Is one of your back-to-school fall resolutions to get some writing done?
BANG THE KEYS!
WRITING WORKSHOPS FOR FALL 2009:
Limited space, SIGN UP NOW.
Create A Writing Practice That Will Last A Lifetime
With Jill Dearman writing coach, editor and author of Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice (Penguin/Aug.2009). Jill is also a part-time Professor of Journalism at New York University, and has been published in numerous literary magazines including Lilith, New York Stories, North Atlantic Review and The Portland Review, and has been published as a journalist in New York Daily News, Time Out New York, Publishers Weekly, and other publications. She writes regularly about the craft of writing for The Writer magazine.
To get the vibe of the workshop, and the book, check out the short book trailer:
Bang the Keys and Jill were also featured on NY1 with Asa Aarons just this week: NY1 with Asa Aarons
(And by the way Stan the man featured here is not as innocent as he looks, dagnabbit …he’s running a fab new theater experience: Key Party | Apartment Theatre.)
THE WORKSHOP:
As a bon vivant, do you find it hard to say no to cocktails at five and yes to sitting down to write a thousand words? Bang the Keys is just as lively and intoxicating as a drunken brouhaha but without the maudlin regrets.
Participants will …
* Set a writing goal (with deadline!) and meet it.
* Structure your time so that you actually keep your fabulous life (well most of it) AND get some writing done.
* Develop tools that will help you to independently continue your writing practice.
* Develop methods for writing regularly and productively rather than just when the muse strikes.
• Push past inhibitions and go deeper into your work, or suffer the dreaded "so-what?" factor
* Connect with supportive and dedicated fellow writers
* Say yes to your writing and no to distractions and defeatist thinking…or shut up already!
This workshop is open to writers of all genres.
Contact: jill@jilldearman.com / 212.841.0177
www.bangthekeys.com
Manhattan Workshop: Tues. 6-8pm Oct 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov 3 and 10.
$275 for six weeks.
Brooklyn Workshop: Wed. 6-8pm Oct 7, 14, 21, Nov 4, 11 & 18.
$275 for six weeks.
Jill is available for individual coaching sessions (by phone or in person) and editing work as well.
Also save the date for Jill’s Bang the Keys book reading at KGB Bar: November 17, Tues/7pm/85 East 4th Street.
Praise for Bang the Keys by Jill Dearman (Penguin/August, 2009)
“Few writing guides prove as thoughtful and intimate as Jill Dearman’s, and fewer still dare to be so insistently sensible and efficacious. Part anthology, part manual, part scourge, Bang the Keys distills the know-how of a gifted writer and teacher.”
--Robert Polito, Director of the New School Graduate Writing Program, author, Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson (Vintage), winner of the National Book Critics Award for Biography.
"A beloved Renaissance chick with wit and passion enough to warm a biodome, Dearman proselytizes to Struggling Writer Nation with utter pragmatism and inventiveness. Dare to resist her injunctions if you can –– there's no better battle plan for sentence-making anywhere on the horizon."
--Michael Atkinson, film critic and author, Hemingway Deadlights (St. Martins).
"I sold my first book on a treatment and the first 50 pages. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that the first 50 pages are the easy part. It was awfully surprising to find that, for me, the big challenge in writing a novel is resistance. I have a busy New York City-type career (I'm a Forensic Pathologist) and then a second busy-ish career as a freelance writer (New York Times Magazine, New York, Gourmet, etc.), and finding the time to work on the novel was always 'difficult'. Or so I let myself believe, as I coasted along, ignoring the looming deadline as I took care of more pressing and immediately gratifying obligations. Working with Jill not only forced me to focus on my book, but it proved the initial push –– or series of pushes –– that got me rolling on it, and not just rolling, but actually excited about my book. Jill's mastered the art of being honest, but gentle. Working with Jill for a few seasons has given me enough momentum to finish the book independently. Jill has whipped my self-confidence into such a state that I'm sure I'll finish strong. I'm plenty confident now, but heck, even Tiger Woods has a coach, right?"
---Jonathan Hayes, novelist, Precious Blood and A Hard Death (Harper Collins).
“This is a book about self-discipline, about finding your calling and learning to listen to that calling … so charming, so beguiling and laugh-out-loud funny you won’t even notice that you’re working your butt off . . . and getting it done! Jill Dearman is a national treasure.”
--Alison Smith author of Name All the Animals (Scribner), winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Memoir.
"If you are as ambivalent about your prose as you are about everything else in your life, place it and yourself in the velvet-gloved iron fist of Jill Dearman. She will be your mother and your whore.”
--Donna Brodie, Executive Director of The Writers Room, New York City, An Urban Writers Colony
"If you are sick of hearing goody-goody writing experts preaching their New Age or Know-it-All gospel, then bang on Jill Dearman's door, but quick. She seductively taps into writers' natural desire to write, which is just as natural to us as drinking, complaining and procrastinating. Then, through skill, experience and intuition, she hypnotizes writers into falling in love with their writing, and wanting to write again, and again. And by the end of the Dearman trip, we've learned how to hypnotize ourselves."
--Nisha Ganatra, Screenwriter and Director of the award-winning film, Chutney Popcorn; director of Cake.
“Bang the Keys overflows with contagious humor and energy. In fact, after a few pages you will likely throw it aside and run to bang your own keys! But my bet is that you will return to it and that it will stay on your shelf for reference.”
--Suzannah Lessard, author Architect of Desire (Dial Press), former staff writer, The New Yorker; teacher of Creative Writing at The New School, Goucher College and other universities.
"Ready to write your book? Jill Dearman is the savvy coach and good friend every writer needs. With warmth, tough-love, and humor she provides the inspiration, information, practical tips, exercises, advice, and motivation to get you started and to sustain your writing practice for a lifetime."
--Deborah Landau, Director, Creative Writing Program, New York University and author of the poetry collection, Orchidelirium (winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry).
"Jill Dearman has the nurturing power of a Jewish mother (without the guilt) and uses it to help you believe that there is no more important task than for you to finish that writing project! If you've been procrastinating for years –– and who hasn't been? –– then get your hands on this workshop-in-a-book. Her approach just works."
--Beth Greenfield, memoir forthcoming from Random House, 2010.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Bang on the Shelves & Check out Book Trailer!
Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice (Penguin) is here at last! With a forward by New York Times reporter John Leland (and author of Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of on the Road) and kvelling blurbs from numerous beloved and esteemed authors (see below), rest assured: BANG THE KEYS has been vetted by high end writers of note, and yet remains accessible to writers of all levels. It can be used as a writing workshop in a book, an individual guide to practice and craft, or an ice-breaker at boring parties.
This short book trailer gives a strong sense of what Bang the Keys is all about and can be found on my website (just hit "book trailer" tab) and what the book can do for you. The book is many things, but one thing it is NOT is generic. It is meant for the erudite but over-stimulated 21st Century writer who struggles to get offline to write, yet who also appreciates wisdom culled from the deep wells of literary and cinematic history.
