Word of the Week: rewrite
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Dear ,
Need a good laugh? Then I think you'll enjoy this week's featured writing, "Rewrite," by Joan M. Mazzu. It sure made me chuckle! You may not think of updating an address book as a "rewrite," but I say it counts! All the better if you get writing material out of the experience.
I met Joan in my latest "Spinning Words into Gold" class at Queens University, and we spent some time there discussing the process of rewriting, sometimes called revision.
"Rewrite" may be a word you'd rather avoid than play with -- many people feel that way. Since it's an important part of the writing process, however, it's high time to grow to love it if you don't already. But don't take it from me; listen to these authorities on the subject:
"
When I say writing, O believe me, it is rewriting that I have chiefly in mind." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson
"The best writing is rewriting." ~ E. B. White
"The pleasure is the rewriting." ~ Joyce Carol Oates
If you'd like some some friendly, step-by-step help with the rewriting process, including a chart that lists every aspect you should consider before you call a piece of writing finished, Chapter 8 of Spinning Words into Gold, the book that inspired the class Joan took, is for you!
You can find out more about it here, and purchase a copy if you like:
http://wordplaynow.com/spinning_words.htm
And if you're up for writing instead (or need to write so you have something to rewrite), check out "the The Gift of Memoir" and "Write Yourself!" WordPlay opportunities below. Good news -- there are more "Write Yourself!"workshops coming later in July.
Take some time to enjoy the fireflies,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
See attached registration form for more offerings.
WRITE YOURSELF! (Writing Inspiration; Creating New Writing; Fueling a Current or Languishing Writing Project ; Rekindling Your Writing Passion; Getting Unstuck) $30/session
WHEN: Tuesday,
July 2, 7 to 9 pm
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Want to come? Just print out and mail in the attached form or use PayPal or credit card with this link:
Write Yourself on July 2THE GIFT OF MEMOIR
: WRITING PERSONAL AND FAMILY STORIES (Writing for and about Your Family / The Art of Memoir)
Our life stories are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift to all who know and love us-they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. It is also a gift to ourselves. As best-selling author Rachel Naomi Remen says in her book Kitchen Table Wisdom, facts bring us to knowledge, but stories bring us to wisdom. If you are interested in writing family and/or personal life stories, as well as preserving everyday moments from times past or present, come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.
WHEN: Thursday, July 18th and/or August 15th, 10 a.m. to noon
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Want to come?
Just print out and mail in the attached form or use PayPal or credit card with this link:
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Meet WordPlayer Joan Mazzu
Maureen's class helped me focus, renewed my interest in writing, and encouraged me to organize my years of writing.
I worked in advertising during the Mad Men era. If all the drinking and womanizing is true I missed it. Having four daughters, I never run out of material to write about. Graduate school at middle age led to a career in public libraries -- I loved the work and still miss it. Our first retirement move was to our summer house in Southampton, New York. I joined a group of writers sponsored by the library. The women were bright, opinionated and fun. Together we self-published a book of our essays called Stringing Words.
What Joan says about WordPlay
My husband and i moved here to North Carolina last year. I realized that I needed support to continue writing. Maureen's class "Spinning Words into Gold," (based on the book Spinning Words into Gold) has helped me focus, renewed my interest in writing, and encouraged me to organize my years of writing. Like all good things it ended too soon.
Featured Writing Rewrite
by Joan M. Mazzu
When my youngest daughter was in high school I gave her $15 to recopy our address book. I was distracted and thought she was the organized daughter, the one with the legible handwriting; but no, she was the one who hated tuna fish. Halfway through I checked. She was copying with a magic marker, the names and addresses squeezed in on the tiny lines, the phone numbers resembling ink blot tests. She is now 36, has not given me a refund, and we still use the old book. My husband and I are at a standoff about a re-copy. "You have neat, small handwriting and are so much better at important details than I am," I tell him.
He doesn't fall for it, just says, "You know what should be included." "My handwriting is scattered and too big for a phone book," I say. He shakes his head. It's the end of the discussion. I have lost again.
There is a rubber band around the wrinkled, black plastic cover; this holds in lists and loose notes. There is a list of real estate agents with my scrawled comments. One says "showed house in pajamas." Another note: "she is so dumb her name should be brick," and so on. Another list, neat and on a small piece of paper at the top of page, says "golf," then "Joe M," "Joe A," and "Joe T," with phone numbers. Some years ago my husband played golf with three guys, all named Joe. I know nothing about them at all since golfers do not discuss anything but golf. Sideways on another page is a note "sleepover at Tina's" with a phone number next to it that says "nice wine brought by Fran for dinner." The name of the wine smudged. What year, I couldn't possibly guess.
Now some pages have websites tucked in. Next to epicurious.com are measurements for curtains. What house? In the book "NC" means moved to North Carolina and "D" means dead; I don't like to cross out names. There are many entries under H for handyman and under P for plumbers and pipes. These helpers could be anywhere -- no area codes to tell what county or town they are in should we need to call. The other day I tried to retrace and remember the era or connection for the note "yellow house on the corner -- turn right for Suzie's." I'm thinking now that in trying to decode these clues we might be helped in deferring dementia, senility, senior moments or whatever the popular term is now for memory loss. My husband says that our phone book is more challenging than Sudoku.
~ Joan M. Mazzu
from Stringing Words
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 "rewrite."
Go ahead. Find anything you've ever written -- yes, address books count, and so do essays, letters never mailed, stories, poems, even to-do lists!
Now set a timer for a predetermined amount of time (I suggest a time between 15 minutes and an hour) and rewrite away. If you've never tried the handy
-dandy applauding timer I use, just click here.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
S
end in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words to WordPlay here and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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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 two collections of poetry, 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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