Steering The Craft, Anyone?

[sea_joy]

Hello Everyone,
I've just picke dup Ursula K. LeGuin's "Steering The Craft", it's an excellent writers excercise book that iI've done by myself, but would now like to do as a group.

Would anyone like to join me? I have no problem typing out the pages so we don't all have to buy the book. Each chapter is only 5-6 pages, with an "assignment" and a few examples of what the excercise is looking for.

If anyone is interested, it's created to develop your writing skills not just in content, but also in form and style. It can be used for fiction or non-fiction and has amazing excercises for tenses, word choice, flow and everything else you want to hone about your writing.

Let me know and we can do weekly meetings? We can share out work and offer VERY positive and constructive feedback.
-Crystal

[rainbowmoon]

sign me up!

[TypingMarie]

I'd also be interested in joining, sounds like it would be challenging and fun!

[MadWorldSonnet]

This sounds very interesting! I wonder if I could purchase a "used" copy on amazon.com or half.com or something.

I'd love to join and participate, but may not feel comfortable sharing each piece--is that okay?

[Bella Catalina]

Originally Posted by MadWorldSonnet

This sounds very interesting! I wonder if I could purchase a "used" copy on amazon.com or half.com or something.

I'd love to join and participate, but may not feel comfortable sharing each piece--is that okay?

I'd also love to join and participate... but I'm in the same boat. It's been a long time since I've written though, and this sounds like exactly the thing I need.

[oandc'smom]

I'm curious...and am interested. With three kids, I am not sure if I can make the commitment, but would like to try....

Maury

[sea_joy]

Share what you're comfortable with...

Hello Everyone,
Share what you're comfortabl with, don't worry if you don't want to participate every week. Even if you don't share your writing, feel free to read everyone elses and comment.

Lets start next monday, okay?
-Crystal

[TypingMarie]

Originally Posted by sea_joy

Hello Everyone,
Share what you're comfortabl with, don't worry if you don't want to participate every week. Even if you don't share your writing, feel free to read everyone elses and comment.

Lets start next monday, okay?
-Crystal

Looking forward to it

[oandc'smom]

Sounds good.

maury

[Bella Catalina]

Sounds good!

[rainbowmoon]

Originally Posted by sea_joy

Hello Everyone,
Share what you're comfortabl with, don't worry if you don't want to participate every week. Even if you don't share your writing, feel free to read everyone elses and comment.

Lets start next monday, okay?
-Crystal

: Perfect! I just ordered the book for $3 from our closest used bookstore. I should have it by Mon!

[MadWorldSonnet]

I just ordered it off half.com...won't have it by Mon. Tell me-are the exercise instructions short enough that someone could tell me (and any others that don't yet have the book) what it is? Or is there a long set up?

BTW-Half still has ONE copy used. Amazon has a bunch-cheapest being $3+S&H. If anyone was looking to buy it.

And I can't rent it from the library, ds owes too much $$ (lost, then found, a DVD). Hmm....maybe I'll just look through and do the 1st exercise at the library in a quiet corner.

Hopefully it'll be here soon.

Can't wait--so it'll be one exercise per week?

[sea_joy]

Yeah!

I'm so happy you all are into this idea! I plan on scanning the pages that explain the excercise and putting them on my blog, with a link here. I don't want to reprint copywrited material on Mothering. I'll also put up a link of the writing examples that she offers.

I'd like for everyone to do the excercises even if they don't have the book. So we'll do one every monday. I want everyone to come in and out, however suits them. I'll be doing every week and hopefully someone else will, too.

I'm so excited! The excercises start out easy and move into being more complicated, and although it's nice to have done the previous ones, it's not at all necissary. You can come in whenever you want.

See you Monday,
Crystal

[wombatclay]

Wow!

I worked through some of this book a few years ago but really wanted to do it more in a group setting! I can't wait...I'll have to see if I can find my copy.

[sea_joy]

Hello Ladies

Hello Everyone,
Due to some pressing financial paperwork I had to do today, I'll be postponing todays excercise until tomorrw, when I will have to type it out. This might give time for your books to arrive?

In the meantime, how about an introduction all around?

My name is Crystal, I live on Lopez Island which is in Washington State.
It's a tiny little island with a very "alternative" bent to it, where different is normal.