The success of my work has always rested upon one thing: enthusiastic word of mouth from writers and the people who love them (and want them to stop self-flagellating and start writing)! So, if you are willing, please spread the word to the writers you know, to bookstores you shop at, and online on your blogs and sites. This kindness is greatly appreciated and I hope will lead to productive writing hours and well-crafted prose and plots for all writers who pick up Bang the Keys, and then sit down to bang their own keys.
AUTHOR BIO: Writing Coach and editor Jill Dearman has been teaching her Bang the Keys philosophy of writing to new storytellers and published professionals alike since 2003, most recently at New York University. She has also taught journalism at NYU since 2001, and as a journalist has written for The Writer, New York Daily News, Time Out New York and other publications. Her award-winning short stories and essays have been published in numerous literary magazines including Lilith, New York Stories, The Portland Review, North Atlantic Review and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. Jill also writes the weekly "writer to writer" interview blog at Barnes & Noble.com If you are a writer who would like to be considered for an interview please send a brief note to Jill@JillDearman.com.
For more: BangtheKeys.com.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES include
Aug. 9 (Sun) at 5:30 Jill will appear at Red Hill Book Store in San Francisco for a reading and mini-workshop.
Sept. 10 (Thur Eve.) at 7pm. New York Book Launch Party at Book Court in Brooklyn: BookCourt.org
PRAISE FOR BANG THE KEYS BY JILL DEARMAN (PENGUIN/AUGUST, 2009)
“Few writing guides prove as thoughtful and intimate as Jill Dearman’s, and fewer still dare to be so insistently sensible and efficacious. Part anthology, part manual, part scourge, Bang the Keys distills the know-how of a gifted writer and teacher.”
--Robert Polito, Director of the New School Graduate Writing Program, author, Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson (Vintage), winner of the National Book Critics Award for Biography.
"A beloved Renaissance chick with wit and passion enough to warm a biodome, Dearman proselytizes to Struggling Writer Nation with utter pragmatism and inventiveness. Dare to resist her injunctions if you can –– there's no better battle plan for sentence-making anywhere on the horizon."
--Michael Atkinson, film critic and author, Hemingway Deadlights (St. Martins).
"I sold my first book on a treatment and the first 50 pages. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that the first 50 pages are the easy part. It was awfully surprising to find that, for me, the big challenge in writing a novel is resistance. I have a busy New York City-type career (I'm a Forensic Pathologist) and then a second busy-ish career as a freelance writer (New York Times Magazine, New York, Gourmet, etc.), and finding the time to work on the novel was always 'difficult'. Or so I let myself believe, as I coasted along, ignoring the looming deadline as I took care of more pressing and immediately gratifying obligations. Working with Jill not only forced me to focus on my book, but it proved the initial push –– or series of pushes –– that got me rolling on it, and not just rolling, but actually excited about my book. Jill's mastered the art of being honest, but gentle. Working with Jill for a few seasons has given me enough momentum to finish the book independently. Jill has whipped my self-confidence into such a state that I'm sure I'll finish strong. I'm plenty confident now, but heck, even Tiger Woods has a coach, right?"
---Jonathan Hayes, novelist, Precious Blood and A Hard Death (Harper Collins).
“This is a book about self-discipline, about finding your calling and learning to listen to that calling … so charming, so beguiling and laugh-out-loud funny you won’t even notice that you’re working your butt off . . . and getting it done! Jill Dearman is a national treasure.”
--Alison Smith author of Name All the Animals (Scribner), winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Memoir.
"If you are as ambivalent about your prose as you are about everything else in your life, place it and yourself in the velvet-gloved iron fist of Jill Dearman. She will be your mother and your whore."
--Donna Brodie, Executive Director of The Writers Room, New York City, An Urban Writers Colony
"If you are sick of hearing goody-goody writing experts preaching their New Age or Know-it-All gospel, then bang on Jill Dearman's door, but quick. She seductively taps into writers' natural desire to write, which is just as natural to us as drinking, complaining and procrastinating. Then, through skill, experience and intuition, she hypnotizes writers into falling in love with their writing, and wanting to write again, and again. And by the end of the Dearman trip, we've learned how to hypnotize ourselves."
--Nisha Ganatra, Screenwriter and Director of the award-winning film, Chutney Popcorn; director of Cake.
“Bang the Keys overflows with contagious humor and energy. In fact, after a few pages you will likely throw it aside and run to bang your own keys! But my bet is that you will return to it and that it will stay on your shelf for reference.”
--Suzannah Lessard, author Architect of Desire (Dial Press), former staff writer, The New Yorker; teacher of Creative Writing at The New School, Goucher College and other universities.
"Ready to write your book? Jill Dearman is the savvy coach and good friend every writer needs. With warmth, tough-love, and humor she provides the inspiration, information, practical tips, exercises, advice, and motivation to get you started and to sustain your writing practice for a lifetime."
--Deborah Landau, Director, Creative Writing Program, New York University and author of the poetry collection, Orchidelirium (winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry).
"Jill Dearman has the nurturing power of a Jewish mother (without the guilt) and uses it to help you believe that there is no more important task than for you to finish that writing project! If you've been procrastinating for years –– and who hasn't been? –– then get your hands on this workshop-in-a-book. Her approach just works."
--Beth Greenfield, memoir forthcoming from Random House, 2010.
Thanks for your support and good luck, writers! Keep banging the keys ...
--Jill Dearman
This short book trailer gives a strong sense of what Bang the Keys is all about and can be found on my website (just hit "book trailer" tab) and what the book can do for you. The book is many things, but one thing it is NOT is generic. It is meant for the erudite but over-stimulated 21st Century writer who struggles to get offline to write, yet who also appreciates wisdom culled from the deep wells of literary and cinematic history.
The success of my work has always rested upon one thing: enthusiastic word of mouth from writers and the people who love them (and want them to stop self-flagellating and start writing)! So, if you are willing, please spread the word to the writers you know, to bookstores you shop at, and online on your blogs and sites. This kindness is greatly appreciated and I hope will lead to productive writing hours and well-crafted prose and plots for all writers who pick up Bang the Keys, and then sit down to bang their own keys.
AUTHOR BIO: Writing Coach and editor Jill Dearman has been teaching her Bang the Keys philosophy of writing to new storytellers and published professionals alike since 2003, most recently at New York University. She has also taught journalism at NYU since 2001, and as a journalist has written for The Writer, New York Daily News, Time Out New York and other publications. Her award-winning short stories and essays have been published in numerous literary magazines including Lilith, New York Stories, The Portland Review, North Atlantic Review and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood. Jill also writes the weekly "writer to writer" interview blog at Barnes & Noble.com If you are a writer who would like to be considered for an interview please send a brief note to Jill@JillDearman.com.
For more: BangtheKeys.com.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES include
Aug. 9 (Sun) at 5:30 Jill will appear at Red Hill Book Store in San Francisco for a reading and mini-workshop.
