It's your friendly neighbourhood writer-in-residence reporting in after an interesting, satisfying day at Montreal's Jewish Public Library, where I am -- as you may have guessed -- writer-in-residence!
Earlier this summer, I did a memoir writing workshop for adults at the JPL, and today was a follow-up. The library let workshop participants know I'd be on hand today to look at their works in progress.
I had a modest number of "customers" -- three in all -- but I think we all had fun, and that I may have provided some useful guidance!
Let me tell you a little about how things went. My first "customer" was Marlyn; my second was Bena (both of whom had been at the memoir workshop). And my last customer was a surprise -- a talented 12-year-old who wishes to remain anonymous, but who agreed to let me refer to him here as "P."
Marlyn and I worked hard together on her beautiful short story about an older woman who has a meaningful encounter during a long bus ride. Marlyn wanted me to read the whole thing through before getting to work on it, but after 35 years of being a writing teacher, I can't stop myself from making comments as I read. That's why I read with a pen in my hand! Sorry, Marlyn! ;)
Anyway, together we found ways to tighten up the story. And Marlyn gave me permission to quote one of my favourite lines from her story: "For Ella and most of her fellow passengers, that toilet was off limits, a no man's land." Not only could I relate (like Ella, I'm no fan of toilets on buses!), but that line made me laugh -- and like Ella even more (I already liked her a lot from the start of the story!)! And that's a real talent -- to make your reader care for your characters!
Bena has written more than a hundred poems, and she wanted me to have a look at some of them. Marlyn stayed to listen to the poems too, which Bena, a well-known stage actress, read aloud to us. I especially enjoyed one of Bena's poems about nature, though I suggested that by replacing some of the longer words with shorter ones, the result might be a little more rhythmic. Bena also brought her memoir piece "Abandon," about what happened when her mother gave birth to Bena's baby brother. Here's a line Bena let me share from that story, "We were sent to relatives as was the custom." In those days, after women gave birth in Montreal they were hopsitalized for eight days. So the story is really about Bena's longing for her mum.
The sleeper surprise of the day was the young man I'm calling P (even though there's no P in his name!!). He is hard at work on a pirate novel set in the seventeenth century. And wow, is it ever good! Marlyn and I were both super impressed with P's writing. Not only is he an excellent story teller, he knows a lot about history and he has a great sense of humor. Here are two lines from what P read us -- again, quoted with the author's permission: "he raised an inquiring eyebrow" and "the fog finally dissipated." See why Marlyn and I were super impressed? So, young P, I hope you will keep writing, that you will hear your characters' voices in your head (that will help you to create great dialogue), and that you'll continue to write and rewrite (then rewrite SOME MORE!) -- exactly as you have already begun to do.
My day at the JPL flew by -- I'm not yet sure when I'll be back, but my residency continues into the early fall. When I know more, I'll add the information to the events calendar on my homepage.
Until then, happy summer, happy writing!