Sophfronia Scott's Blog: Sophfronia Scott, Author, page 23
October 16, 2018
For Memoir: You Can Research Your Life
In my new “Morning Walk” video I’m at Harvard, on the banks of the Charles River, discussing how it is possible–and a wonderful thing–to research your own life. Here’s how to do it, and a few things to keep in mind.
October 5, 2018
On Revision: A River Runs Through It
Today’s video isn’t a “how to” on revision. Let’s talk about a way to think about revision. I often find that if I know how to think or create a mindset around something, the “how” will take care of itself. So here are some thoughts toward a view of seeing revision in a natural element.
The retreat I mention in the video is the River Pretty Writers Retreat and I’m here this week giving a lecture, teaching in workshop, and delivering a public reading. If you’re interested in this little community of writers and our meetings in the spring and fall, the website is www.riverpretty.org.
Happy revising!
September 28, 2018
How Magnetic Is Your Writing “Why?”
Today’s video continues a conversation I started yesterday when I asked, “Why do you write?” I hope you came up with an answer because now I invite you to consider this: Is your “why” strong enough, magnetic enough? Why do I ask? Watch and I’ll tell you more. Oh, and here are a few of the photos I mention in the video.
Your Morning Walk with Sophfronia, September 28, 2018
September 27, 2018
Question: Why Do You Write?
A new video: I said last week it is a crazy thing we do, this writing. So today I’m thinking about “Why?” On this morning’s walk, during a pause in a hike in Paugussett State Park, I share why I write. What are your reasons? Would you still write if you weren’t going to get published? Watch the video and share your thoughts in the comments section. Curious to hear!
September 24, 2018
American Theater Group Stages Reading of Unforgivable Love Adaptation
This week a cast assembled by American Theater Group, a regional program based in South Orange, New Jersey, presented a staged reading of The Affairs of Midnight by Sophfronia Scott. An enthusiastic audience of nearly 100 attended and remained for a talk back with the the playwright, director, and cast and provided strongly positive feedback. Affairs is earlier work by Scott that she later developed into the 2017 novel Unforgivable Love. The piece is set in Harlem, 1947 and tells of a nightclub owner who sets his sights on a society lady in a tale of romance, intrigue, and betrayal. It’s based on the classic story Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Leslie Lewis and ATG’s James Vagias produced the reading in the Loft at the South Orange Performing Arts Center. Marshall Jones III, artistic director of Crossroads Theatre Company, directed the reading with the following cast:
MAE: Antu Yacob
VAL: Jordan Russell
ELIZABETH: Kianne Muschett
CECILY: Nia Robinson
GLADYS: Nikkole Salter
SAM: Michael Gene Jacobs
ROSE: Petronia Paley
REV. STILES/SEBASTIAN: Eddie Murphy
MAID/LOUISE: Cassandra Ogbozor
STAGE DIRECTIONS: Sienna L. Jones
September 18, 2018
Finding Your Writing Community
Today’s video: Having a writing community helps ease the solitary nature of this creative path we’ve chosen. Here are a few suggestions for finding your own community easily and without having to go too far from home. Let me know in the comments some of the ways you’ve sought out other writers.
Your Morning Walk with Sophfronia, September 18, 2018
September 16, 2018
Prioritizing Your Writing
A new video: What do you need to do/change/arrange in your schedule so you can prioritize your writing and have, in the words of playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, “both eyes on the work”? Your Morning Walk with Sophfronia, September 16.
New Video Series: Your Morning Walk with Sophfronia
I’ve wanted to do a video series for a long time now. Last year my friend Debbie Phillips made a video for our Women on Fire group every day for a year! Dr. Frank A. Thomas, another dear friend, goes live on Periscope every Monday morning at 8 a.m. to talk about sermon writing, his specialty. But I hesitated because I thought it would take too much time to record and upload videos. And, honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would have something to say!
Recently, while attending the Hobart Festival of Women Writers in Hobart, NY, a small community located in the Catskills, it occurred to me that I wanted to show where I was and share something of what was happening at the festival that day. A video seemed to be the best way to do that. I also thought about these two items:
I like taking walks in the mornings.
I like to talk about writing and the writing life.
Why not combine the two? Hence was born “Your Morning Walk with Sophfronia.” I was surprised how easy it was to record a simple video on my phone and get it uploaded and shared. So I’ll keep going! The videos will always be short, about three minutes. I aim to post 2-3 videos a week, but we’ll see how that goes. You can check out the first four here. I’ll post today’s video, the fifth, in a separate blog post and will continue to give each video its own post here from now on. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to get immediate notification whenever I post a new video.
I hope this will be the start of a great conversation or, at the very least, give you a few things to think about to help your writing. If you’re not a writer I hope you’ll enjoy the locations and seeing a little bit of my world.
Take care, and thanks for watching!
In this first video I talk about letting go when something is not turning out well with a project.
On this walk, I talk about the sense of place when conjuring a location in your writing
Let’s talk about routine and why a broken one can be a good thing.
