staying half a mile away down the road to pick me up every morning. (Thanks again, Barbara!)

Food provided was breakfast (buffet style) and lunch (portion controlled) by the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. Breakfast included hard-boiled eggs (from chickens on campus), steel cut oatmeal and fixings, fresh juice, poached fruit, fresh fruit with basil, and homemade pastries which included croissants (dense and buttery), bear claws (with almond paste inside), and savory bread pudding (with and without bacon). For the most part all meals were vegetarian fare, but at the picnic on the last night there was meat! Meat in various and glorious forms such as lamb meatballs, beef strips, roasted duck, and chicken cutlet portions all so delectable it melted into your mouth! And, of course, dessert was at every lunch and dinner. Limoncello pie! Freshly made ice cream with caramel sauce! Brownies! Caramel chocolate bars! Yes, yes, and yes!

I had a great time, a great class, and a great mentor. And I'd like to add that poet faculty such as Forrest Gander and Brenda Hillman were super nice, supportive of all attendees, and very gracious and funny. They were at every event. Forrest even came up to me after the participant reading and said he enjoyed the scene I read from my Collection. A Pulitzer nominee said he liked my writing. Well, knock me over with a feather...

The weather was hot but pleasant and often there was a breeze. It did cool down in the evenings so a sweater/jacket was necessary. The wineries were gorgeous, the people of Napa and St. Helena pleasant, and the surroundings were lovely. My workshop mates and I also became hardcore fans of Gott's Roadside as a dinner option. Went twice (back-to-back days). No regrets.

After a near miss in terms of catching my flight to Albuquerque (for once I am thankful for plane delays) I had a bit of a segue way in Albuquerque before heading to my next conference.

Cue Segue way:

Native American Food Shacks (Pueblo Jemez)!

Hot Springs (Pueblo Jemez)!

Spanish Market with Local Artists (Santa Fe)!

And then we make our way to St. John's College for the Glen Workshop West (aka The Glen). After walking around Downtown Santa Fe I was greeted by friendly volunteers but man was I hot! Not humid, just hot! The sun is In. Your. Face. in Santa Fe. Literally, it winked at me.

As I headed up for registration I saw my instructor, Sara Zarr. And you know what? She recognized me! And you know what else? She hugged me straightaway! I almost begged off, embarrassed I was sweaty and she said not to worry. How cool is she?! I also met my workshop mate T. Michael Martin (expect his book The End Games next May). I heard some of it...awesome.

So after getting my packet and such I got some help from Greg's (Image Journal founder's) son Benedict (Ben). Super nice guy. Very helpful and seeking to pursue sculpture. Go Ben!

Attendees were warned, on more than one occasion, and I was warned by those from desert areas that I would need to adjust to the elevation. No joke. Ben and I were huffing our way to my dorm, which wasn't even that far in all honesty. But the high elevation (over 7,000 feet) and the thinning air made it a challenge for us low-landers.

Going from a cottage to a dorm is an adjustment, but I liked the size of my room and the fact that we were provided towels and bedding and such. I was out of the sun but it was warm. My roommate Raina was super nice and often not around so I had the space to myself often and where I was off at events in Napa, I got to utilize downtime in Santa Fe and get writing/reading done on a daily basis.

In Santa Fe water became a second appendage for those of us around campus.

"Where you going?"

"Bathroom."

"You really need that water bottle, it's down the hall?"

(Clutches water bottle/kleen canteen) "Never know."

Three meals (with vegan/vegetarian options) were provided on campus in the cafeteria. The Glen participants also shared time and space with visiting MFA students. Our schedule was thus: first breakfast, three hour workshops, then lunch, then break, an afternoon reading/lecture, dinner, then an evening reading/lecture, worship (where Scott Cairns talked about how one can mix their faith and their art), and then on a few days the open mic (prose, poetry, song, and visual) for participants. On the first day was a wine & snacks party and the last evening a wine & snacks and dance party!

Yes, I did say worship services. The Glen is a workshop organized by Image Journal and one of their goals is that "[T]hrough a commitment to artistic excellence and religious truth, Image has taken its place on the 'public square' and is poised to make a lasting impact on the future of our national culture." For those who are non-religious or agnostic, like myself, I want to convey that The Glen is not a workshop that centers around religion. It's about finding a balance in faith and art. And if you do not feel especially close to a particular faith do not feel like you'll be judged or preached to. It's a very comfortable environment where everyone listens and respects one another and for me I became even more intrigued by the mixing of faith and how everyone uses it to push their work. I even found in myself that I do subscribe to a faith of being good to my fellow man and woman and wanting to create the most honest portrayal of culture in my art.

