Writer's Retreat - Day 1

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Today was incredible. It was the first day of my creative non-fiction class and I must admit I had many jitters beforehand, not sure how my class mates would be like or how the teacher would react to my story idea. Surprisingly, the class is diverse, and definitely a more mature student than what I had been accustomed to at NEIU. This was a relief and the first time I've ever shared my story ideas with perfect strangers other than my friends who have always been supportive of my work. I had entertained the idea of not sharing so much of who I am because I didn't want to shock folks. I hoped that I would not be judged by my subject matter. I was the last person to speak about my topic and was absolutely surprised by the response I received.

I'm doing a memoir about my time with a female to male transgendered individual whom I had a 5 year relationship with. The idea of the story is to write about my life with him, how he changed me, how people's perceptions affected us and so on. Since coming from a very traditional and judgmental family structure, then finding myself in such a situation that was not only challenging but also unnerving at times, from wrestling with the conflicts of traditional male, female roles and identities, to the fact that I am a card holding lesbian, who found herself in a unique and very unorthodox arrangement, calling into question my own identity.

Anyway, the class loved it, and 4 people in general already want a copy of my story when it's published and are looking forward to reading about this type of experience as I put the story together. I was even more amazed that everyone felt that this topic would be something that mainstream society would want to read. I had thought that with the subject matter it would limit marketability. I was so wrong, people who read are hungry for new material, different stories, and ones that are not so average. They get bored and every once in awhile they pick up a book that is exciting and new. That's who I want to be for my audience, a different voice.

What was more amazing was that I had already written a proposal to the teacher about the story, it's structure, etc., and wrote about how I wanted it layered between my experiences with him as well as how other's around us reacted and the struggles I had gone thru. One person had commented that the very fact that I was open minded enough to be in the situation, passing no judgment on my partner from who she was to whom he became is a testament to the type of person I am. This is what he felt he wanted to know and experience thru me the life I had in that time. I was thrilled to hear this from him and it also reconfirmed my commitment to this piece and that my initial ideas for this memoir were right on target. I had initially thought I wouldn't know how to structure this story and I was worried that the teacher's suggestions and examples would somehow be over my head, due to my inexperience as a writer. Come to find out, I really do have talent, great concepts, great ideas, unbelievable experiences, and now I am finally getting to learn how to tell a story and make it compelling visually as well as psychologically and entertaining.

One of the key concepts I learned today was that the memoir is part imagination and part history, and adding a relationship biography in the mix will benefit the story greatly. Hearing this from the teacher added confidence, because I had already thought of that angle when I chose to write this. The teacher also made a point that writing is really not thinking but feeling it, doing it, etc.  She mentioned that focus is important, keeping in mind that the number one subject of a memoir is the narrator, it's the only literature out there that is truly about your unique experiences and perspectives.

So the rest of this afternoon I have homework.  We have some general questions that the teacher gave us to review and answer honestly.  The exercise is designed to make us aware of the projects we are working on and give them a definitive direction, maybe even a timeframe to assist in the completion of it.  She has us looking at the development of the topic, she calls it an arc from beginning to middle to end.  How the character grows, changes, transforms in a sense. She also wants us to pay close attention to the content and our relationship to the content.  In a quote, the teacher spoke, "relationship to the content is just as important as the content itself."

We also have to bring two pages of our projects and make copies for the entire class.  I like this a lot, because it opens up feedback, suggestions, things that may not be working as well as things that do work in our stories. We also did an exercise in class basically for our own personal use to highlight those things that come naturally to us as writers and as people in general, and those things that you wish to know, in other words, stuff that is difficult for you.  She calls it, what you can give to a situation and what you can learn or take. Finally, she gave us some literature to read. One article on Creating Sympathy, in other words, the ability of the audience to recognize themselves in action that unfolds. Another article on Positive Outcomes, having the reader see positive things that emerge from the story itself.  The third article is about the Narrator as Problem Solver, basically, showing conflict or problems that are solved thru the Narrator's voice and experience. 

Looking so forward to this week.  Keep reading as I plan on writing something each day, kinda like wanting to take you with me as I journey thru this writer's retreat and growing from this experience as a writer and story teller.

Peace.