Diving with Carrie Newcomer
So, thanks to Reverend Mommy, I found out that Carrie Newcomer was going to be in town this week for both seminars at Emory and concerts at Eddie's Attic. I was thus able to sign up for a workshop on writing on Thursday, a seminar called "Art, Ethics & Activism: a conversation with Carrie Newcomer & Sal Brownfield," and buy tickets for two shows at Eddie's Attic Saturday night.
At the workshop one of the execises she had us do was something she called "diving." This is where an initial phrase is taken as a jumping off point for almost stream of consciousness writing of what we find ourselves thinking from that phrase. We shared what we'd written after we finished, and I received some favorable comments about mine, so I thought maybe I'd share it here. It is a bit different from my usual postings at JoKeR's Blog, so I thought I'd put it here so it is available to folks I want to share it with, but perhaps not as widely distributed.
I've included the kickoff phrases in bold text and some brief comments which were not part of the original effort in italics.
OK, I wimped out. I've hidden the text in a comment which I can turn off so that it is invisible unless I reveal it. What can I say? Contact me if you want to see it.So, there it is. Nothing brilliant, but a perhaps a glimpse inside JoKeR's head.
posted by JoKeR @ 3:10 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I kept it all these years: everything. My comics I started reading as a kid became my collection which I worked to complete. My music collection, whether albums, cassettes, or now CDs. Get them, keep them, store them, trip on them. It is hard to let these things go, but it is hard to keep them, too. I sold the heart of my comic collection because I needed some money and I hadn't looked at them in years, but I felt faint, felt a pain in my chest, almost felt nauseous, but I let them go. (At this point when reading it aloud I found I had difficulty continuing. How can that still distress me many months later?) It wasn't easy, but my life has not been hurt by giving them up. I used a small portion of the money to rebuild my deck which had been rotting. I call it the comics memorial deck. But I still have thousands of comics which I still don't look at, just as I have thousands of CDs, most of which are rarely heard, because there just isn't time to listen to them all. Some CDs have not been heard at all. But I see a new release and that urge comes, that desire arises for something new, something interesting, something wonderful, and it becomes something that takes up space.
But what I really want to say is that none of that matters. My family, my friends, helping others, enjoying life is what is meaningful. I can say what I appreciate and what I should pay attention to, but I spend my time playing video games, browsing the internet, chatting at RealLivePreacher (and blogging). These distractions keep me from doing what is satisfying as I try to distract myself from what is painful.
I was given a writers companion type book for Christmas. It is full of exercises to ignite writers. The first exercise is 'diving'.
I am looking forward to engaging with this book but at the minute I am too busy writing to start!
I have an essay due in on Paul's theology of salvation and four of the devotionals for the revgalpals book.
I liked what you wrote - tis evocative and deep.
I don't know that I can tell you about diving beyond what I've already said. Carrie Newcomer leads workshops, but doesn't seem to have much on her website that could be used and read individually. Scog blog said he'd found a book which discussed it, though he didn't mention the title. I'm sure it would be possible to find such books which were written to help aspiring writers. Ask a librarian to help you find some (a generally underappreciated service sector that can be invaluable).
hoping you see this - but we need a BIO for the OT devotional ASAP (April 06) can you skip over please
http://ordinarytimebook.blogspot.com/
Joker
My thoughts were on much the same thing recently. Wish I could have been in on Newcomer's workshop. I'll check out the website and see if she's coming to a town near me.
Thanks for the recycling tip.
Peace.
Milton
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