Residency Reminiscences

Okay, my title has two words over eight letters. But don't let that fool you into thinking that I plan to disregard all that I learned at the MFA residency. As a memoirist, I cannot strike the word "reminiscence" from my vocabulary (there I go again) as easily as all that. I think it earns its weight.

The residency was amazing and inspiring. The women in my group (you know who you wonderful women are!) are so fantastic that just being around them all day for eight days is inspiring. They're the ideal community. If for nothing else, I appreciate the residencies for the time I get to spend with these truly special people (including blog buddies Bug, FC, and Repeater).

The seminars were on the whole helpful. Between an excellent non-fiction genre seminar and great advice on mine and others' manuscripts in workshops, I have finally absorbed the importance of separating the narrator of a first person narrative from the character she is narrating about, even when that character is herself. As Vivian Gornick says in The Situation and the Story, the narrator has to be wiser, stronger, and more in command than the character at the time of the action. I can't wait to take that into my writing. I think that each residency serves up one transformative idea that I can take into my writing. Last time, it was the idea of thinking in terms of personal essays instead of a sustained, book-length memoir. How liberating. And this time, it is the difference between myself as a character and my narrative persona. They don't need to be one and the same. In fact, the narrative will be stronger if they are not the same.

The other big lesson for me was the whole idea of "writing up to your reader." Again, I've heard this before, but this time, it stuck. Assume your reader is a little bit smarter than you are (not so much smarter that they can't be bothered to read you, but smart enough to "get it"). Let them figure it out. This is a tough one for me because, as an academic, I have a tendency to spell out everything and repeat my main points often. Can I merge these two writing styles into one? We shall see.

My new mentor is serious about writing. One of the best aspects of this low residency program is the opportunity to change mentors every six months. This gives us a chance to develop different sets of skills as each mentor has a particular sensibility and approach. This one is no nonsense, smart, and detail-oriented (like, "take that comma out" and "there should be a colon here" -- that level of detail).

The open mike readings get stronger and stronger each time. I love that -- watching everyone's writing flourish and improve.

What else? The weather. Stupendous. My accommodation. Outstanding.

Let the writing begin.