2008 Woodie Awards
Writers' Words of Wisdom
Shoshana Flax
Issue date: 12/10/03 Section: Features
"I'm writing all the time. Sometimes it's sick!" Assistant Professor of English Jonathan David Jackson told a gathering of about forty Goucher students, faculty and staff members on November 18, in the Julia Rogers Library's Soper Room/Word for Word space.
Jackson, a 1992 graduate of Goucher and a Pushcart prize-winning poet, was one of three panelists discussing "Writing in the Real World." J. Bowers '02 shared her experiences as a freelance writer and art critic for Citypaper while working for the Goucher Office of Communications. David Spencer '03 talked about his ongoing writing process; his first novel, How I Became a Fisherman Named Pete, was published last year.
The sponsor of the event was Word for Word, which aims to provide resources for writers at Goucher. The panel was the brainchild of Caitlin Corrigan '04, Word for Word's student coordinator.
She recounts that she devised the idea "in part from purely selfish motives--I'm a graduating senior this year with a lot of questions about what Goucher grads have done with their writing post-college!"
"But also," she adds, "in fulfilling the original goals of the Word for Word initiative, I'm trying to provide more opportunities for the Goucher community to interact with a greater literary context, and an alumni panel seemed like it would fulfill this aim."
The discussion was mostly question-driven, and the questions went in a variety of directions. First, Spencer was asked to talk about his novel. Its main character, he explained, thinks the police are chasing him, and flees to the Eastern Shore, where he meets a variety of characters who take advantage of him. "He eventually becomes a fisherman named Pete."
The book was once "just something I started on a legal pad," Spencer related. At around the age of twenty-one, a period of working with several characters led him to the decision to write a book.
Spencer went to a community college, and then heard from a college representative that two Goucher students, Jenn Crowell and John McManus, had recently had books published while at Goucher.
"They were handing out book contracts at Goucher... you were pretty much guaranteed one." Spencer came to Goucher and worked on How I Became a Fisherman Named Pete under the guidance of Madison Smartt Bell, English Professor and head of the Kratz Center for Creative Writing.
After Spencer had shared this experience, Jackson said, "How many of you are in a rush to get published? You have time. The most important thing is the work itself."
Bowers concurred. "It's important to keep a separation between your publishing self and your writing self."
Writing while working nine to five is a challenge, Bowers continued. "It really comes down to prioritizing, looking at life and saying, what's most important to me? If you want to be a writer, you have to put that at the top of the list." She described her annoyance at anything that takes her away from writing, which she feels is the "real work."
Spencer dubbed himself a "hermit" in terms of showing his writing to others. He has only shown his new manuscript to his editor.
"When I'm finished, I think I'll be more open and show it to my girlfriend." He adds that he and his girlfriend met in a Goucher writing workshop, in which she hated everything he wrote.
"I quit writing the other night," Spencer recounted, relating an episode of frustration with his novel. The next morning, he continued, he picked his notes out of the trash, brushed off the tuna fish, and went back to writing. "I can't stop thinking about it, so I'm screwed."
"Caitlin Corrigan really did a marvelous job organizing this event," Jackson comments. "Jess Bowers, with her elegant, smart, classy self and David, with his sharp, warm intellect-- well, they were just great and so clear in their answers to questions."
"As for me," Jackson adds, "well, I can't help but be my own damn self. I hope, like a Glad bag, that I was of some use."
"Discussing writing and publishing is a very delicate thing," Spencer adds. "There is a responsibility to keep students aware of the unattractive realities of trying to become a published writer, but, at the same time, there is an even greater responsibility to not discourage or be destructive to someone else's dreams."
"At Word for Word, I just shared the habits and discipline that seems to be helping me write and stay excited about writing. I just hope that Goucher writing students understand that publishing their work should not be the measure with which they distinguish success from failure. Publishing is concerned with marketability, data, overhead costs, packaging, and money: these things have very little to do with storytelling."
"It's really great to see students getting involved in the Kratz Center through Word For Word, and I think it's awesome that the Kratz finally has a physical home in the Soper Room," says Bowers.
She adds, "I was interested to hear what the students wanted to know about creative writing after college. Many of the questions that they asked were things that I wondered about myself, before I graduated from Goucher. I think I would have benefited from an event like this when I was an undergrad."
