Castles in the Air - Continuing to Write
by K. Allen McNamara
Last week this blog presented some very harsh figures regarding writing as a profession; in fact it painted a very dire state of the Writer as that of the quintessential ‘starving artist’. From its cited data, you could almost conjure the Writer as a figure living on gruel in a cold garret writing with fingerless gloves and warming those bony fingers over the flame of a candle as the wind howled outside.
But in Boston, May 5-7th saw a gathering - a literal fervor generated by: Writers (those published or about to be), Writers (those writing in stolen blocks of time from their day jobs, night jobs, and 24/7 roles), agents, editors, speakers, and writing instructors all at GrubStreet’s Muse in the Marketplace . For some this was their first writing conference (they picked a good one) and for others it was their 2nd, 5th, or 10th Muse.
Were these attendees merely building castles in the air or tilting at windmills? Given the stark figures and the odds of your novel “making it” to the publishing world or even being read and received by an audience you would expect a resounding yes.
But being a Writer is so much more than figures and dollar signs. Being a writer for many is a compulsion. The theme of this year’s conference: What’s a Writer For? sought to address this. The Answer or rather Answers were threads clearly woven throughout the workshops and events of Muse 2017 with thought provoking discussions, active engagement and motivational speeches.
We are all wired for story whether we want to admit it or not. Why else do we want to know the story behind a product, a restaurant, a neighborhood before we purchase, eat at, or set up a home? Stories connect us to objects, to settings, and to people. They elicit responses from us: nostalgia, anger, superiority (when you solve that mystery before the detective), and empathy. They can give us knowledge (history, science and math) in palatable chunks. And because we are wired for stories in our everyday conversations and encounters, as Writers, we are completely enamored with and addicted to writing.
Writers came to Muse seeking inspiration; they also came because they are by nature a hopeful lot (you have to be hopeful to get up everyday and put words on a page or a screen or the back of a receipt). To have passion even when it may not go anywhere. That is Hope.
Interestingly, both Muse and Hope stem from Ancient Greece: the Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who were the protectors of arts and science; Hope was what was left after Pandora opened her jar. Do you see the correlation?
Despite the information or the odds most likely not being in their favor, the Muse attendees came with notebooks and laptops to learn, to understand a bit more about their craft, and to walk away inspired. Muse 2017 did not disappoint.
What did they learn? What inspired them? Follow on Twitter the tweets #Muse17 @GrubWriters and you can trace the pinpoints on the map of the terrain they explored.
New this year were the various tracks of workshops you could follow to get the most of what you were seeking from Muse.
As an attendee, I was thrilled to find out how I truly write and think after taking Microhistories: Writing Deeply About Narrow Subjects with Kim Adrian. Another fellow blogger took Annie Hartnett’s Writing Without Fear: How to Break Through Your Own Barriers and Be a Literary Badass and left equally enthused. Another took part in manuscript mart and hailed the agent she met with as being very encouraging and found the agent's criticism to be constructive and insightful. Other workshops of note (there were many, listed here are but a few):
this year featured a track devoted to Writers of Color with its workshops on Beyond Almond Eyes and Chocolate Skin, by Sonya Larson and Cynthia Gunadi Race & Identity in Fiction and NonFiction by David Mura and more.
Considerations for Writing LGBTQ Characters and Content, by Kelly J. Ford, Jennie Wood and Chris Goodwin
The Clock, by Laura van den Berg
10 Rules for Writing Historical Fiction, by Crystal King
Going Public: An Honest Conversation About Publishing Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich and Mike Scalise
The information reported regarding the odds of becoming a published writer and making enough money to support your passion were real. But, fellow Writers take heart, because despite these statistics or may be because of them, there are studies which show the life of the book beyond the digital screen and there are also noteworthy studies done on how books teach empathy.
And here’s another interesting fact at Thesarus.com both Muse and Hope file “castles in the air” as possible synonyms under the definitions of each as verb as in to dream - or in writer-speak: to yearn. Follow your yearn, keep writing.