Sept. 10 (Thur Eve.) at 7pm. New York Book Launch Party at Book Court in Brooklyn: BookCourt.org
PRAISE FOR BANG THE KEYS BY JILL DEARMAN (PENGUIN/AUGUST, 2009)
“Few writing guides prove as thoughtful and intimate as Jill Dearman’s, and fewer still dare to be so insistently sensible and efficacious. Part anthology, part manual, part scourge, Bang the Keys distills the know-how of a gifted writer and teacher.”
--Robert Polito, Director of the New School Graduate Writing Program, author, Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson (Vintage), winner of the National Book Critics Award for Biography.
"A beloved Renaissance chick with wit and passion enough to warm a biodome, Dearman proselytizes to Struggling Writer Nation with utter pragmatism and inventiveness. Dare to resist her injunctions if you can –– there's no better battle plan for sentence-making anywhere on the horizon."
--Michael Atkinson, film critic and author, Hemingway Deadlights (St. Martins).
"I sold my first book on a treatment and the first 50 pages. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that the first 50 pages are the easy part. It was awfully surprising to find that, for me, the big challenge in writing a novel is resistance. I have a busy New York City-type career (I'm a Forensic Pathologist) and then a second busy-ish career as a freelance writer (New York Times Magazine, New York, Gourmet, etc.), and finding the time to work on the novel was always 'difficult'. Or so I let myself believe, as I coasted along, ignoring the looming deadline as I took care of more pressing and immediately gratifying obligations. Working with Jill not only forced me to focus on my book, but it proved the initial push –– or series of pushes –– that got me rolling on it, and not just rolling, but actually excited about my book. Jill's mastered the art of being honest, but gentle. Working with Jill for a few seasons has given me enough momentum to finish the book independently. Jill has whipped my self-confidence into such a state that I'm sure I'll finish strong. I'm plenty confident now, but heck, even Tiger Woods has a coach, right?"
---Jonathan Hayes, novelist, Precious Blood and A Hard Death (Harper Collins).
“This is a book about self-discipline, about finding your calling and learning to listen to that calling … so charming, so beguiling and laugh-out-loud funny you won’t even notice that you’re working your butt off . . . and getting it done! Jill Dearman is a national treasure.”
--Alison Smith author of Name All the Animals (Scribner), winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Memoir.
"If you are as ambivalent about your prose as you are about everything else in your life, place it and yourself in the velvet-gloved iron fist of Jill Dearman. She will be your mother and your whore."
--Donna Brodie, Executive Director of The Writers Room, New York City, An Urban Writers Colony
"If you are sick of hearing goody-goody writing experts preaching their New Age or Know-it-All gospel, then bang on Jill Dearman's door, but quick. She seductively taps into writers' natural desire to write, which is just as natural to us as drinking, complaining and procrastinating. Then, through skill, experience and intuition, she hypnotizes writers into falling in love with their writing, and wanting to write again, and again. And by the end of the Dearman trip, we've learned how to hypnotize ourselves."
--Nisha Ganatra, Screenwriter and Director of the award-winning film, Chutney Popcorn; director of Cake.
“Bang the Keys overflows with contagious humor and energy. In fact, after a few pages you will likely throw it aside and run to bang your own keys! But my bet is that you will return to it and that it will stay on your shelf for reference.”
--Suzannah Lessard, author Architect of Desire (Dial Press), former staff writer, The New Yorker; teacher of Creative Writing at The New School, Goucher College and other universities.
"Ready to write your book? Jill Dearman is the savvy coach and good friend every writer needs. With warmth, tough-love, and humor she provides the inspiration, information, practical tips, exercises, advice, and motivation to get you started and to sustain your writing practice for a lifetime."
--Deborah Landau, Director, Creative Writing Program, New York University and author of the poetry collection, Orchidelirium (winner of the Anhinga Prize for Poetry).
"Jill Dearman has the nurturing power of a Jewish mother (without the guilt) and uses it to help you believe that there is no more important task than for you to finish that writing project! If you've been procrastinating for years –– and who hasn't been? –– then get your hands on this workshop-in-a-book. Her approach just works."
--Beth Greenfield, memoir forthcoming from Random House, 2010.
Thanks for your support and good luck, writers! Keep banging the keys ...
--Jill Dearman
Friday, May 1, 2009
Metta Meditation and Mr. Hyde
METTA ON A MONDAY AND MY HEART STOOD STILL
I went to hear groovy meditation Goddess Sharon Salzberg (http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/index.htm) teach in Brooklyn recently at Jaya Yoga Center (www.jayayogacenter.com). One of the best parts of the evening was when she led us through a Metta Meditation in which we focused loving energies first on ourselves, and then onto loved ones and mentors and even strangers. Metta is a Sanskrit word for loving-kindness. But in the rough-edged lingo of a classic rock chick from Queens, who called Manhattan home for decades, and now mixes it up in Crooklyn: Give Peace a Chance –– Or Else! Lemme splain:
Like most Native New Yorkers I was raised on two emotions: love and hate. Okay, mostly hate! Back in workin’ class Archie Bunker Queens, we had a lot of nothing and we hated the “haves”. Then I went away to college at SUNY Purchase, a high falutin’ arts school. And now I’m all grown up and living the writer’s life in a beautifully tree-filled parted of New York Cit-ay. I’m surrounded by peace-lovers and yet, I sometimes wish folks would just get their hate on like they did back in my misspent youth.
DR. JEKYLL, I PRESUME?
I sometimes feel like Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (thanks Sean Young!) … by day a nurturing figure of love for the writers who come to me for practical help and much motherly reassurance; by night a writer myself who is as susceptible to the demons of random rage as the next passionate wordsmith. Calgon, take me away! But to where? Where can a person escape the constant pull between the grounded good citizen and the killer inside?
For help with this question I turn to one of my favorite films (based on the spookiest of gothic novels): “The Night of the Hunter.” There’s a great scene where Robert Mitchum as a terrifying preacher/con-man acts out the warring impulses in men’s souls. He wildly demonstrates the pull between God’s Love and the Devil’s Hate –– using his hands, eerily tattooed finger by finger with the words, L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E on each beefy paw.
EXTERNALIZE THE ANGER, LOVEY!
Last week, in the Brooklyn Bang the Keys Workshop, I had a strong feeling that what my groovy students and scribe-mates might need is a red-hot love injection of good old fashioned hate. My instinct was right. As it turned out, folks were in a bit of a funky cold medina state of malaise (apologies, Tone Loc) and were feely unusually dulled and down. Trust me these folks are usually wild and wiley!
The way past that general feeling of low-level depression (“why bother?”, “who’s going to care anyway?” etc.) was by going through some exercises of hate, as a way to exorcise the self-hating feelings common to all writers which have a way of manifesting as apathy and a resistance to the simple act of sitting down and banging those keys.
(Shameless book plug: “Bang the Keys” to be released by Penguin this August! March into your local bookseller and say, “I Want My ‘Bang the Keys’!” And after you receive the proper eye-rolling response, politely ask them to order the book for you and your writer buds.)
