The first creative writing class I ever took was back in the 90s. I’d been living in Chicago and was back home in San Diego visiting. My friend Karin invited me to join her at a writing class at a place called The Writing Center in the part of downtown that was long ago Chinatown, and still a little sketchy. The teacher, Judy Reeves, doled out writing prompts like hors d’ouvres at a cocktail party. The format was simple: Judy shared a writing prompt, set the timer, and we wrote. Furiously. It’s like we were all drunk on the creativity that was in the air. I was terrified. Sure, I’d been writing, but I wasn’t a WRITER. Everyone else in the group, however– well they just blew me away with their talent. For one prompt, Judy asked us each to write down a secret–fact or fiction and place it in the basket. Then we each drew one. I don’t remember what secret I shared, only the one I got: “She slept naked.” I was surprised and pleased with what I wrote (It’s probably in a notebook in a box in my basement). One woman, however astounded me. For some reason I am remembering her name as Mimette. She pulled the secret “He had webbed hands.” While the timer ticked away, Mimette wrote a complete story (with a beginning, a middle and an end) about a man who had become a monk so he could hide his webbed hands in his long-sleeved cassock.
It would be a long time before I called myself a writer… even though at every job I’ve ever held I was the one to do all the writing: sales letters, policy handbooks, blog posts, technical articles… Identifying as a writer would come slowly, over time, and with the encouragement and mentorship of people like Judy Reeves (and many others–stay tuned for future blog posts on memorable teachers I’ve had over the years).
In about 2005 I had been taking classes and then joined Judy’s Read & Critique group. That regular workshop experience is where I began to claim Writer as my title… and then it was off to grad school for my MFA in creative writing and the rest is history!
Some things I learned from Judy:
- Community matters. Writing can be lonely and having a community to support you is invaluable–even it is just people you hang out and write with, in silence.
- A writer is a person who writes. It’s a way to process and memorialize experiences, it’s journaling and story making and poetic musings. It’s a lifestyle, a way of being in the world. It’s not about how much you’re published.
- Writing in groups is fun.
- Writing to a timer forces you out of your head and onto the page and you’ll surprise yourself by how much you can write in a very short amount of time… and you’ll get better at it the more you do it.
These are some of the philosophies we’ve incorporated into Plume. For that reason (and because Judy is amazing) we’re excited to feature Judy Reeves for August and include her letter and work in the September edition of Plume.
Make sure you get the edition featuring Judy– you can “subscribe” and support Plume at the same time by contributing to our Kickstarter which ends on Thursday, August 9 at 8 am Mountain Time.
If you miss that deadline, sign up for our email so you’ll know about ways to buy an edition of Plume before the next deadline!
And if you miss THAT deadline, we’ll be featuring more amazing women writers each month!