I hope you and all those you love are safe and well. A friend reminded me how lucky I am to have clean, running water, electricity, a phone and a computer, to have enough food and a sturdy roof over my head. I am wealthy beyond my needs. We talked about our fears and the ways we can spin into panic. What If often looms larger than we can manage. The counterbalance to what if is right now. Right now, I am fine. Right now, I can breathe in and out and look around. And, if I choose, I can move What If into my writing. From memory, what if something small was changed in a family story? What if someone said something different, or if I had known what I know now? What if it had rained that day? Or what if I had loved canned peas? As writers we can move in time and we can revisit past moments. We can also translate memory into fiction. From imagination, what if a character can’t cross a street? What if two characters learn something about each other they didn’t want to know? What if the landscape in which a story takes place offers a surprise? What if the potatoes for dinner have already sprouted? As writers we have the power to exist in other times and places, and within other beings. We can transform our What Ifs in infinite ways. Take this time to indulge this ability. Pay attention to the changes around you, use these in your writing. Chronicle your experiences, your daydreamings, and, yes, your fears and hopes. What we writers do best is channel our emotions into poems, stories, essays, novels, epics, and songs. Give yourself this medium to stay balanced, and share what you have written. We writers can help one another by listening. Letting someone know they have been heard is one of the most healing acts one human can give another. Find a writing partner, or two, or ten. Hear each other’s voices from the page. Let someone hear yours. The What Ifs will be turned into Art.
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All Workshops Are Now Online
Weekly Workshops Amherst, Massachusetts: Thursday Evenings & Friday Mornings, ten weeks beginning December March 5 & 6, 2020. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/workshops/
Online Weekly Workshops: Monday Evenings eight weeks beginning March 16, 2020. https://www.writingfulltilt.com/online-workshop/
August Retreat Hawley, Massachusetts: August 9 – 12, 2020 Four days of writing bliss. The setting is perfect for allowing your writing to emerge! https://www.writingfulltilt.com/retreats/
Writing Retreat in Malibu California February 22 – 25 2021: Serra Retreat Center overlooking Malibu Bay with tiled fountains, and hidden gardens offer the perfect winter getaway and a place to wander into your writing. All writers welcome, no matter the genre or experience level. There’s still room for you! https://www.writingfulltilt.com/retreats/
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