Writer's Lab: One Month In
Good morning, Lab Coats — and Everyone! It’s Wednesday. The Storybelly Writer’s Lab is one month old! And so is Storybelly. We’re celebrating over here that Storybelly is One Month Young and we are still standing, have had a great and terrible time navigating the thrilling seat-of-our-pants days that have given us already so much to archive, to talk about, to write about, to laugh over, to get all teary over… what a lovely and chaotic ride.
My manuscript pile, taken from the bottom shelf of a bookcase in my office. Whew. Lots of work in here, much of it unsold. But I keep at it. I am constantly learning, honing my craft, stumbling through, finding new ways of showing and telling, new characters who grab me by the heart to tell me their stories, learning a lot about myself, and others, and the world, as I do. It’s good work. I’m lucky to have it. I’m lucky to get to do it with you.Things will calm down soon. She prayed. lol. Thank you to all who have subbed, AND to those who have tiptoed into the Lab to write — this is going to be fun. It already is! See below. As they say.
We’ve had four Lab posts so far, on these topics:
What is your Canon? Massaging Memory to Find Your Story
Revenge of the Focus Sentence: Navigating Unexpected Change
Unlocking Your Authentic Narrative Voice: Give Yourself Permission to be Authentic
Exercise #16: What We Write About When We Write About Our Lives
We’ve shared favorite books that have changed us or have revealed us to ourselves, or books that have formed our perspectives in life (pick two books you love, at random, without thinking too hard about it, and tell us why they resonate for you);
we’ve introduced some writing concepts that we’ll explore as we go forward, particularly the ideas of “one clear moment in time,” focus sentences”, and “moments, memories, meaning;”
we’ve looked at ways to navigate getting stuck (I highlighted my experience with my current work in progress, Charlottesville);
and we’ve talked about first lines and their importance, putting many of them in the Chat and telling fellow Lab Coats why they “stick” with us.
That last would have qualified as my favorite of the month, except that… we’ve had CAKE! In the Chat we’ve had stories and recipes about cake: the Spicy Ginger Applesauce Cake (with cream cheese icing!) that was my downfall (in pounds gained, and no regrets) two weeks ago; Jennifer’s mom’s Oatmeal Cake (complete with handwritten recipe cards); full treatises (treati?) on German Chocolate Cake (recipes to come) and how D likes the cake alone but I must have the Coconut Butter Pecan Frosting.
An attempt to organize the bazillion recipe cards and stacks I’ve accumulated over, gosh, 50 years? More years than that. The applesauce recipe is from my elder son’s kindergarten days (mimeographed!)… same with the pretzels on the far left in orange, from my eldest child’s school days… maybe even day care days. What stories are in here, eh? I know you have them, too.We are just getting started. We think we must create a recipe section, here at Storybelly. I concur. Stand by.
What’s ahead in the Lab? Well, this month was an introductory month of general thinking-about-story, with one “official” assignment, Exercise #16. Assignments are always optional to do… I find that just THINKING about an assignment, and using my notebook to scratch out ideas during the week (weeks) leads me to a story idea.
And so much of what we talked about in this first month was in service of generating ideas… did it seem that way to you? These posts were meant to prime the pump for what’s next. In those early posts, you can see a path ahead, if you look closely.
It’s all a set-up for things to come. :>
Notebooks are next. One Clear Moment in Time is Next. Character Studies, Writing Dialogue, Describing Setting, Plotting (the hardest thing for me), Creating Tension, and When to Use Initial Caps. ha. And more.
I’ve got a syllabus for us as well, which I’ll roll out soon, and it doesn’t matter if you are writing for publication or writing for your grandkids and planning to leave your book in a trunk to be found by them into the long future. Or maybe you are writing for your own good self. I do a lot of that. It helps me, in so many untold ways.
Let’s write together. What I’d like you to do this week is write to me. Write to me in the comments on this post, which I’m going to leave open for all, or write to me in the Chat, or DM me here at Substack. Write me whether you are a Lab Coat, a Storybelly free subscriber, or even if you are visiting today.
These are letters from the Kent State May 4 Archive at Kent State University. They were part of my research for writing Kent State. “Just” letters. Letters that have left an important legacy of a time and place and of American History, and how these letter writers experienced it. Letters from townspeople, teachers, students, parents, and so many more… all experiencing this moment in time differently, every story important.Write me and tell me how this last month in the Lab has been for you, if you are a Lab Coat, and tell me what you’d like to see going forward. What would be most helpful to all of you? What are your writing challenges? What are your strengths?
The Digest will continue to be an archival, legacy, and fun project for everyone, and it will also offer up writing ideas for you. In the Lab, we have a chance to be the change we want to see in the world. To dig down deep and work on specifics, to shape our stories, and along the way to help ourselves be the best and most heartfelt writers we can be. To make our dreams a reality.
I know I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again — we *are* stories. Every moment we live is part of our story. If we don’t find ways to share our stories — for ourselves, in community, with someone else close to us… to dance them, sing them, draw them, tell them, write them, whatever our art form, in whatever we are building and creating — they are lost to time, and so are we.
I created Storybelly in part to be a legacy project for my work. I offer it up to you in the same way, in hopes that you will find ways (and you probably are already) to create that same legacy in your own lives. If you want to. You don’t have to, of course. But I stand by my oft-said belief that we are all stories, that all history is biography, that every human being is worthy of dignity and respect, and that each person’s story is an important and essential part of the whole of our human experience.
In Each Little Bird That Sings, the sign in front of Snowberger’s Funeral Home reads: We Live To Serve. I believe that, too. I sound like a preacher here, when all I mean to say is, it’s a real privilege to spend time with you. I appreciate it. One month well-spent, and many more to go. Thanks so much.
xoxoxox Debbie
