Hello friends,
It’s October and I can’t fathom it. Wasn’t it just spring? Autumn is in full swing here in the Pacific Northwest with trees turning fiery shades of reds and browns, skeletons popping up on lawns and pumpkins on porches, and a definite chill permeating the air. As much as I don’t feel ready, as much as the seasons seem to fly by too damn fast, I am looking forward to some cozy times at home. I have some writing to do, some books to read, and I’d like to be more intentional in spending quiet time with family and friends. So begrudgingly, I shall welcome fall. How are you feeling as yet another year barrels toward its end?
I just returned from a writer’s residency at In Cahoots. What a wonderful experience! I am so grateful to director Macy Chadwick for offering this gift to print artists and writers in beautiful Petaluma, California. The In Cahoots property is peppered with cottages and work spaces in the midst of farmland, wildlife, and rolling hills. I worked, I walked through the countryside, I wrote, I visited the artists in the barn, I worked some more.
My goals for residency were to write my memoir proposal (right on the heels of writing my anthology proposal, I wasn’t super enthused but definitely ready) and hash out a fine-tuned outline (something that’s been needed for … years?). I am pleased to say I accomplished both — although the proposal is still very much in rough draft form. I also had a chance to write a brand new chunk of my opening and take it for a test drive during the residency “show and tell” on the last day. It’s always a vulnerable experience to read one’s work to a crowd, particularly unfinished personal writing, but this group proved wonderful in holding space for me and offering enthusiastic and helpful feedback.
It was a productive week, and deeply restorative in terms of both creativity and energy. I’ve come home refueled and motivated. I’ll be applying to more residencies in the future. I believe the In Cahoots application window just closed, but I encourage you to apply in the spring! It’s a wonderful place.
Do you need an editor for your book manuscript, essay, query letter, or proposal? I still have a couple of open spots in November and December. I’d love to help you! You can read some testimonials about my work here. For more information, please visit my website or reach out to jennybartoy AT gmail DOT com with any questions.
An Editor’s Tip
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott famously included a chapter called “Shitty First Drafts” in which she extolled the virtue of writing without reigning yourself in. Get it all out first, then cull, shape, and refine later. The ulterior motive in writing a shitty first draft is to quiet our critical inner voice that judges every sub-par sentence.
It’s taken me a long time to feel comfortable with the concept of a shitty first draft, with the practice of writing not-my-best paragraphs (high-five to all my perfectionists!). But working on deadline more often in recent years has forced me to lose (most of) my preciousness. And surprise, I’ve ended up being much more productive in terms of word count written and pieces published.
I’d like to offer a spin on the shitty first draft that has worked well for me: the patchy first draft. Your best friend in this practice is [brackets] or a similar visual differentiator, like ALL CAPS, highlight, whatever works for you. I find that brackets are the most straightforward tool for me in typing.
In writing a patchy first draft, you force yourself to go with the flow of your thinking. As you jot down your thought, argument, dialogue, description, whenever you hit a roadblock, you note it in brackets. Obstacles can be a sentence that just won’t sound right, the right word sticking to the tip of your tongue, a nuance you just can’t nail in the moment, an emotional shift that’s bogging you down, or even a logical connection that you sense is there but isn’t forthcoming. The purpose is to keep moving, keep writing while the thought, narrative arc, or emotional trajectory is clear in your mind, so you don’t lose your momentum. When the draft is written, you can address the patches. Go through your writing and tease out each knot contained in brackets until the draft is fully written.
My patchy notes include things like [describe that panic attack feeling] or [word for hilarious with a hint of spooky] or [connect first paragraph to argument here] or [find quote to illustrate author’s reluctance] or even [something lyrical about desire as hunger]. You get the idea. Some notes are technical, some are emotional or editorial. But they’re all elements that slow me down in assembling the writing puzzle on the page. In drafting, whenever I notice my brain hitting the brakes for any reason, out come the brackets. The point is to move forward while laying breadcrumbs for myself for revision. This process works really well for me, and I hope it will for you too. Let me know if you try it out.
Note: This is a writer’s tip more than an editor’s tip. Eh.
News
Join me for Lunch Edits this Wednesday, October 4 (today!) at 12pm PST. You can find the Zoom link here.
Hippocampus Magazine published my interview with Jane Wong, author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, in their latest issue. We discussed the link from poetry to creative nonfiction, family estrangement, domestic and sexual violence, and what makes a difficult woman, among other topics. You can read it here.
For Mutha Magazine, I interviewed Emi Nietfeld about her memoir, Acceptance, an amazing story of grit about her journey from foster care and homelessness to Harvard and the reluctance to accept any merit badges for resilience. You can read our conversation here.
Voices of Tacoma: A Gathering of Poets is coordinating a series of autumn poetry workshops. My workshop about self-editing prose and poetry will take place on Wednesday, November 15 at the Moore Library (and likely on Zoom too).
A Question for You
What is your favorite mystery novel?
Mystery is one of my favorite genres of fiction and has been ever since I discovered Agatha Christie and Maurice Leblanc as a young teen. My tastes have evolved toward more literary mysteries in recent years, and you’ll frequently see them in my little book reviews below. (Anyone else excited for the new Tana French in March?)
I’d love to know what mystery novel has struck or stayed with you over the years. Hit reply and let me know!
Literary Links
Here are articles I liked or bookmarked this past month:
I Never Called Her Momma: My Childhood in a Crack House — Jenisha Watts, The Atlantic
What They Don’t Teach You in MFA Programs: Rules for Writing Stories that Work — Chris Mooney, Writer’s Digest
Queen of Crime: How Agatha Christie Created the Modern Murder Mystery — Joan Acocella, The New Yorker
A Small Parenthesis: How Gardens and Stories Can Create Space to Breathe — Juan Cárdenas, Lit Hub
Ralph Ellison, The Art of Fiction No. 8 — interviewed by Alfred Chester and Vilma Howard, The Paris Review
Here Are the 2023 National Book Award Finalists — Lit Hub
Recent Reads
The Memory of Animals by Claire Fuller — The gorgeous cover for this speculative novel drew me in. As an aggressive pandemic wipes out civilization, a small group of young people hides out in a pharmaceutical testing facility in London, where trials for the vaccine occurred. Memory provides both an alternate timeline and a poignant, lyrical connection to the disintegrating outside world, as the characters develop relationships and devise their survival in the claustrophobic setting. A beautiful, unsettling book.
A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney — What happens when your child dies of a terminal illness, and how do you cope? I’ve been a Delaney fan for many years and put off reading this memoir for some time, not sure I could handle it. On a whim, I ended up listening to the short audiobook, read by the author, and it both delighted and devastated me. A Heart That Works is a feat of grace under torture, of resilience under grief. Darkly hilarious, heartrending, and deep.
Kala by Colin Walsh — Fans of literary mystery, check this one out. In this impressive novel, three estranged friends reconnect in Kinlough, Ireland, around a wedding and the discovery of human remains. As they navigate both the memories of their youth and the rekindling of their tenuous relationships, they try to piece together what happened to their friend Kala, a complex and captivating teenager who disappeared fifteen years before. Highly recommend.
Thank you for reading, and happy October!
Jenny