Volume VIII, Issue 38
September 25, 2019
Dear ,
I met this week's featured writer, Savannah Stoner, when she took a class with me at Queens in the fall of 2008, just months before I lost my father. When she returned for a second class in January, she brought me a
basket full of comforts: fuzzy socks, chocolate, lavender bath salts, cinnamon tea . . .
Her gift was so unexpected, so unbelievably kind, that when I think of the loss of my father, I often think of Savannah, too, and smile.
You may be wondering what this has to do with horses. I'm getting there. You see, Savannah's dad was recently diagnosed with a scary illness, and has been in and out of the hospital for surgery and treatments.
Savannah, true writer that she is, turned to words for solace—to be specific, words of her father's about his life that she'd taped a few years ago. She took the cadence of her father's spoken stories into narrative poems that captured his voice as well as his experiences. Then she brought them to
her Under Construction class and shared them with us. We were especially charmed by the poems that had a horse or two in them.
We were unanimous in our belief that the poems would make a lovely collection, and Savannah was thrilled with the idea of turning them into a book for her father, complete with a horse painting on the front by her friend and artist Jen Walls.
The Life He Remembers Began in Costa Rica is an endearing book, with a mission beyond the gift that is to her father and the cadence of a life lived in two very different places. As Savannah says on the back cover, "In sharing these poems with you, my hope is that you might be inspired to ask your loved ones to tell their stories or be encouraged to tell your own."
Now, back to those horses . . . or, more particularly, one horse that you (or one of your characters) has loved—or yearned for. It occurred to me that, not only are there a number of famous horses in literature [Check out 11 Horses In Books That Will Make You Long For Your Own Hooved Friend and/or
Wikipedia's List of Fictional Horses (Yes, Mr. Ed is on here)], but also, I, and many people I know, have had at least one meaningful experience with a horse at some point in our life. How about you?
I hope you enjoy horsing around with this week's prompt, inspired by Savannah and her dad's "A Horse Apiece."
Upcoming WordPlay
Just a note to let you won't see many new offerings over the next few months, as I am hunkered down in my studio writing as much as I can these days. As I told you at the beginning of September, I'm determined to publish my cookbook memoir, How She Fed Us: Reflections on the Recipes of a Perfectly Imperfect Mother, on March 4th, 2020, which would be my mother's 95th birthday. My decision to make Monday my writing day is working well, and I've been working hard, mostly in what I call "the energy of revision." I'm tightening and polishing vignettes and essays, and going deeper as I explore the way
my relationship with my mother has kept on growing and changing in the seventeen years since I lost her.
Meanwhile, here are a few opportunities:
THE TAG, I'M IT Daily Practice
If you missed last week's zine, as a gift to you as a reader (and for any of your friends or family), I'm offering a 20% discount off the regular price of $9.99 on my TAG, I'M IT
Daily Practice. The sale price of $7.99 ends on September 30th.
Here's a review a reader left on Amazon about the TAG, I'M IT Daily Practice:
August 30, 2019
I am not a person who has been able to journal on a regular basis, however this journal fits my needs perfectly. It incorporates the categories that I review in my thoughts at the end of the day - things I'm grateful for, things I accomplished, and plans for the next day. The blank space at the top provides a place for me to put everything in context or maybe a title of sorts. Lastly, the verses and quotations are a welcome inspiration.
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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!
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 info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. To register for Poetry Rocks online, click here.
More WordPlay opportunities coming soon. Stay posted!
Savannah Stoner, pictured here with her father, lives with her husband, Andy, and their two dogs in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she is writing her first novel.
About the Making of
The Life He Remembers Began in Costa Rica
Eleven years ago, I signed up for a writing class with Maureen Ryan Griffin, and I’ve been writing with her Thursday Evening Under Construction group ever since—that's what a wonderful teacher she is!
Most of my time in Under Construction has been spent working on a novel, but this year, my
87-year-old father was diagnosed with a serious illness and has been in and out of the hospital multiple times. With everything going on with my dad, I found it impossible to focus on my novel. Still, I didn’t want to lose my connection to writing or the writing group.
Thankfully, I remembered an old interview I’d done with my father, found the tape
recording, and began transcribing it.
I didn’t have new scenes from my novel to share with my fellow writers each week, but I
did have the transcript, which contained a collection of stories my father had shared with me about his life. It wasn’t long before Maureen suggested that I might find poems within the transcript. What an amazing suggestion that was!
In an effort to unearth poems from within, I set about editing his stories, doing my best
to stay true to my father’s voice.
The Life He Remembers Began in Costa
Rica is the result of that excavation—and a lot of help and encouragement from my family, friends, fellow Under Construction writers, and especially from Maureen. I will be forever thankful to everyone who made it possible to give my dad this gift. Thank you!
Featured Writing
A Horse Apiece
from
The Life He Remembers Began in Costa Rica
by
Savannah Stoner
And then at a certain—
I don’t remember exactly how old I was,
but my dad bought Doug* and me a horse.
Two horses.
A horse apiece.
And one of the things I remember
a lot about doing a lot of
was horseback riding.
I loved horseback riding.
Trails and up in the mountains,
and we lived—
well, for a while we had the horses outside of town,
and then Dad built a house outside of town
in a little place called Escazu.
Of course, when we lived out there,
we had the horses right there near the house.
And, gosh, on weekends,
I rode every—
all day almost every weekend.
We had several different horses.
And that was one of my favorite things to do.
Doug and I were talking about it
the last time he was down here.
Sometimes we would—
Mom would pack us a little lunch, you know,
and he and I would take off
up in the mountains on the horses
and stay gone almost all day.
*Author’s note: Doug is my father’s brother.
Learn more about The Life He Remembers Began in Costa Rica
and/or order your copy here.
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 "horse."
PROMPT: Take a few moments to mull over any experiences you've had with a horse in your life, or, if you're a fiction writer, imagine what role a horse may have played in the life of one of your characters. Choose the experience, factual or fictional, that means the most to you, and write it out in a poem, scene, essay, or story.
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here.
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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