I had my first baby, Maeve Carys (care-iss) on December 30th this last year in a tub on our living room floor. My husband and I are enraptured with our little human....:

My husband will be attending St. John's College this August in Santa Fe New Mexico, so we're currently contemplating packing our house up into boxes. (Note I said "contemplating" this consists mostly of wondering out loud about how many boxes we're gonna need.)

I've been writing since I was a kid, all fiction of one sort or another. I've had a foray into screen writing, as well as short story writing and poetry.
I LOVE to read, although I haven't got enough time to do it these days. I think maybe having a due date will help me get a kick in the pants to actually accomplish somthing I want so much to do -write!

I'm really excited about everyone wanting to do this, I think it'll be really fun.
Tomorrow then,
Crystal

[rainbowmoon]

I'm April. 33yo. widowed SAHM of two. I've never written much fiction. I like to write mostly short essay's, articles and poetry. I live in S. Arizona. My senior high school english teacher and a beloved college professor inspired me to start writing. I have been writing ever since, mostly for myself.

I just got my book this afternoon so I am off to read and do the first exercise.

[oandc'smom]

My name is Maury. I am married to John. and have 3 wonderful children. Oliver 7, Carter 4, and will be 2 in 2 weeks.

I grew up in NJ, lived in CA for 10 years and moved to GA when my oldest was 8 weeks old. I do not love it here, but am making my peace with it.

I enjoyed writing a lot in high school and took a creative writing course in college, but then I never did much else with it.

Thank you Crystal for initating this.

Maury

[TypingMarie]

Originally Posted by oandc'smom

My name is Maury. I am married to John. and have 3 wonderful children. Oliver 7, Carter 4, and will be 2 in 2 weeks.

I grew up in NJ, lived in CA for 10 years and moved to GA when my oldest was 8 weeks old. I do not love it here, but am making my peace with it.

I enjoyed writing a lot in high school and took a creative writing course in college, but then I never did much else with it.

Thank you Crystal for initating this.

Maury

I also grew up in NJ but now live in CA.

I'm a first time mom to my 9 month old son. I'm a hybrid WAHM/WOHM mom, I go into work two days a week and take my son with me. It's busy, but it's balancing out well.

My husband and I were high school sweethearts, and after years of dating we married in 2002. We just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.

When I was younger I wrote all the time. I journaled, wrote fiction, and participated in student newspapers. I still write, but right now it's all website copy, business letters, and Internet forum posts I'm looking forward to doing something creative again!

[sea_joy]

Exercise One, Being Gorgeous!

Hello Everyone,
Here's excercise one of Steering The Craft, in it's simplest form. I would suggest to anyone with the means to pick up a copy for themselves, it's pretty cheap, and in addition to what I've typed out here, there's 5 pages or so before each excercise. There's also an excellent dictionary of writing terms and easy to understand grammar.
Here it is.....

Excercise One, BEING GORGEOUS

"For fear of copyright manners" Said Crystal, "without waking the baby, into fearful screams, I shall tap out what Le Guin's excercise 1 means.
To write out a narrative "A what?" A narrative, not prose nor poetry- of lovely, sinewy, floaty, hungry, prowling, growling and whispering writing. Take care not to stumble, or bumble into rhyme, and take the greatest care not to fall into a repetative time.

A page and a half is the most it can be, are you ready? Get set, 1..2...3!




Here are Le Guin's examples:

Gertrude Steins, "Susie Asado"
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/3540...in-Susie-Asado

Rudyard Kipling's "How the whale got his throat"
http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/whale.htm

Mark Twain's "The celebrated jumping frog of calaveras county"
http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/hu.../jumpfrog.html
(note, Le Guin only suggests reading the 5th paragraph)


I thought it would be a good idea for us to write, as an introduction of sorts, to specify what we're looking for in terms of response. Don't feel bad if what you want is for everyone to tell you exactly what they liked and leave it at that! If you're interested (in addition to praise) in hearing constructive criticism, feel free to ask for that as well.

Le Guin suggests that we don't ask questions to clarify the authors intent. She says that if you do have a pressing question, clear it with the rest of the group. Some of us like the mystery, in for example, not knowing who Carla's lover is, or whatever.

I think, if you're up to it, adding a little bit on how you liked or didn't like the excercise would be good, too.

LeGuin says:
Did concentrating on the sound of writing enable or release anything unusual or surprising, a voice you haven't used often? Did you enjoy doing the excercise or was it a strain? Can you see why?

Well, enjoy!
-Crystal

[TypingMarie]

This one looks like fun. I'm sharpening my pencils