TIPS & TOOLS, TOOTS
So, below I share with you some Bang the Keys exercises to help you to love your tortured writer self, and then work through some rage, in an effort to get some words on the page. It worked for this tough but tender group of writers who entered my laboratory as watered down Dr. Jekylls, allowed themselves to be pumped up to energized and mad Dr. Hydes, and left with some sense of how to find what the Buddha called The Middle Path. And you can too, Scribesters!
And if you too distracted to even get to Point A, might I suggest some tips from the latest technology?
www.macfreedom.com -- it will force you to stay offline long enough to write (for a minimum of an hour at a time). And it’s free!
Writeroom: It allows you to write on a black screen with a green blinking cursor –– very helpful for those of us who still wax poetic about the “Wang” computers of the ‘80s, and for anyone who likes to shut off the high tech visual distractions of their computer screen. It’s free for a month and then $24.95 to buy: www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom.
www.joesaidso.com - instead of letting technology glitches and problems overwhelm you and take you away from your work as a writer, go to Joe to get your questions answered, stat! Me loves him.
And if you are still wondering, why bother with a writing “practice” at all, check out David Brooks’ opinion piece in today’s NYTimes: Genius: the Modern View: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/opinion/01brooks.html.
WRITING EXERCISES:
1. Metta
Find a comfortable sitting position, close your eyes and simply observe your breath. When you are ready, silently repeat these phrases to yourself: “May I be safe”; “May I be happy”; “May I be healthy”; “May I live with ease.” Try five minutes and see what that does for your mood.
2. Enter: Cretin
I often call upon writers to channel their literary heroes for advice and inspiration. But in this case, I ask you to summon up your literary foe. Imagine the writer, or lit-world pest who most sticks in your craw. You are a superhero and you have a super-rival. This is a person who is deeply oblivious to your fabulosity and whom you detest with a passion!
Now, for ten minutes write out a scene in which you hail victorious. It is your moment of glory –– whether you’ve won the Oscar and Hollywood Hackzoid is in the audience to see it, or whatever scene most taps in to your revenge fantasies. Write in detail and fully commit to your victory and to his or her utter humiliation. Sweet, huh?
Okay, you did your Metta meditation, you worked out some of your anger with the above revenge exercise. Now….
3. “Freudian Slip”
Imagine one of your characters is in a foul mood. The mixed up voices in his head are distracting him, and he inadvertently says the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. Now, he’s got to squirm through the awkward explanation of what he meant or deal with the damage he cause or both. He must respond to the tension, conflict or crisis he just unconsciously created. Work on this scene for ten minutes, minimum, and remember what Henry James said: “Readers love to watch characters suffer.” “The Master” was not suggesting that readers are sadistic, merely that they, and we, seek to understand humanness, not the presentation of a story, but the emotional experience of characters who are as real as we are.
It seems incongruous to say it now, but I shall: Peace out!
For more: www.bangthekeys.com
The Bang the Keys Fan Page is Up and Running on Facebook. Ain’t that swell? Take a look-see…
http://www.facebook.com/n/?pages/BANG-THE-KEYS-Four-Steps-to-a-Lifelong-Writing-Practice/74158144403&mid=607472G2ba87a17G18db757G24
I went to hear groovy meditation Goddess Sharon Salzberg (http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/index.htm) teach in Brooklyn recently at Jaya Yoga Center (www.jayayogacenter.com). One of the best parts of the evening was when she led us through a Metta Meditation in which we focused loving energies first on ourselves, and then onto loved ones and mentors and even strangers. Metta is a Sanskrit word for loving-kindness. But in the rough-edged lingo of a classic rock chick from Queens, who called Manhattan home for decades, and now mixes it up in Crooklyn: Give Peace a Chance –– Or Else! Lemme splain:
Like most Native New Yorkers I was raised on two emotions: love and hate. Okay, mostly hate! Back in workin’ class Archie Bunker Queens, we had a lot of nothing and we hated the “haves”. Then I went away to college at SUNY Purchase, a high falutin’ arts school. And now I’m all grown up and living the writer’s life in a beautifully tree-filled parted of New York Cit-ay. I’m surrounded by peace-lovers and yet, I sometimes wish folks would just get their hate on like they did back in my misspent youth.
DR. JEKYLL, I PRESUME?
I sometimes feel like Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (thanks Sean Young!) … by day a nurturing figure of love for the writers who come to me for practical help and much motherly reassurance; by night a writer myself who is as susceptible to the demons of random rage as the next passionate wordsmith. Calgon, take me away! But to where? Where can a person escape the constant pull between the grounded good citizen and the killer inside?
For help with this question I turn to one of my favorite films (based on the spookiest of gothic novels): “The Night of the Hunter.” There’s a great scene where Robert Mitchum as a terrifying preacher/con-man acts out the warring impulses in men’s souls. He wildly demonstrates the pull between God’s Love and the Devil’s Hate –– using his hands, eerily tattooed finger by finger with the words, L-O-V-E and H-A-T-E on each beefy paw.
EXTERNALIZE THE ANGER, LOVEY!
Last week, in the Brooklyn Bang the Keys Workshop, I had a strong feeling that what my groovy students and scribe-mates might need is a red-hot love injection of good old fashioned hate. My instinct was right. As it turned out, folks were in a bit of a funky cold medina state of malaise (apologies, Tone Loc) and were feely unusually dulled and down. Trust me these folks are usually wild and wiley!
The way past that general feeling of low-level depression (“why bother?”, “who’s going to care anyway?” etc.) was by going through some exercises of hate, as a way to exorcise the self-hating feelings common to all writers which have a way of manifesting as apathy and a resistance to the simple act of sitting down and banging those keys.
(Shameless book plug: “Bang the Keys” to be released by Penguin this August! March into your local bookseller and say, “I Want My ‘Bang the Keys’!” And after you receive the proper eye-rolling response, politely ask them to order the book for you and your writer buds.)
TIPS & TOOLS, TOOTS
So, below I share with you some Bang the Keys exercises to help you to love your tortured writer self, and then work through some rage, in an effort to get some words on the page. It worked for this tough but tender group of writers who entered my laboratory as watered down Dr. Jekylls, allowed themselves to be pumped up to energized and mad Dr. Hydes, and left with some sense of how to find what the Buddha called The Middle Path. And you can too, Scribesters!
And if you too distracted to even get to Point A, might I suggest some tips from the latest technology?
www.macfreedom.com -- it will force you to stay offline long enough to write (for a minimum of an hour at a time). And it’s free!
Writeroom: It allows you to write on a black screen with a green blinking cursor –– very helpful for those of us who still wax poetic about the “Wang” computers of the ‘80s, and for anyone who likes to shut off the high tech visual distractions of their computer screen. It’s free for a month and then $24.95 to buy: www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom.
www.joesaidso.com - instead of letting technology glitches and problems overwhelm you and take you away from your work as a writer, go to Joe to get your questions answered, stat! Me loves him.
And if you are still wondering, why bother with a writing “practice” at all, check out David Brooks’ opinion piece in today’s NYTimes: Genius: the Modern View: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/opinion/01brooks.html.
