Revising and Reenvisioning
My novel, my office, my writing future... see my news, below
September has always been a month of awakening for me. The school year seems to have more gravitational pull than the calendar year, perhaps. It’s a month to reset, to notice things about one’s life that one has ignored until then. To wit, the walls in our house are miscolored and bare. Finally, I take action, and by the next time I write a newsletter, they’ll be repainted and hung with newly framed pictures.
September also brings the energy to revise my novel. Revision… re-vision… requires me to see it again in a new way. Goal: to finish this next revision by the end of November.
My teacher Rachael Herron calls a second novel draft the “make sense” draft. Because those 300 pages in my first draft? They don’t hold together. Plots go in different directions and never resolve. One character is described as twice-divorced, and a few chapters later, she’s never been married. Nobody learns the lesson they’re supposed to, or else, they learn it way too soon.
So I’m making sense, one messy scene at a time. I’m also trying to live up to my surname and bring some wit to the table. It’s harder than I imagined. Send jokes!
[Fun fact: did you know that “witty” and “revision” have related etymology? “Revision” comes from videre, Latin for “to see,” while “witty” comes from the old English wittan, “to know,” and a cognate of videre.]
Big News
On the topic of revision, I am re-seeing myself and my writing path: I’m off to get my MFA!
I’ve danced with this idea for several years. The idea of an MFA program- so much critical reading and writing, in community with other, similarly dedicated writers- has long appealed to me, but I wondered whether the commitment of time and resources made sense for me and my family. Plus, we aren’t about to move away from our current home (Richmond, Virginia).
Enter the “Low Residency” MFA option, which offers a hybrid of in-person learning, through two onsite residencies during the year, and correspondence/remote learning the rest of the year. Researching such programs, I found two that met my criteria, applied, and was accepted at each (!).
The decision was difficult, and after conversations with wiser people than I, I chose Bennington. My program starts in January, and I couldn’t be more excited. (Maybe don’t ask my husband how excited he is, though.) I’ll keep you posted about how things go and what I learn.
Recent Writing
Remember a few newsletters ago, when I told you about a story that required tons of revision before finally finding a home? Now I have another fun example.
My story, “Love Says My Husband,” recently won third place in the Sunlight Press Flash Fiction contest. This was my first ever attempt at a braided narrative in flash, and trying to make it work often felt like a puzzle. If you read it (should take you ~4 minutes), let me know what you think.
Fun Links
Listen: “Wiser Than Me, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus” (podcast). JLD talks to (famous) older women in raw and entertaining fashion, with a focus on the wisdom they’ve acquired through their lives. I’ve listened to the first two episodes, with Jane Fonda and Isabel Allende, and they are FULL of charm, humor, and yes, wisdom.
Watch: “Leo Tolstoy on Film” (and then, afterwards, enjoy this photograph, believed to be the only color photograph of Tolstoy. Tell me he doesn’t look like he belongs in a contemporary fantasy film like Lord of the Rings).
Read: Two months later, I’m still thinking about this article about Aretha Franklin’s heirs, trying to figure out which of the handwritten wills is the one that should be considered legitimate. Is it the one stuffed in the sofa? Or the earlier one hidden in a locked cabinet?
Watch: If you’re a memoir writer or interested in yoga and/or mind control, you might enjoy my video interview with Joelle Tamraz, author of the recent memoir The Secret Practice: Eighteen Years on the Dark Side of Yoga.
Reading Nook
I’ve been on a contemporary Irish fiction kick. Here are some of my favorites:
Claire Keegan, if you love compact literary fiction in which every word is chosen with precision and perspicacity. I loved both Foster and Small Things Like These, each tiny novel readable in one sitting.
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy if you’d like a novel about an illicit affair, set during “The Troubles.”
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue if you’re looking for a funny book about Millennials in Cork- think Sally O’Rooney but with more laughs and less navel-gazing.
And since I opened with a sunrise, I’ll close with a sunset. Happy autumn, y’all.
So exciting Jill! I hope you’ll share how the low-res program goes...very curious! Congrats!
Congratulations, Jill, and best wishes for all your projects!