Stuff I've Been Up To

I did several stuffs!

Yes, I’ve been on tour pretty nonstop since February 21st. But I also managed to do several things that were not book tour, including getting to the optometrist and, uh… okay, that’s pretty much it, plus the stuff below.

I Had a Story in The New Yorker!

For real! I had been trying for literally more than half my life; I sent them a story when I was 21, the first story I ever sent out professionally. 99% of me was thinking, “This is a joke; I’m sending it because they’ll reject it, so I can get my first rejection out of the way. Ha, ha!” And of course 1% of me was thinking, <whisper voice> “But actually they’ll take it and this will be how my life begins!”

Anyway, a mere 23 years later, it finally happened. They were a joy to work with, and I’m absolutely in love with this illustration by Joana Avillez:

I also totally stole this photo from her website because I don’t have a good one.

Here’s the link to the story, which is called “The Plaza.” And here’s the link to their online interview with me about the story, which you should definitely read second because it contains major spoilers.

I Taught a Class About Getting Unstuck!

I had a great time teaching this two-hour online class for Five Things I’ve Learned, a lovely new online learning platform. It was streamed live, but it lives online now, and you can still access it. This is a paid class ($60) in which I tell you just about everything I’ve ever figured out about how to get unstuck when you’re working on a creative project, whether it’s writing or something else.

Sorry, I know I made this look like a video you can click on, but it’s just a picture of the video. I’m definitely not savvy enough to embed an actual video.

You can click through and watch the class here (please do! and please share!), but here (from the class invitation page) are the five main things I talk about:

• We often misdiagnose craft issues as psychological issues (“I must be afraid to write”) and psychological issues as craft issues. (“Maybe this will all be better if I throw it out yet again and try it in second person plural”). We’ll talk about how a proper diagnosis of the issue at hand is the first step in finding a solution. 

• Any artist needs to learn how to toggle, at will, between the creative brain that happily makes the art and the critical brain we all need later for editing. When the critical brain takes the driver’s seat at the wrong moment, we end up in artist hell. We’ll talk about how to strengthen the muscles that flip the switch between those two modes.

• We can get tripped up not just on the project itself, but on how we fear or hope it will be perceived in the world. That ambition is, of course, key to being a creative person and not just someone who keeps a private notebook… We’ll talk about keeping your ambitions and fears working for you and for the project – rather than standing in your path. 

• Many writers, and many artists of all kinds, get tripped up in worrying about the relationship of their project to the truth. This might be a concern about how to stay true to an historical narrative while still exercising creative control, or it might be a worry that friends or family will (rightly or wrongly) see themselves in your work. I have a really good trick for getting past this, and I’ll share it with you.

• Every worthwhile artistic endeavor contains, at its heart, a cosmic impossibility. A paradox that affects the conception of the piece itself. A reason the piece cannot actually exist as envisioned. That’s a good thing. And I’ll tell you how to deal with it. 

People seemed really happy with it and were sending me messages about getting back to their work, which absolutely made my day.

But since that costs money, here something free…

I Asked Meg Wolitzer Why She’s So Awesome:

My organization, StoryStudio Chicago, just launched a collaboration with Chicago’s Newberry Library (just about the coolest place in town)… and the brilliant Meg Wolitzer (The Interestings, The Female Persuasion) joined us for our inaugural event.

We’re going to have a series, bringing three major authors to Chicago each year to talk with a local author about craft and about the whole arc of their career (rather than just their latest book). More news on that soon, but meanwhile you can watch the recording of my conversation with Meg.

Delightfully, YouTube captioning believes I call her “Mike.”

That one actually is a video! How did I do that? How did I embed a video? I have no idea, and I’ll never manage to do it again.

I Taught in Greece!

I actually just got back last night, after an “interesting” travel day that we will not be discussing.

The Oxbelly Writers Retreat, spearheaded by the brilliant Chigozie Obioma, is a brand new addition to Oxbelly, a renowned screenwriters program at the Costa Navarino resort in Greece. This one is really different: Only 15 writers (10 fiction, 5 poetry) are chosen from around the world, and the residency (both a workshop and a retreat) is fully funded, including airfare and way too much food. This is by far the most international group of writers I’ve ever worked with; every single person in the workshop had a different national background.

For real, though.

My five amazing fiction fellows

We were in the south of Peloponnesia, which used to be ruled by the Spartans. The area was sometimes called Laconia, which is where the word “laconic” comes from, because apparently the Spartans talked like your cranky grandpa from Maine.

Anyway, the next one won’t be till next June, but you should think about applying so I can be wildly jealous of you.

I will end by showing you a photo of the Nestor’s cave, where baby Hermes hid the cattle he’d stolen from Apollo.

I hiked almost all the way up there, but in flip flops, which are not the best spelunking shoes, so I didn’t go in and also did not meet Hermes.

And Next…

Off to teach in Denver at Lighthouse Lit Fest for a week, but THEN I get to relax, mostly. I live in Vermont in the summer, and will have a few readings up there, if you’re around.

Also, I probably ought to be writing a book. Hmm.