Four Days: Seventeen Stories

I’ve spent the past four days with seventeen stories – memoir chapters and personal essays written by my students in the UCLA Extension Writers Studio. Starting at nine o’clock last Thursday morning and going all day, every day, until six o’clock Sunday night, seventeen students wrote, read their writing exercises and chapters and essays aloud, commented on each others work, cried a little and laughed a lot. At night I’d dream about their stories, wake up at 3:00 am thinking: C. has got to send that essay to the L.A. Times, or R. should send her piece to The Sun, or that chapter J. wrote could also be an essay.  Seventeen amazing stories that are hard to get out of my head this morning.  I feel like I’m suffering post dramatic stress.

I also taught a one-day Writing Your Own History workshop a week earlier at UCLA Extension  (I did all my winter teaching in nine days this year)  – and the eighteen people who came to that class wrote fearlessly about families and moments in their lives when everything changed.

What strikes me when people come to writing classes and workshops is how quickly they trust each other with the darker corners of their lives, get connected, and how generous they are with their energy to give feedback to each other. People in Los Angeles are not always noted for their candor, honesty and generosity, but I’m here to tell you, writers are different.

So this is really a Valentine to my students. Keep writing. Your stories matter.

Comments

[Rebecca Laffar-Smith]

Beautiful blessings, Barbara. :-) Perhaps one or two of your students would like to share their stories with your blog readers?

[Barbara]

Rebecca - That's a great idea. I asked them if they'd like to do some posts - hope they do.

[Kathy Sena]

Barbara, thanks for sharing this. I do remember, when I was in a class of yours years ago, how generous the students were with each other, and how safe it felt, in that classroom, to share some pretty personal writing. You do a great job of creating that atmosphere.

[lorenstephens]

Hi, Barbara. Thank you for a great four days. Now the hard part begins. I resist the suggestions wishing that my essay was finished and I could just send it into the world. But I know that the comments hit the proverbial nail on the head -- where I needed to tighten things up, and where I needed to give the reader more. I will keep you posted. Am on KCAL 9 at noon today on a story called a "Memory Valentine." Might repeat again at 2 pm and 4 pm. Hope that you read this and can catch it. Best, Loren Stephens

[Sophia]

Barbara, you are a wonderful mediator. One of the biggest things I learned in your class was that there is an art to giving feedback, and not to rush in "where angels fear to tread"...these kinds of stories are sacred ground.

Thanks for being such a great teacher Barbara. You are helping to nurture and/or midwife more books and articles than you may ever know.

[Barbara]

Kathy - I mentioned you in class this weekend when a student asked if I knew anyone who had ever been published in Newsweek's My Turn column. Told them about all your tries, and then getting one published -

Loren - I read this too late for your noon TV appearance. I'll try for 4:00 - Great having you in the Studio.

Sophia - thanks for the kind words.

[Cynthia]

Barbara,
Your posting motivated me. Two minutes ago, I hit the "send" button and sent that essay to the LA Times. Thanks to your workshop, I have ideas for several other essays brewing in my mind. You are a great motivator and cheerleader! I'm also enjoying "Writing Out the Storm," I'm only a few pages in but am going to try some of the exercises, especially, "I'm too young," and "what the doctor said." I'm also delighted to see many of my favorite books on your bedside reading. I haven't met many people who have read "Rowing Without Oars." I've met a kindred soul!

[Barbara]

Cynthia - Bravo for sending your essay in! ROWING WITHOUT OARS is one of my favorite books - and sadly, not too many of us have read it. Let me know what happens with your essay.