Volume IX, Issue 47
November 18, 2020
Dear ,
Our Wednesday morning Under Construction class (you can read more about that below) is celebrating the imminent publication of a book by one of our own, Tall: Love and Journalism in a Six-foot World by Nancy Stancill. You can read all about it here: https://pages.uncc.edu/mark-west/blog/2020/11/02/the-story-of-a-tall-girl-who-became-an-investigative-journalist/.
It is one of the great joys of my life to have someone walk into a class with an idea for a book, return week after week with first drafts of chapters that keep getting better and better, give and receive honest, specific, supportive feedback, finish an entire manuscript, and then get it published. It's another joy to get to share this sweet
success with you!
I love Nancy's book, a memoir that's aptly described in purple on its back cover. It's an inspiring story, one everyone in the class highly related to, and we were all touched by her passion and hard work for equity and justice as an investigative reporter. Author Pam Kelley's words about Tall touched me, too:
And then invest in some writing time of your own. What perceived defect can you transform into an asset?
Love and light,
Maureen
WordPlay
Opportunities
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: YOUR WRITING
(Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing)
This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision
tools and methods. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process, whatever your preferred genre. Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
WHEN: Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, or Thursday evening classes, dependent on openings available, starting in January 2021. Specific dates for the 12 sessions to be announced.
WHERE: Via Zoom, unless otherwise noted.
COST: $435 for 12 classes.
TO REGISTER: Please email here to start the registration process by filling out a short “Clarity Tool” to share your writing goals and where you are in the process. (Anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin.) Then we'll have a conversation to answer any questions and to ensure that this class is a great fit for you.
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How Do I Say
Goodbye? and Praying You Goodbye
I created the process shared in these two books in June of 2002, shortly after my mother died, as a way to mindfully mourn this loss—and celebrate her life. I shared it with a beloved friend, the Reverend Rebecca Taylor, when she lost her father, and she encouraged me to make it available to others. Here it is, in two versions, both of which offer quotes, reflections, prompts, and space to write about your loved one, as well as beautiful photographs by Wendy H. Gill that enhance each part of the process. Either
version makes a thoughtful condolence gift for a friend or family member.
How Do I Say Goodbye? is for those of any faith, with quotes from many different sources to accompany the process. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
Praying You Goodbye is specifically for Christians, with accompanying quotes from Scripture chosen by Reverend Rebecca Taylor. It can be purchased on Amazon here.
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POETRY ROCKS!
Would you like your writing—prose and/or poetry—to be more
graceful, powerful, beautiful? Do you sometimes find poetry confusing or intimidating and wish you could “crack the code”? Or do you enjoy writing and reading poems, but want a more thorough understanding of what makes a poem good? Then this poetry extravaganza is for you.
Expect a good time exploring what makes a poem a poem, gaining the knowledge you need to confidently create and revise poetry, and strengthening your writing skills in all genres.
It would be a joy and an honor to share what rocks about poetry with you. Learn more here.
HERE’S WHAT YOU GET:
- 23 poetry creation tools, delivered one per day (Monday through Friday) to your inbox—in honor of National Poetry month. Use them as you get them, use them when you can, use them over and over to create poems. Each tool zeroes in on one aspect of poetry and provides an innovative method to approach writing a poem. Many
of them are great for creating prose, too. The tools include:
* a purpose, so you’re clear what you will learn
* background information when helpful
* “how-to” directions to create a poem
* an example that illustrates the poetry tool in action
* a short reflection to solidify the concepts covered
* “Hone Your Craft” suggestions for further exploration
* a short reflection to solidify the concepts covered
- A PDF document of each tool that you can print or save on your computer
- An audio recording of each tool, so you can learn by listening and/or reading
- Instruction on the role of audience, reading like a writer, and the process of revision, including a handy Revision Checkpoint Chart—this information can be applied to strengthen your prose as well as poetry
- Additional poetry resources
- An e-book that contains the information and resources covered, as well as your 23 poetry creation tools for ongoing use
WHERE: From the comfort of your own home, via the web.
WHEN: Any time you want! And once you receive all 23 tools, they’re yours to keep, which means that you can keep using them for years to come.
COST: $45
TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email here for instructions. To register for Poetry Rocks! online, click here.
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TAG, I'M IT!
Both the year-long TAG, I'M IT! AND three-month TAG, I'M IT! journals offer—in no more than five to fifteen minutes—a simple way to recap and celebrate
the very best of each day of your life. The practice of writing out your “T’s” (things you’re thankful for), “A’s” (actions you can acknowledge yourself for), and “G’s” (gifts you’re grateful for) is a transformative one, especially combined with the final step, I’M IT!, in which you intentionally choose three do-able, most-important-to-you actions you’ll take the next day.
The TAG, I'M IT! journal grounds you in two important habits: keeping your focus on appreciating and celebrating the good in your life and intentionally accomplishing what matters most to you. You’ll also create a record of
your most meaningful, happiest events and experiences.
Start your journal—or restart, if needed—whenever you like. (Though a new year is a perfect time!)
An introduction with tips and ideas will help you make this practice your own. Soon, you’ll notice that you’re living your days with more joy, presence, purpose, and intention.
Thank you to Maureen Ryan Griffin for creating TAG I’M IT.
TAG, I’M IT is my new best friend. It’s a guided writing journal that helps me sort through the mental travels of my day. And it helps me zero in on the special moments by reflecting, acknowledging, and saying thank you for the invisible gifts collected in my daily journey.