"I was really pleased with the turnout," Corrigan remarks. "I think it went very well overall. It's heartening to see so many students interested in establishing this kind of conversation about writing and craft, and then to hear from people who are actively pursuing their creative discipline. For me at least, the discussion was inspiring, refreshing, and very down-to-earth."
Jackson, a 1992 graduate of Goucher and a Pushcart prize-winning poet, was one of three panelists discussing "Writing in the Real World." J. Bowers '02 shared her experiences as a freelance writer and art critic for Citypaper while working for the Goucher Office of Communications. David Spencer '03 talked about his ongoing writing process; his first novel, How I Became a Fisherman Named Pete, was published last year.
The sponsor of the event was Word for Word, which aims to provide resources for writers at Goucher. The panel was the brainchild of Caitlin Corrigan '04, Word for Word's student coordinator.
She recounts that she devised the idea "in part from purely selfish motives--I'm a graduating senior this year with a lot of questions about what Goucher grads have done with their writing post-college!"
"But also," she adds, "in fulfilling the original goals of the Word for Word initiative, I'm trying to provide more opportunities for the Goucher community to interact with a greater literary context, and an alumni panel seemed like it would fulfill this aim."
The discussion was mostly question-driven, and the questions went in a variety of directions. First, Spencer was asked to talk about his novel. Its main character, he explained, thinks the police are chasing him, and flees to the Eastern Shore, where he meets a variety of characters who take advantage of him. "He eventually becomes a fisherman named Pete."
The book was once "just something I started on a legal pad," Spencer related. At around the age of twenty-one, a period of working with several characters led him to the decision to write a book.
Spencer went to a community college, and then heard from a college representative that two Goucher students, Jenn Crowell and John McManus, had recently had books published while at Goucher.
"They were handing out book contracts at Goucher... you were pretty much guaranteed one." Spencer came to Goucher and worked on How I Became a Fisherman Named Pete under the guidance of Madison Smartt Bell, English Professor and head of the Kratz Center for Creative Writing.
After Spencer had shared this experience, Jackson said, "How many of you are in a rush to get published? You have time. The most important thing is the work itself."
Bowers concurred. "It's important to keep a separation between your publishing self and your writing self."
Writing while working nine to five is a challenge, Bowers continued. "It really comes down to prioritizing, looking at life and saying, what's most important to me? If you want to be a writer, you have to put that at the top of the list." She described her annoyance at anything that takes her away from writing, which she feels is the "real work."
Spencer dubbed himself a "hermit" in terms of showing his writing to others. He has only shown his new manuscript to his editor.
"When I'm finished, I think I'll be more open and show it to my girlfriend." He adds that he and his girlfriend met in a Goucher writing workshop, in which she hated everything he wrote.
"I quit writing the other night," Spencer recounted, relating an episode of frustration with his novel. The next morning, he continued, he picked his notes out of the trash, brushed off the tuna fish, and went back to writing. "I can't stop thinking about it, so I'm screwed."
"Caitlin Corrigan really did a marvelous job organizing this event," Jackson comments. "Jess Bowers, with her elegant, smart, classy self and David, with his sharp, warm intellect-- well, they were just great and so clear in their answers to questions."
"As for me," Jackson adds, "well, I can't help but be my own damn self. I hope, like a Glad bag, that I was of some use."
"Discussing writing and publishing is a very delicate thing," Spencer adds. "There is a responsibility to keep students aware of the unattractive realities of trying to become a published writer, but, at the same time, there is an even greater responsibility to not discourage or be destructive to someone else's dreams."
"At Word for Word, I just shared the habits and discipline that seems to be helping me write and stay excited about writing. I just hope that Goucher writing students understand that publishing their work should not be the measure with which they distinguish success from failure. Publishing is concerned with marketability, data, overhead costs, packaging, and money: these things have very little to do with storytelling."
"It's really great to see students getting involved in the Kratz Center through Word For Word, and I think it's awesome that the Kratz finally has a physical home in the Soper Room," says Bowers.
She adds, "I was interested to hear what the students wanted to know about creative writing after college. Many of the questions that they asked were things that I wondered about myself, before I graduated from Goucher. I think I would have benefited from an event like this when I was an undergrad."
"I was really pleased with the turnout," Corrigan remarks. "I think it went very well overall. It's heartening to see so many students interested in establishing this kind of conversation about writing and craft, and then to hear from people who are actively pursuing their creative discipline. For me at least, the discussion was inspiring, refreshing, and very down-to-earth."