Some of you might have seen this essay recently on Jane Friedman’s site. If you are a new subscriber, welcome! 👋🏻 I hope you’ll join the conversation in the comment thread.
Great to hear, Imola! I have more to say on how much we seem to privilege messes in contemporary writing these days, perhaps unethically, but certainly perplexities are great catalysts for memoir.
Hi Joshua, Thanks for this. I've been writing on Substack since June -- my early posts were screaming to get out there, but I'm finding I have to reach a little deeper now for ideas, but I still have plenty to say. I've been around for a while and have had lots of experiences, but never thought about the idea of keeping an "authority list." I'm starting one today. I think it will make it easier for me to scan my memory banks and think about new topics I'd like to develop. BTW I am an (almost fully) retired academic (developmental psychologist) and am saddened at the aspects of academia that drive talented persons such as you out of it. I've seen a lot of changes over my 45 year gig -- many have not been so great. But I love the threads you have going on other ways to deploy your talents and those of your readers. Cheering you on!
Yes, we do need some tools to fall back on once the initial enthusiasm wears off. The good news with this kind of list is that often it begins with categories, and then we find that there are many other lists within each of those.
I'd be happy to chat more about academe privately, but perhaps you've said all that needs to be said. I find myself increasingly wanting to turn my attention and energy elsewhere, even though I remember the classroom fondly.
I really loved your chapter on one of your early fire crews with the boss you all had a hard time with. It went so many places I didn't expect, and leaned hard into some beautiful humanity.
Thanks! That one first appeared in The Kenyon Review, but as with all publishing vagaries, it was a stroke of luck. They just happened to have a visiting editor who knew people in Libby, and so he went to bat for that essay. I suppose he’d have lost the argument if it didn’t stand on its own merits, but it was a lesson to me in how arbitrary publishing is.
Authority list - I like this name and concept. It seems helpful both as the practical tool you describe here and as a positive force in the background of our consciousness, reminding us how valuable, complex, and irreplaceable we are. I’m going to start an authority list today!
Fantastic, Tara! I learned this concept many years ago during my training to teach composition at UNL. I'm not sure if Peter Elbow came up with it originally or if it was some other Comp/Rhet sage. But I remember being dissatisfied with it then because it was very much *just* a list. I always found brainstorming exercises with no deeper structure frustrating and aptly named as "clusters." But I found that if I leveraged the list for scenes and the questions within those scenes, it actually helped many students get good pages behind them. Nice to hear that it resonates more broadly with writers at all levels.
Your addition of scene work brings the list to life. Kudos. I want to clear my desk and try some scenes this way, but that would be shirking other things. 🙄😅 It does sound fruitful, and I’m keen to try it. :-)
Lean into the mess will now become my new writing mantra. Thank you for this great essay! Really resonates with me!
Great to hear, Imola! I have more to say on how much we seem to privilege messes in contemporary writing these days, perhaps unethically, but certainly perplexities are great catalysts for memoir.
Wonderful. Look forward to reading more!
Hi Joshua, Thanks for this. I've been writing on Substack since June -- my early posts were screaming to get out there, but I'm finding I have to reach a little deeper now for ideas, but I still have plenty to say. I've been around for a while and have had lots of experiences, but never thought about the idea of keeping an "authority list." I'm starting one today. I think it will make it easier for me to scan my memory banks and think about new topics I'd like to develop. BTW I am an (almost fully) retired academic (developmental psychologist) and am saddened at the aspects of academia that drive talented persons such as you out of it. I've seen a lot of changes over my 45 year gig -- many have not been so great. But I love the threads you have going on other ways to deploy your talents and those of your readers. Cheering you on!
Yes, we do need some tools to fall back on once the initial enthusiasm wears off. The good news with this kind of list is that often it begins with categories, and then we find that there are many other lists within each of those.
I'd be happy to chat more about academe privately, but perhaps you've said all that needs to be said. I find myself increasingly wanting to turn my attention and energy elsewhere, even though I remember the classroom fondly.
Well, in many ways, you are running your own classroom right here on Substack! So many people are learning from you, including me. Thanks for that!
This was really helpful, thanks. I relish the idea of writing 'bravely into the messes that you know so well?' and letting go of sagehood!
Thank you, Sam! Glad it landed.
I really loved your chapter on one of your early fire crews with the boss you all had a hard time with. It went so many places I didn't expect, and leaned hard into some beautiful humanity.
Thanks! That one first appeared in The Kenyon Review, but as with all publishing vagaries, it was a stroke of luck. They just happened to have a visiting editor who knew people in Libby, and so he went to bat for that essay. I suppose he’d have lost the argument if it didn’t stand on its own merits, but it was a lesson to me in how arbitrary publishing is.
It is arbitrary, but it’s also a very good essay. Kinda cool that there was a visual editor there who knew Libby — that can’t happen very often!
This is excellent
It will and I’ll probably share it with my students.
Even better! I'd love to hear how it lands with them.
Thank you! Hope it enriches your practice.
Authority list - I like this name and concept. It seems helpful both as the practical tool you describe here and as a positive force in the background of our consciousness, reminding us how valuable, complex, and irreplaceable we are. I’m going to start an authority list today!
Fantastic, Tara! I learned this concept many years ago during my training to teach composition at UNL. I'm not sure if Peter Elbow came up with it originally or if it was some other Comp/Rhet sage. But I remember being dissatisfied with it then because it was very much *just* a list. I always found brainstorming exercises with no deeper structure frustrating and aptly named as "clusters." But I found that if I leveraged the list for scenes and the questions within those scenes, it actually helped many students get good pages behind them. Nice to hear that it resonates more broadly with writers at all levels.
Your addition of scene work brings the list to life. Kudos. I want to clear my desk and try some scenes this way, but that would be shirking other things. 🙄😅 It does sound fruitful, and I’m keen to try it. :-)