WRITING EXERCISES:
1. Metta
Find a comfortable sitting position, close your eyes and simply observe your breath. When you are ready, silently repeat these phrases to yourself: “May I be safe”; “May I be happy”; “May I be healthy”; “May I live with ease.” Try five minutes and see what that does for your mood.
2. Enter: Cretin
I often call upon writers to channel their literary heroes for advice and inspiration. But in this case, I ask you to summon up your literary foe. Imagine the writer, or lit-world pest who most sticks in your craw. You are a superhero and you have a super-rival. This is a person who is deeply oblivious to your fabulosity and whom you detest with a passion!
Now, for ten minutes write out a scene in which you hail victorious. It is your moment of glory –– whether you’ve won the Oscar and Hollywood Hackzoid is in the audience to see it, or whatever scene most taps in to your revenge fantasies. Write in detail and fully commit to your victory and to his or her utter humiliation. Sweet, huh?
Okay, you did your Metta meditation, you worked out some of your anger with the above revenge exercise. Now….
3. “Freudian Slip”
Imagine one of your characters is in a foul mood. The mixed up voices in his head are distracting him, and he inadvertently says the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. Now, he’s got to squirm through the awkward explanation of what he meant or deal with the damage he cause or both. He must respond to the tension, conflict or crisis he just unconsciously created. Work on this scene for ten minutes, minimum, and remember what Henry James said: “Readers love to watch characters suffer.” “The Master” was not suggesting that readers are sadistic, merely that they, and we, seek to understand humanness, not the presentation of a story, but the emotional experience of characters who are as real as we are.
It seems incongruous to say it now, but I shall: Peace out!
For more: www.bangthekeys.com
The Bang the Keys Fan Page is Up and Running on Facebook. Ain’t that swell? Take a look-see…
http://www.facebook.com/n/?pages/BANG-THE-KEYS-Four-Steps-to-a-Lifelong-Writing-Practice/74158144403&mid=607472G2ba87a17G18db757G24
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Pages Not Promises!
This week I banged out the phrase “PAGES NOT PROMISES!”
Run with it, people. There are enough opportunities to rant and blather (such as my blog!) in our busy 21st Century Universe. But for writers, it’s pages not promises that count.
So why is it so hard for writers to actually get the content of their work down on paper? By content, I DO NOT mean emails, ideas, journal entries, brainstorming sessions, etc. I mean prose (or dialogue if you’re a scriptwriter).
Oftentimes it is because writers are so horrified by how foolish their prose or their plays look when printed out (forgive the alliteration). We want our words to come out polished the first time. Or at least the second or third. Oftentimes it takes much, much longer.
In this weekend’s New York Times Arts & Leisure section, the paper featured a dual interview with actors James Gandolfini and Jeff Daniels who are co-starring (along with Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis) in Yasmina Reza’s Broadway play, God of Carnage. Check out this excerpt:
For awhile, Mr. Gandolfini said, he felt “pretty lost” and made that clear to the others. Finally he said “Jeff said, ‘Look, we’re all going through the same thing. It’s just the way it is. You’ve got to feel like you don’t know what the hell you’re doing for a while. It’s going to settle down. Shut up!’ … in a nice way.”
First of all, who doesn’t love the idea of mild-mannered Jeff Daniels telling tough lug James Gandolfini that basically every one of us is shaking in our boots when we are first making art. Give over to this fact. And shaddup!
Reading this piece reminded me of the Charlie Rose interview with Frank Langella that aired the night before the Oscars. The brilliant Langella was nominated for his completely absorbing portrayal of Richard Nixon. But playing that role was probably a cakewalk compared to how the surly Rose badgered him “at the table”. Basically, Rose wanted to know how Langella “did it.” For much of the interview Langella shares elegant generalities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQJ_1JdTyw
but after these well-chosen words Rose starts hammering the poor guy, demanding he reveal the secret to his performance. Langella keeps saying things like he had to “go deeper” and just keep working hard, but Rose wouldn’t let up. Finally Langella said something to the effect of, “I had to make a fool of myself!” He explained how he showed up on the set, early on, and did a Nixon imitation that sounded like Jimmy Stewart. And it only got worse from there. But eventually, he found his way. And what a beautiful job he did.
Now I seriously doubt any of us couch loving, cookie eating, complaining and uncoiffed writers could have showed the guts Langella did in taking on the role of Nixon, or the guts that Gandolfini has, playing live nightly on B-way with hi-falutin’ actors, after so many years of being only thought of as Tony Soprano. But somehow these guys have the stones to do it. So can’t we be just a little bit brave, fellow key-bangers, and risk making total fools of ourselves in the spirit of creating art that matters, or just simple “entertainments”?
Yes, we can! And here’s how. Try these exercises, and as always, pass ‘em along to your scribey pals. For more: www.bangthekeys.com Good luck, fellow fools!
Exercise #1: Runaway Character
Imagine one of your characters runs away with your story. Example. You know that the young son of your protagonist is going to steal money from another kid. That’s how you’ve seen the story and the character. Well, what if you write a version of the scene in which the kid makes some other choice? Step 10 minutes or write 500 words or a few handwritten pages on this. Really take some risks!
Afterwards write a note to yourself about what you can use from this exercise to help your piece and your process.
Exercise #2: Most embarrassing scene
Write a scene (for your eyes only) that you’d be absolutely horrified to show to someone (pick a specific person) in your life. Example, your spouse would call you a disgusting psycho or your brother would call you a vindictive liar if they read it. You get the idea. Write the scene that you would least like to reveal to a living person, and write it with all you’ve got.
Afterwards, circle or underline the great little nuggets that jump out at you from this perverse little exercise in letting go of your inhibitions!
Let me know how it goes!
Jill “Bang the Keys” Dearman
Run with it, people. There are enough opportunities to rant and blather (such as my blog!) in our busy 21st Century Universe. But for writers, it’s pages not promises that count.
So why is it so hard for writers to actually get the content of their work down on paper? By content, I DO NOT mean emails, ideas, journal entries, brainstorming sessions, etc. I mean prose (or dialogue if you’re a scriptwriter).
Oftentimes it is because writers are so horrified by how foolish their prose or their plays look when printed out (forgive the alliteration). We want our words to come out polished the first time. Or at least the second or third. Oftentimes it takes much, much longer.
In this weekend’s New York Times Arts & Leisure section, the paper featured a dual interview with actors James Gandolfini and Jeff Daniels who are co-starring (along with Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis) in Yasmina Reza’s Broadway play, God of Carnage. Check out this excerpt:
For awhile, Mr. Gandolfini said, he felt “pretty lost” and made that clear to the others. Finally he said “Jeff said, ‘Look, we’re all going through the same thing. It’s just the way it is. You’ve got to feel like you don’t know what the hell you’re doing for a while. It’s going to settle down. Shut up!’ … in a nice way.”
First of all, who doesn’t love the idea of mild-mannered Jeff Daniels telling tough lug James Gandolfini that basically every one of us is shaking in our boots when we are first making art. Give over to this fact. And shaddup!
