"she opened her book and her box of tools"

[omnia_mutantur]

So....writing group. 

Last semester, I took a class about memoir writing.  It turned out to be a fairly interesting class, I produced a lot more writing than I otherwise would have.  This semester, the class is going to continue to meet, sans professor, to write and read each other's writing and comment.  I liked producing text, I liked getting positive feedback, I liked some of the other writers' writing.  But it's also exhausting, exhausting to have to interact with people I don't like, exhausting to try to figure out how to behave, exhausting to have this sort of intimacy with strangers I haven't chosen, and in many cases, wouldn't choose.  And my desire to be liked, even by people I don't like, doesn't please me at all.  And I'm not writing a memoir, I don't know how.  I can come up with these little segments, but I don't know how to write a book, I don't know if I should try.   I don't know if I want to.

If I agree to do this, I won't be able to take any classes, and this is hopefully my last semester working for the Beast and so my last semester with access to the sweet sweet benefit of extension school classes.  My first choice of classes, Bridges to JustPeace: Understanding Fragmentation and Building Coalitions for a Just and Peaceful Future, was canceled   My second choice would be Chocolate, Culture, and the Politics of Food with the charming description of  "This course examines the sociohistorical legacy of chocolate, with a delicious emphasis on the eating and appreciation of the so-called food of the gods. Interdisciplinary course readings introduce the history of cacao cultivation, the present day state of the global chocolate industry, the diverse cultural constructions surrounding chocolate, and the implications for chocolate's future of scientific study, international politics, alternative trade models, and the food movement. Assignments address pressing real-world questions related to chocolate consumption, social justice, responsible development, honesty and the politics of representation in production and marketing, hierarchies of quality, and myths of purity."

I can't do both.   Wednesday is the day the group meets, wednesday is the only day I can take classes.  

Gah.

 

Comments

[cactus_rs]

I think there is value in being selective when it comes to who you socialize with (and also who you share your creative work with). Could you just contact the people from the memoir class you do like to ask them to for their input on your continued writing? That way you're not chained to people you don't like or a genre you feel like you want to explore.

[existsensualist]

I don't know what role the professor played in your writing group, but without the professor, how great are the chances of jerkburgers taking over? Even with an authority figure who doesn't exert the authority all the time, there's still the *feeling* of someone being in charge and facilitating. Who will facilitate now? That would definitely concern me, especially if there are people I don't like in the group.

The chocolate class sounds amazing. I'm sad the other one was canceled--it sounded well timed.

[justbeast]

So, my first thought was - go with the writing group. The chocolate class sounds great, but you can get that info from books.

But on reading this again, I'm thinking -- you're right, if this is the last class you're gonna take for a bit, then yeah, go for the chocolate class! It sounds completely delightful.

As for the writing group - hey, want to form a mini writing group with me? Set up regular writing dates/times, etc?