Sara had been in touch with us prior to The Glen with an outline of what to expect and just to say "hello!" On the first day we relaxed, got to know each other, and did writing exercises. After that she scheduled work with groupings to talk about some things but also in what may work with each other. It was a relaxed style where hand-written critiques weren't necessary but a discussion always keyed up with someone saying "I loved this..." and others echoing that statement along with support on how to make certain aspects stronger and resonate more with the reader, while also helping the writer to feel more confident about pursuing their work and honing in on what the heart of the story is.

Sara was very generous with her time and even spoke with me afterwards about my story and my overall concerns with balancing personal changes in my life with focusing on my art. I can't thank her enough for the time she gave while at The Glen and the interest she showed. And have to extend another thanks to my workshop mates who liked Calvin and Kayla's relationship and gave me more to consider in revisions. Thanks y'all!

Both NVWC and The Glen offered something different but incredibly helpful and introspective as I shared different pieces from my Collection. In Napa people felt for the pain of a woman dealing with a miscarriage who's uncertain about where her life is going. One of the best pieces of advice I got from Tayari Jones on how to fix this in the revision phase was to "add some happiness" into her life so that the pain would pack a harder punch.

In Santa Fe I shared a portion of the life of an angry teenage boy whose love for his little sister trumps all but even he messes that up. His is a story about the inability to forgive and forgiveness and chaos and everyone in Sara Zarr's workshop got that. From Sara I got a great idea on how to tie up loose ends so that the reader will still stay with the main character even when he can be dislikable.

For me, it's been helpful to know that each time I show a piece from my Collection, flaws and all, the characters still come through and the readers I meet--strangers and artists around North America--become part of my cheering squad. So, yeah, the stories have flaws but the heart is there and that's what I needed to know to keep going. Two weeks away and I come back filled with even more gusto.

Ignore the Hype, Just Write

I made that title up all by myself! In my previous (and upcoming) post I noted that I'm off at back-to-back writing conferences. Conferences serve as a good getaway from the real world, a chance to immerse yourself with other writers, and also get a sense of how your work is perceived by those who don't know anything about you. Plus, you can work with an author who may serve as further inspiration in-person and not just in their prose.

One of my main struggles has been the idea of never finishing my linked story collection. The reality that more than five years have passed and it's still not done, yet it is much closer to completion than it had been this time around in years past.

Another problem I have: I read about the market, often. And it doesn't help matters whatsoever. Yes, Writer's Digest will repeatedly tout that you (writer) should be aware of what is going on in your genre and in the industry. But nowadays that can be depressing news!

An internal type of competition festers from your belly and rises to your head and that's where the doubt comes in. Is my book timely? Is my writing good? Is my voice original? Is this story relevant? Are these characters interesting? And so on and so forth.

And reading that less money is put towards genres you enjoy and more to spitting out mass market titles because, apparently, readers have a short attention span and aren't dedicated fans/readers to authors, you worry that your pace is too slow and that the publishing world is passing you by.

I'm here to tell you, you are not alone. Speaking with Tayari Jones and Sara Zarr about their experiences they have conveyed the highs and the lows as authors who've written several books. Tayari's advice: "Write the [damn] book. Nothing will happen if you don't write the book." Sara's advice is to disconnect from Publishers Weekly and Marketplace and force yourself into exile so that you can focus on the work.

Both authors, who you should check out immediately if you haven't already, were very candid when I asked/told them my concern about my story collection. About whether Black people were still desirable by publishing houses and if by the time I completed it, really completed it, whether anyone would want it because there's the potential that it's been done before. As authors who have had tastes of losing the "joy" in writing because they worried too much about the market they have found ways to continue with what they love to do and what has gained them so much respect and fans around the globe: continue to write on your own terms.

"No one has written your book," Sara told me. And she's right. Her example was Frankenstein, a monster tale that has been told from so many perspectives and genres that you wouldn't recognize where the core story began and the new one ended.

So for me, after two weeks of travel and staying in a cottage on a couch and in a dorm to having workshop mates I had never met before from various parts of the U.S. and Canada tell me that the voices from my stories resonated and that they're eager to hear/read more has given me more momentum to ignore the outside world in terms of marketplace and focus on the revisions necessary to get me one step further to showing this to an even larger segment of the world.

To my workshop mates at Napa Valley Writers' Conference and Glen Workshop West, and especially to Tayari and Sara, I offer my most heartfelt thanks for relighting the fire that was beginning to dim.