An ode to the mentors you can find on your bookshelf! Big shout out to Bill Roorbach and his wonderful book THE REMEDY FOR LOVE.
Friends Journal Reviews This Child of Faith
Friends Journal, a publication whose mission is to communicate Quaker experience in order to connect and deepen spiritual lives, recently published a review of This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World. The reviewer, Claire J. Salkowski, writes:
“Many parents grapple with similar issues of faith and personal belief, wondering how best to impart such values and provide meaning to their children. Although the author does not claim to have all the answers, she deftly models a way that may serve as a guide for others.”
August 23, 2018
Why I Don’t Mind Being on the Road
What’s the deal with travel? Why do we love it in some forms, but not others? August is a big travel month and many people are on the move, squeezing the last days out of summer vacation. I’ve seen Facebook photos of friends in Mexico, Florida, Scotland, Amsterdam, Iceland, Hawaii, and more. They are on cruises, on planes, and on trains. The comments from our mutual friends express admiration, even jealousy, and reiterations of bucket list destinations. Wanderlust seems rampant.
The Loft Literary Center Store in the Minneapolis airport.
For over a year now I’ve been traveling. I travel to teach (Denver this winter, for example, for Regis University’s Mile-High MFA program or Ohio this summer for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop), to speak, and to read from my published books. When I hit the road I too post photos from the road and check in from various locations. But when I see friends in person often someone will comment about my travel as though it’s a hard thing: “You’ve been on the road a lot. Glad to be home for awhile?” I understand where they’re coming from. Travel can be wearing on the body and soul, especially if you log tens of thousands of miles a year. But it’s not like that for me. I don’t mind being on the road.
This is my life. I’ve been working for years to get to this point where I get asked to board a plane and come to people. Also, remember, I work from home. Taking a trip breaks my routine and fills my creative reservoir with new people and sights and sounds. The words on the wall at the Loft Literary Center store are, to me, my marching orders as an artist. I must read, write, create, and explore. The trips I take are my best opportunities to explore and I’m grateful for every mile. Will I feel the same after unpacking for the umpteenth time? I don’t know. For now I want to enjoy this. I’ve invested in new luggage including a suitcase with a battery charger for my phone and wheels so smooth I feel like I’m gliding through the airport. I received my TSA pre-check number and even decided on a “travel uniform” so I won’t have to think about what to wear every time I head out. (By the way, my luggage is from Away. I have the Bigger Carry-On and the Everywhere Bag. I highly recommend it. This link will give you a $20 discount if you want to check it out.)
Lawrence Public Library Poster
And I revel in the little things. I love the Biscoff cookies some airlines give out for snacks, fountains that can fill a tall water bottle, rocking chairs overlooking airport tarmacs, and a window seat providing spectacular views. I’m traveling a lot this autumn, through early November, starting with a trip to Lawrence, Kansas on September 4 for a reading at the public library there. I’m also bound for the Catskills, Phoenix, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Missouri. My full schedule is available on my Events page here. Yes, sometimes I don’t know how I’ll meet deadlines and I worry about getting sidetracked from writing my next novel, but it’s okay. My writing will always be better for it.
I believe travel can transform. And just to show you I know the difference between traveling for work and traveling for those Facebook-worthy WOW moments, I do have a plan to combine the two. I’m teaching a very special writers retreat, the Write of Your Life Retreat, in Italy next year (September 8-15, 2019).
Birds’ eye view of Villa Margherita
This is a small group adventure–we’re taking just 20 writers. We’ll stay at the Villa Margherita, Country House Hotel located on the River Brenta, 20 minutes from Venice. The peace and tranquility of the Veneto countryside has for years inspired writers including Lord Byron, Robert Browning, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann and Daphne du Maurier.
I believe we all have a reservoir of creativity within us. It is filled with the inspiration we take in during the course of our lives, everything from a beautiful painting in a museum to a beloved song on the radio to the fascinating sight of a hummingbird feeding on flowers. For writers, this reservoir fuels our work and encourages us to soar on the page.
However these days the whole “butt in the chair” mentality is stressed to the point where writers spend much of their time alone in a room mining for words. On one level that’s great—it’s how our work gets done! But on another level it drains our resources. Eventually the reservoir runs dry and all manner of difficulties ensue, including the dreaded writers’ block.
What’s the remedy? Filling the reservoir at regular intervals, in ways large and small. You may already do this little by little (reading, talking walks, seeing a good movie). It’s why I enjoy the travel I’ve been doing. But this trip is about going big.
My dear friend the brilliant Janet Simmonds of Educated-Traveller has partnered with me to design and arrange this dreamy voyage. Here’s the flyer where you can read all the details: WOYL_Flyer_digital. I’ve wanted to go to Italy ever since I saw the film “A Room with a View.” I can’t wait to go. If you have an adventurous spirit and a desire to inject renewed energy into your writing life, consider this my personal invitation. I hope you’ll join us. And I hope you enjoy every trip that takes you to new and enlightening destinations.