Reading this piece reminded me of the Charlie Rose interview with Frank Langella that aired the night before the Oscars. The brilliant Langella was nominated for his completely absorbing portrayal of Richard Nixon. But playing that role was probably a cakewalk compared to how the surly Rose badgered him “at the table”. Basically, Rose wanted to know how Langella “did it.” For much of the interview Langella shares elegant generalities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQJ_1JdTyw
but after these well-chosen words Rose starts hammering the poor guy, demanding he reveal the secret to his performance. Langella keeps saying things like he had to “go deeper” and just keep working hard, but Rose wouldn’t let up. Finally Langella said something to the effect of, “I had to make a fool of myself!” He explained how he showed up on the set, early on, and did a Nixon imitation that sounded like Jimmy Stewart. And it only got worse from there. But eventually, he found his way. And what a beautiful job he did.
Now I seriously doubt any of us couch loving, cookie eating, complaining and uncoiffed writers could have showed the guts Langella did in taking on the role of Nixon, or the guts that Gandolfini has, playing live nightly on B-way with hi-falutin’ actors, after so many years of being only thought of as Tony Soprano. But somehow these guys have the stones to do it. So can’t we be just a little bit brave, fellow key-bangers, and risk making total fools of ourselves in the spirit of creating art that matters, or just simple “entertainments”?
Yes, we can! And here’s how. Try these exercises, and as always, pass ‘em along to your scribey pals. For more: www.bangthekeys.com Good luck, fellow fools!
Exercise #1: Runaway Character
Imagine one of your characters runs away with your story. Example. You know that the young son of your protagonist is going to steal money from another kid. That’s how you’ve seen the story and the character. Well, what if you write a version of the scene in which the kid makes some other choice? Step 10 minutes or write 500 words or a few handwritten pages on this. Really take some risks!
Afterwards write a note to yourself about what you can use from this exercise to help your piece and your process.
Exercise #2: Most embarrassing scene
Write a scene (for your eyes only) that you’d be absolutely horrified to show to someone (pick a specific person) in your life. Example, your spouse would call you a disgusting psycho or your brother would call you a vindictive liar if they read it. You get the idea. Write the scene that you would least like to reveal to a living person, and write it with all you’ve got.
Afterwards, circle or underline the great little nuggets that jump out at you from this perverse little exercise in letting go of your inhibitions!
Let me know how it goes!
Jill “Bang the Keys” Dearman
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Writing Exercise for Rashomon, Citizen Kane Fans
We are all the heroes of our own journeys, but we are all stuck in our own points of view too. (Deep, huh)? Before I pontificate madly, let me just offer up a quickfire writing challenge to those of you who may feel too attached to your particular story to see it clearly.
1. In a sentence or 2 or 3 if need be write out the story of your
whole piece (very concrete in terms of narrative): "This is the story
of a man who gets fired from his banking job and decides to take a
trip cross country to visit his brother ..."
that kinda thing.
2. Now imagine someone you respect, but who looks at life, writing, etc.
very differently than you. And imagine their voice describing your
story, but giving their unique perspective. Then write in their voice,
"This is the story of ..."
3. Do it again w/other person.
4. Do it again (thanks Steely Dan), but this time imagining someone who could really blow your mind, a real contrarian who is bound to have a very different take on
your story.
Please note: if you are basically saying the same thing in different ways,
stretch a little. Really aim to pull out different perspectives (a la
Rashoman, Citizen Kane) on the same story.
Then next to #s 2, 3, 4 right a quick note to yourself -- a word, no
more than a sentence in which you can then apply this person's notes
later. Example "Explore revenge theme."
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
And if you want to mainline some inspiration, rent Rashomon & Citizen Kane... NOW. (Netflix be warned).
--Jill Dearman,
writing coach, editor, author, film lover and so many other identities too, why just like you, you and you!
www.bangthekeys.com
1. In a sentence or 2 or 3 if need be write out the story of your
whole piece (very concrete in terms of narrative): "This is the story
of a man who gets fired from his banking job and decides to take a
trip cross country to visit his brother ..."
that kinda thing.
2. Now imagine someone you respect, but who looks at life, writing, etc.
very differently than you. And imagine their voice describing your
story, but giving their unique perspective. Then write in their voice,
"This is the story of ..."
3. Do it again w/other person.
4. Do it again (thanks Steely Dan), but this time imagining someone who could really blow your mind, a real contrarian who is bound to have a very different take on
your story.
Please note: if you are basically saying the same thing in different ways,
stretch a little. Really aim to pull out different perspectives (a la
Rashoman, Citizen Kane) on the same story.
Then next to #s 2, 3, 4 right a quick note to yourself -- a word, no
more than a sentence in which you can then apply this person's notes
later. Example "Explore revenge theme."
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
And if you want to mainline some inspiration, rent Rashomon & Citizen Kane... NOW. (Netflix be warned).
--Jill Dearman,
writing coach, editor, author, film lover and so many other identities too, why just like you, you and you!
www.bangthekeys.com
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Captain’s Log …I Mean … Writing Coach’s Blog / January 27, 2009
GET PHYSICAL, MATEY!
This morning I felt the storm brewing … in my knee. Yes, I was once a sea-faring scoundrel, seeking out rum and no good pirating crimes on the ocean waves with fellow scalawags. Well, actually, I guess as a land-bound New Yorker that’s not exactly true. But, I did feel some sort of pressure in my knee this morning and it did give me a visceral sense of wet weather headed this way. And this strange ache in my knee drew me instantly to the page. Like many of you, and many of my writing clients, I have moments these days when it is very hard to sit down and write. There is so much to worry about in this world; the times are very precarious and everyone’s a little on edge, even with the big O (not Oprah, the other O) in office. But somehow, I have found, to focus on the physical world (starting with one’s own body, and then spreading out to the world beyond), is very grounding and productive, for writers. It’s very mood-elevating too in these worrisome times. There is so much we don’t have control over, but we can control this … (read on, mates):
1. Take 20 minutes, as soon as possible …TODAY to sit down and write.
2. First Five minutes: Focus on the physical. What part of your body is “speaking” to you? See if you can describe the physical sensations in as much detail as possible. One paragraph that encapsulates the tangible experience.
3. Next fifteen minutes: Use what you just wrote as a jumping off point or “way in” to a scene in your current writing project. If you are stuck, then start something new; the only requirement is to find some sort of link between what you just wrote and the new piece you are beginning.
4. Pass this along to someone you know. I am a writer myself, I coach, teach and edit writers and I know what a tortured bunch this clan seems to be! You will be doing a great mitzvah (good deed, dudes) if you help a stuck, surly or bored writer to get out of his/her head and onto the page…through the body.
Keep on trekkin’!
And let me know how it goes.