“TAG” gives me joy. And it gives me a sense of peace. It helps me discover the small and large wonders around me.
“TAG” sits on my nightstand – it’s my last conversation of the day. And I feel satisfied when I turn off the light. When I write in my TAG, I’M IT journal, I’m giving myself a gift.
What a treasure!
~ T. D. Taegel
More WordPlay opportunities coming soon.
Stay posted!
Featured Writer
Meet Nancy Stancill
Nancy Stancill spent more than 38 years as a newspaper reporter and editor before she began writing fiction full-time.
She was an award-winning investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle and the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer and worked as a reporter and editor at other newspapers in Texas, Virginia and California.
Stancill is a journalism graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and received her master’s in creative writing from the University of Tampa in Florida in 2015.
She and her husband lived in London for three years before moving back to the United States in 2012.
Stancill has a son, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter in Pennsylvania and she lives in Charlotte, N.C. with her husband, Len Norman.
Saving Texas was her first novel. Winning Texas is her second. Her memoir, Tall, is her third book. If you preorder here prior to the Nov. 25 publication, use the promo code: PREORDER2020 to receive a 15% discount.
After the publication date, it will be available at the standard places: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and likely at some bookstores, including Park Road Books.
Learn more about Nancy at www.nancystancill.com.
What Nancy Says about WordPlay
Maureen Ryan Griffin is one of the best teachers I've ever had. She is a talented memoir writer and poet who leads by example. Also, she has a knack for choosing the best and most generous students for our Under Construction class. She carefully solicits everyone's opinion when students present a chapter or excerpt from a work in progress. I have taken her class several times and I'm never disappointed
with its quality.
Maureen offered me the gift of deadlines for my memoir, Tall. I wanted feedback on my writing, so I presented a chapter every week for review.
When I decided I wanted to explore poetry, Maureen put together a notebook for me of her Poetry Rocks! online program, a generous gesture that has helped me get started.
I have the highest respect and affection for Maureen, who besides being an acclaimed teacher, is a wonderful human being who shares her time and talent with everyone who crosses her path.
Featured Writing
from
Tall: Love and Journalism in a Six-foot World
CHAPTER 1
CUTTING INGRID'S LEGS
As a teenager, I was beginning to enjoy reading the Sunday paper, especially the widely popular Parade magazine.
I would sit in my favorite chair in our den and page through the Roanoke (Virginia) Times looking for the colorful supplement.
On that Sunday, the magazine's cover, "How to Shorten Too-Tall Girls," made me catch my breath. I was 15, living in the small town of Radford in Southwest Virginia and hating my life as a shy, 6-foot-tall high school sophomore. I was old enough to have survived the ubiquitous bullying that shadowed my existence is a gangly child turned awkward teenager. But I
still towered over most of my class—male and female—was painfully introverted and had no expectations for a dating life any time in the foreseeable future.
I devoured the lengthy story of Ingrid Westman, "a tall, slim, beautiful Swedish nurse of 21, happy and content because she is popular with men," author Lloyd Shearer wrote.
Five years earlier, according to the story, Ingrid was "perennially miserable" because she was a 6-foot-1½ and "felt like a big bear . . . I felt isolated, alienated like a freak in a circus."
She and her parents sought a medical solution from the chief surgeon at the now-defunct institute for the crippled in Sweden. Eventually, they persuaded the doctor to perform osteotomies on both legs. In two0 operations, the surgeon removed 2⅜ from the shaft of her thigh bones and reattached them with plates and screws.
Just a few months later, the article said, "Ingrid is back on her feet, much happier for her shorter stature."
As I read the story, I thought about whether I should try to get such an operation. Maybe that was the answer to my despair over my tallness. Should I mention it to my parents? Since it involved a Swedish woman in a faraway foreign country, I never did. I knew they would never consider anything so radical.
But that story haunted me over the years. As I thought about growing up tall in America, I wanted to read again. Parade magazine in 1964 was carried in the Sunday edition of most major papers, so the story had resonance. I finally got a copy.
Ingrid Westman was pictured as I’d remembered her: Same bright smile, a bouffant hairdo and the professional look of a prim pinafore and pillbox cap nurses wore in the 1960s. The article hadn't aged well. It was patronizing and dripped with unintended sexism. The mail writer assumed that the woman had no interests or life goals other than dating and eventually
marrying "the right man."
My reaction this time was starkly different. Instead of being mesmerized with the tantalizing possibility of losing a few inches, as I was as a troubled teenager, I was horrified at what this attractive woman had done.
Westman and her parents had begged for a risky, untested operation to cut into her leg, remove some thigh bone and tinker it back together with metal and screws, a procedure that could have caused infection. It could have maimed her for life. Two months later, she did it again with the other leg and endured a recovery period of two more months. She could have
ended up with legs that didn't match, an uneven gait. Luckily, that didn't happen.
All it did was reduce her height by a measly 2⅜ inches—a result that seemed hardly worth the risk. . . .
~ Nancy Stancill
from Tall: Love and Journalism in a Six-foot World, which you can preorder at a 15% discount here by ordering prior to the Nov. 25 publication date and using the promo code PREORDER2020.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt
This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's “defect.”
PROMPT:
Write about a defect that turned out to be an asset in disguise."
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of
Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water.
She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, “We are meant to midwife dreams for one another.” Maureen also believes that serious “word
work” requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best
learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours!
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