--Jill “Bang the Keys” Dearman.
www.bangthekeys.com
This morning I felt the storm brewing … in my knee. Yes, I was once a sea-faring scoundrel, seeking out rum and no good pirating crimes on the ocean waves with fellow scalawags. Well, actually, I guess as a land-bound New Yorker that’s not exactly true. But, I did feel some sort of pressure in my knee this morning and it did give me a visceral sense of wet weather headed this way. And this strange ache in my knee drew me instantly to the page. Like many of you, and many of my writing clients, I have moments these days when it is very hard to sit down and write. There is so much to worry about in this world; the times are very precarious and everyone’s a little on edge, even with the big O (not Oprah, the other O) in office. But somehow, I have found, to focus on the physical world (starting with one’s own body, and then spreading out to the world beyond), is very grounding and productive, for writers. It’s very mood-elevating too in these worrisome times. There is so much we don’t have control over, but we can control this … (read on, mates):
1. Take 20 minutes, as soon as possible …TODAY to sit down and write.
2. First Five minutes: Focus on the physical. What part of your body is “speaking” to you? See if you can describe the physical sensations in as much detail as possible. One paragraph that encapsulates the tangible experience.
3. Next fifteen minutes: Use what you just wrote as a jumping off point or “way in” to a scene in your current writing project. If you are stuck, then start something new; the only requirement is to find some sort of link between what you just wrote and the new piece you are beginning.
4. Pass this along to someone you know. I am a writer myself, I coach, teach and edit writers and I know what a tortured bunch this clan seems to be! You will be doing a great mitzvah (good deed, dudes) if you help a stuck, surly or bored writer to get out of his/her head and onto the page…through the body.
Keep on trekkin’!
And let me know how it goes.
--Jill “Bang the Keys” Dearman.
www.bangthekeys.com
Thursday, January 1, 2009
1st Writing Exercises & Wkshps for the NewYr (and Kiss My Grits)!
Happy New Year!
Still emotionally hungover from last year? I feel you; yet as 2009 begins, I am at a loss for deep thoughts for you. It’s the recession, doll, and even the Dali Lama (I’ll bet!) is secretly thinking, “This economy is bumming me out!” And so, dear ones, although I am reading Orwell, along with the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is actually an episode from my sitcom-filled ‘70s childhood that I share with you today, for its wisdom and concrete help.
Quick Preview First …
As I connected with friends and family over the holidays I was struck by two realizations:
1. We are all feeling a little exhausted from what was a very trying 2008; the good news is: there is a feeling of compassion in the air. Look around. Everyone is suffering or worrying in some way, so at least we can meet each other’s eyes (or ck each other’s updates!) and know we are not alone.
2. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could walk in each other’s boots for awhile?
If I could give a depressed friend my sense of initiative and optimism I would. Accessing those qualities is easy for me. What I have trouble with is containing my emotions. Oh how I’d love it if a cool-headed pal could give me some Obama-esque evenness just when I’m about to panic. (New York Jews, I know you relate to the hysteria of which I speak). We don’t choose our natures, and tolerating our own emotional challenges (and each other’s) is a daily test of compassion.
Okay, all that feeling is so 2008. Let’s get practical. My vice is dark chocolate (70 –85 % cocoa content). I have friends whose vices include online shopping, procrastinating, and good wine. (And good whine too, now that I think of it).
While ruminating on my own circle of peeps, a microchosm of humanity … I thought of an episode from “Alice” – the late ‘70s sitcom about the single mom waitress, based on the 1974 Scorsese movie, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” The TV show, of course, was best known for sassy waitress Flo’s frequent retort, “Kiss my grits.” The episode I remembered was called “Block those Kicks” and focused on (Diner Proprietor) Mel’s efforts to kick his gambling habit. The girls (waitresses Alice, Flo and ditzy Vera) decide to help the big lug by giving up their vices (chocolate, coffee and tobacco, respectively) in a show of support … for 48 hours. Need I tell you that hijinks ensue?
My book, Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice, comes out with Penguin this summer. But who can wait that long?? In the meantime:
FIRST WRITING (AND LIFE!) EXERCISE FOR 2009:
If you’re a writer, this should be easy and fun (oh, wait, I forgot you are a writer and are tortured!!):
1. Take a handful of your characters and explore their vices. My recommendation is to write a scene in which your gambler, womanizer, self-mutilator, etc. actually is immersed in his vice, so we can see it, feel it, experience it with him. Try 500 words to start. But if it’s too hard to get there right away, try just free-writing (5 minutes, without stopping, completely uncensored) about this character and his vice, in a free-associative way. Do this for a 2nd character, then a 3rd then a 4th.
2. Next: switch your characters’ vices. Imagine your rigid, uptight planner now suffers from extreme naivete, or cocaine addiction, or foot-in-mouth syndrome. Try the above exercise with this new vice. Then give your 2nd character a different vice, and your 3rd, and your 4th. Put them in a room together; see what happens.
If you are just starting out and don’t know where to begin, begin with a character’s compulsion and see where it takes you. If you are far along in your writing, but are experiencing the “So-what blues” then give your characters a vice that you can relate to or that you have observed in a friend, or one you can vividly imagine.
Since writing and real life overlap a great deal in my world, let me add this: as an exercise in empathy and generosity, offer up some support to a friend struggling with a particular monkey-on-the-back, and ask for support with yours. And if you have to start gambling (like a buddy) in order to kick your own caffeine habit (or vice versa) …so be it! And I swear to you, I will discover the Dali Lama’s vice … if it takes me all of 2009! And now …
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2009 to get some writing done? Then read on, and don’t weep …
WRITING WORKSHOPS FOR THE NEW YEAR:
Limited space, SIGN UP NOW.
Create A Writing Practice That Will Last A Lifetime.
My Manhattan "BANG THE KEYS" writing workshop runs Tues nights
Jan 20, 27, Feb 3, 10, 17 & 24
6:30 to 8:30 on W. 43rd St near 8th Ave. $250
I’ll also be doing a Wed night wkshp in Brooklyn:
Jan 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 6-8pm. $250
Payment plans possible for this crap-pay economy.
Write to JillDearman@gmail.com / or leave msg at 212.841.0177 now to reserve your spot.
To get a sense of how I work check out my Writer Magazine article, "Which Type of Writer are YOU?" www.jilldearman.com/JillWriterMagNov07.pdf
And see my website for client endorsements: www.jilldearman.com/services.html
The Workshop:
As a bon vivant New Yorker do you find it hard to say no to cocktails at five and yes to sitting down to write a thousand words? This workshop is just as lively and intoxicating as a drunken brouhaha but without the maudlin regrets.
In this workshop you will:
•Set a writing goal (with deadline!) and meet it.
•Structure your time so that you actually keep your fabulous NY life (well most of it) AND get some writing done.
•Develop tools that will help you to independently continue your writing practice.
• Develop methods for writing regularly and productively rather than just when the muse strikes.
• Connect with supportive and dedicated fellow writers
Say yes to your writing and no to distractions and defeatist thinking…or shut up already!
Please feel free to pass along to any scribes in your circle of friends, colleagues and co-conspirators. (FYI, as a private writing coach I see a limited number of folks in Brooklyn and Manhattan and have many private phone clients outside of NYC. Write to me and we can figure out a strategy for you to kick your blocks in ’09. Pls. Forward this note, or link to my blog to your writerly pals): www.jilldearman.blogspot.com
I can be reached for all questions at jilldearman@gmail.com
My website is www.bangthekeys.com
And now, what you’ve been waiting for:
THERE’S A NEW GIRL IN TOWN AND SHE’S…LOOKING GOOD!
A taste of the “Alice” episode in question:
Flo: Well, all right, I'll go along, Mel. I'm willing to give up the thing that means most to me.
Mel: That's bad news for half of the guys in Phoenix.
Flo: I was talkin' about coffee!
“Alice” sitcom theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=423L76rzui8
and by the way. Anyone who knows George Russell … chiropractor, and fellow bon vivant, it’s hard not to think of him when watching that vid.
Happy New Year!
Still emotionally hungover from last year? I feel you; yet as 2009 begins, I am at a loss for deep thoughts for you. It’s the recession, doll, and even the Dali Lama (I’ll bet!) is secretly thinking, “This economy is bumming me out!” And so, dear ones, although I am reading Orwell, along with the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it is actually an episode from my sitcom-filled ‘70s childhood that I share with you today, for its wisdom and concrete help.
Quick Preview First …
As I connected with friends and family over the holidays I was struck by two realizations:
1. We are all feeling a little exhausted from what was a very trying 2008; the good news is: there is a feeling of compassion in the air. Look around. Everyone is suffering or worrying in some way, so at least we can meet each other’s eyes (or ck each other’s updates!) and know we are not alone.
2. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could walk in each other’s boots for awhile?
If I could give a depressed friend my sense of initiative and optimism I would. Accessing those qualities is easy for me. What I have trouble with is containing my emotions. Oh how I’d love it if a cool-headed pal could give me some Obama-esque evenness just when I’m about to panic. (New York Jews, I know you relate to the hysteria of which I speak). We don’t choose our natures, and tolerating our own emotional challenges (and each other’s) is a daily test of compassion.
Okay, all that feeling is so 2008. Let’s get practical. My vice is dark chocolate (70 –85 % cocoa content). I have friends whose vices include online shopping, procrastinating, and good wine. (And good whine too, now that I think of it).
While ruminating on my own circle of peeps, a microchosm of humanity … I thought of an episode from “Alice” – the late ‘70s sitcom about the single mom waitress, based on the 1974 Scorsese movie, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” The TV show, of course, was best known for sassy waitress Flo’s frequent retort, “Kiss my grits.” The episode I remembered was called “Block those Kicks” and focused on (Diner Proprietor) Mel’s efforts to kick his gambling habit. The girls (waitresses Alice, Flo and ditzy Vera) decide to help the big lug by giving up their vices (chocolate, coffee and tobacco, respectively) in a show of support … for 48 hours. Need I tell you that hijinks ensue?
My book, Bang the Keys: Four Steps to a Lifelong Writing Practice, comes out with Penguin this summer. But who can wait that long?? In the meantime:
FIRST WRITING (AND LIFE!) EXERCISE FOR 2009:
If you’re a writer, this should be easy and fun (oh, wait, I forgot you are a writer and are tortured!!):
1. Take a handful of your characters and explore their vices. My recommendation is to write a scene in which your gambler, womanizer, self-mutilator, etc. actually is immersed in his vice, so we can see it, feel it, experience it with him. Try 500 words to start. But if it’s too hard to get there right away, try just free-writing (5 minutes, without stopping, completely uncensored) about this character and his vice, in a free-associative way. Do this for a 2nd character, then a 3rd then a 4th.
2. Next: switch your characters’ vices. Imagine your rigid, uptight planner now suffers from extreme naivete, or cocaine addiction, or foot-in-mouth syndrome. Try the above exercise with this new vice. Then give your 2nd character a different vice, and your 3rd, and your 4th. Put them in a room together; see what happens.
If you are just starting out and don’t know where to begin, begin with a character’s compulsion and see where it takes you. If you are far along in your writing, but are experiencing the “So-what blues” then give your characters a vice that you can relate to or that you have observed in a friend, or one you can vividly imagine.
Since writing and real life overlap a great deal in my world, let me add this: as an exercise in empathy and generosity, offer up some support to a friend struggling with a particular monkey-on-the-back, and ask for support with yours. And if you have to start gambling (like a buddy) in order to kick your own caffeine habit (or vice versa) …so be it! And I swear to you, I will discover the Dali Lama’s vice … if it takes me all of 2009! And now …
Is one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2009 to get some writing done? Then read on, and don’t weep …
WRITING WORKSHOPS FOR THE NEW YEAR:
Limited space, SIGN UP NOW.
Create A Writing Practice That Will Last A Lifetime.
My Manhattan "BANG THE KEYS" writing workshop runs Tues nights
Jan 20, 27, Feb 3, 10, 17 & 24
6:30 to 8:30 on W. 43rd St near 8th Ave. $250
I’ll also be doing a Wed night wkshp in Brooklyn:
Jan 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 6-8pm. $250
Payment plans possible for this crap-pay economy.
Write to JillDearman@gmail.com / or leave msg at 212.841.0177 now to reserve your spot.
To get a sense of how I work check out my Writer Magazine article, "Which Type of Writer are YOU?" www.jilldearman.com/JillWriterMagNov07.pdf
And see my website for client endorsements: www.jilldearman.com/services.html
The Workshop:
As a bon vivant New Yorker do you find it hard to say no to cocktails at five and yes to sitting down to write a thousand words? This workshop is just as lively and intoxicating as a drunken brouhaha but without the maudlin regrets.
In this workshop you will:
•Set a writing goal (with deadline!) and meet it.
•Structure your time so that you actually keep your fabulous NY life (well most of it) AND get some writing done.
•Develop tools that will help you to independently continue your writing practice.
• Develop methods for writing regularly and productively rather than just when the muse strikes.
• Connect with supportive and dedicated fellow writers
Say yes to your writing and no to distractions and defeatist thinking…or shut up already!
Please feel free to pass along to any scribes in your circle of friends, colleagues and co-conspirators. (FYI, as a private writing coach I see a limited number of folks in Brooklyn and Manhattan and have many private phone clients outside of NYC. Write to me and we can figure out a strategy for you to kick your blocks in ’09. Pls. Forward this note, or link to my blog to your writerly pals): www.jilldearman.blogspot.com
I can be reached for all questions at jilldearman@gmail.com
My website is www.bangthekeys.com
And now, what you’ve been waiting for:
THERE’S A NEW GIRL IN TOWN AND SHE’S…LOOKING GOOD!
A taste of the “Alice” episode in question:
Flo: Well, all right, I'll go along, Mel. I'm willing to give up the thing that means most to me.
Mel: That's bad news for half of the guys in Phoenix.
Flo: I was talkin' about coffee!
“Alice” sitcom theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=423L76rzui8
and by the way. Anyone who knows George Russell … chiropractor, and fellow bon vivant, it’s hard not to think of him when watching that vid.
Happy New Year!
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